Our columnist has landed in Paris and sets the scene for Arc weekend and all that brings.
“Do you want it in a roll or baguette?”
“Baguette, s’il vous plait,” I respond.
My attempt at school-girl French is met with a blank expression. It makes sense, given I’m in a sandwich shop on Euston Road, outside St Pancras Station, rather than perusing the boulangeries of Montmartre.
“I’m going to the Arc?” I offer, by way of explanation.
“What’s the Arc?”
Paris tempts with golden rays streaming into a boutique hotel room boasting an Eiffel Tower view and autumn leaves crunching underfoot on the stroll through the Bois de Bologne: the Hippodrome du Longchamp drawing you in with the promise of the finest champagne and buttery yellow crepes, oozing with gooey French cheese.
The reality is often very different.
The Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe battles with Paris Fashion Week for the attention of over-worked Uber drivers and a last-minute booking.com foray leaves you with a boutique (translation: small) room overlooking the industrial bins of the next-door restaurant. It can be miserable in Paris in October, a grey mist rising from the Seine and engulfing the racecourse, the location of the back-straight remaining a mystery to the intrepid cross-Channel explorer.
But Arc weekend is unmissable, a must-do on the racing fan’s bucket list.
Baguette stuffed in backpack and pumpkin spiced iced latte in hand, I wander to the Eurostar terminal, weaving between glassy-eyed romantic weekenders, impatient French businessmen and the occasional racegoer, Racing Post tucked under the arm.
It’s warm in the waiting room and will be warmer in Paris, a dry forecast for the weekend. We have no idea how the penetrometer reading translates to a British going report and it doesn’t matter, not really. If it rains, a soft ground horse will win and if it doesn’t, a fast ground horse will win – if the symmetry is off, the best horse has won and we can go away happy in the knowledge that a true champion was crowned in the dappled light of the Longchamp ‘rond du presentation’.
Security passed, I check my seat allocation and sigh at the carriage number, preparing to battle my suitcase down the endless platform. Not a great draw.
But not as bad as poor Maltese Cross, who will attempt to become the first horse to win the Arc from stall eleven since 1988. It was Tony Bin who triumphed on that day, defeating Mtoto by a neck, sending Italian and stall eleven fans into ecstasy. Neither have been able to celebrate since.
Daryz and Kalpana have fared better, side by side in stalls five and six, with the ghosts of seven previous Arc winners cheering them forward. Admire Terra and Meisho Taburu will represent Japanese hopes from stalls twelve and thirteen, the weight and expectation of a nation carried on their shoulders. The proverbial ‘rolling of the dice’ has worked for Friendly Soul, starting from seven, but Bay City Roller hasn’t received what he wanted – there’s no monsoon warning and he has Diamond Necklace on his outside, distractingly glamorous with the wily Christophe Soumillon aboard.
Two-and-a-half hours across the Channel is long enough to work out the winner of the Arc and then change your mind, comfortable in the knowledge that your original selection will cross the line in front if you don’t hold your nerve. A quick scan-read of a ‘lively outsider for the Arc’ article muddies the waters further and it’s decided, as the train makes steady progress into Gare du Nord, that a final decision can be made over a flaky pastry and strong coffee on Sunday morning.
The promised Parisian sunshine greets me as I step off the train and I head to security, the last bastion of travel before disappearing into the depths of the tenth arrondissement.
“Business or pleasure?” asks the French gendarme, scrutinising my passport with an insulting incredulity.
“Pleasure. Most definitely pleasure.”
More on the 2026 Arc de Triomphe
- David Ord on Kalpana and the Juddmonte ties
- Ben Linfoot tackles the big Longchamp questions
- John Ingles backing title holder to double up
- Matt Brocklebank on the Longchamp undercard
- Simon Holt on why Maltese Cross is such an important runner
- Ian Ogg on the case for outsider Saddadd
- Nick Doggett recalls Fallon scoring on Hurricane Run
- For or against hot favourite Daryz?
- Who is the best bet in this year’s race?
- Graffard: Daryz the best horse I’ve trained
- Aidan O’Brien on Ballydoyle trio
- Tom Marquand feeling positive
- Colin Keane expects star mare to shine
- Arc de Triomphe preview podcast
- Ryan Moore opts to ride Benvenuto Cellini
- Arc odds from Sky Bet and Paddy Power
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