Since the great Sea Bird in 1965, six more horses have managed to claim the Derby and Arc de Triomphe double in the same season - namely Mill Reef, Lammtarra, Sinndar, Sea The Stars, Workforce and Golden Horn.
However, no fewer than 20 others have tried and failed in the same period. So which category will 2021 Epsom hero Adayar slot into come Sunday evening?
Here’s a look at the last 10 Derby winners to have attempted the feat, dating back to Sinndar’s glorious season 21 years ago in 2000...
HARZAND - 9th, 2016
Trained by Dermot Weld and owned by the Aga Khan, who team up with Tarnawa in this year’s Arc, Harzand was clearly a slow burner having finished fifth on his sole outing at two, but he hit the ground running and won his first four starts in 2016.
They included memorable victories at Epsom and in the Irish Derby at the Curragh, both under the late Pat Smullen, though he wasn’t quite at the same level of form in his final two racecourse appearances come the autumn.
After a short break, the son of Sea The Stars - more on him below - returned with a disappointing effort (2/1 favourite) in the Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown and could only muster a plugging-on ninth at Chantilly, 10 lengths adrift of Found who led home a remarkable one-two-three for Aidan O’Brien - Highland Reel and Order Of St George rounding out the Ballydoyle tricast.
GOLDEN HORN – WON, 2015
“Perfection in equine form” is the line JA McGrath famously used to describe Sea The Stars’ magical moment in Paris in 2009, but just half a dozen years later Golden Horn’s career very nearly usurped it.
Neck and half-length defeats at odds-on in the Juddmonte International (Arabian Queen) and Breeders’ Cup Turf (Found) were Golden Horn’s only defeats during a nine-race career which included wins in the Dante, Derby, Coral-Eclipse, Irish Champion Stakes and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
He bolted up as 13/8 favourite at Epsom in the early-summer of 2016 and was still full of verve on October 4 as he bounded away from Flintshire and New Bay, with even-money favourite Treve – seeking an unprecedented third straight Arc win – back in fourth.
RULER OF THE WORLD – 7th, 2013
Treve’s breakthrough Arc as a scintillating three-year-old in 2013 saw the same year’s Derby winner Ruler Of The World beaten 11 and a half lengths into seventh.
Beaten 10 lengths when odds-on for the Irish Derby and also denied in his Arc prep in the Prix Niel, the son of Galileo was outpaced at a crucial time and could only run on when it was all too late, though he was hardly disgraced.
He signed off his three-year-old campaign with a much better effort, finishing a close third behind Farhh and Cirrus Des Aigles in the Champion Stakes at Ascot, though the colt's only victory subsequent to the Derby was in the 2014 Prix Foy, after which he was ninth in the Arc – again trailing in the wake of Treve.
WORKFORCE – WON, 2010
Atypically for a top-class horse in the care of Sir Michael Stoute, Workforce’s careered petered out slightly as a four-year-old and he probably peaked at the end of his Classic campaign at Longchamp.
He’d set a new track record when destroying his Derby rivals at Epsom and although well and truly thumped by Harbinger in the King George at Ascot the following month, his fire was clearly rekindled for the Arc.
It wasn’t a real top-notch renewal of the race by any means, but did contain 12 individual Group One winners in the field, including the likes of Fame And Glory and Cape Blanco, and Workforce was right back on song with a battling success over Japanese hope Nakayama Festa, the pair two and a half lengths clear of three-year-old filly Sarafina back in third.
SEA THE STARS – WON, 2009
On paper, Sea The Stars winning the Arc in 2009 looked something of a formality, having carried all before him over trips from a mile to 12 furlongs throughout the year. He drew stall six, the ground (good) came right in his favour and he was said to have enjoyed a smooth preparation in the month after his easy defeat of Fame And Glory in the Irish Champion Stakes.
In reality, it was far from straightforward, Mick Kinane having to restrain his free-going, free-sweating mount and finding himself faced with a wall of horses in front of him turning in.
Thankfully for Kinane, Ballydoyle no-hopers Cornish and Grand Ducal had helped set a strong gallop and in the home straight the class horse was always going to come to the fore, provided the gaps opened.
In the end they duly arrived and Sea The Stars scythed through the pack, took up the running over a furlong from the finish and wasn’t overly extended to beat gallant six-year-old Youmzain by two lengths.
AUTHORIZED – 10th, 2007
Authorized’s Arc performance is one likely to strike fear into supporters of Adayar this weekend.
Much the best three-year-old of 2007 and heading into the race on the back of pretty emphatic wins in the Dante, Derby and Juddmonte International (he’d been beaten by an extraordinary Ryan Moore ride on Notnowcato in the Coral-Eclipse in between), Peter Chapple-Hyam’s horse was 11/10 favourite at Longchamp and surprisingly only beat a couple of rivals home.
Stall 12 of 12 probably wasn’t ideal and it was his fifth appearance of a tough season, but the lack of spark could not be explained by connections and the horse went straight off to stud, never to race again.
MOTIVATOR – 5th, 2005
Michael Bell’s 2005 Epsom hero Motivator gave the Royal Ascot Racing Club moments they’ll clearly cherish forever, and although he failed to add to his Dante and Derby victories, he ran three mighty races in defeat for connections.
Beaten half a length by the same horse – Oratorio – when second in both the Coral-Eclipse and the Irish Champion Stakes, the son of Montjeu was 5/2 favourite back up in distance for the Arc and he momentarily looked bound for greatness when getting a perfect run on the inside to lead heading to the furlong marker.
However, torrential rain had hit the track earlier in the day and the petrol suddenly began to run dry under Johnny Murtagh, his mount’s keenness through the early stages of the race also seemingly taking a toll.
The Irish Derby winner Hurricane Run, Gold Cup winner Westerner and previous year’s Arc winner Bago were ultimately the three class horses to go by him in a pretty hot edition of the great race.
KRIS KIN – 11th, 2003
Kris Kin was disappointingly beaten 45 lengths in the end after completely dropping away in the 2003 Arc, but the writing had been on the wall for him in the preceding months.
He’d crept into the Derby picture via a surprise victory in the Dee Stakes when an unconsidered 20/1 shot but was punted on the day at Epsom and came home under an inspired Kieren Fallon to beat The Great Gatsby a length.
The race evidently took a lot out of the horse, who could manage only third in the King George after sweating up quite badly beforehand, and he didn’t fare much better when filling the same place in the Prix Niel following a 50-day break.
HIGH CHAPARRAL – 3rd, 2002
High Chaparral was a remarkable racehorse, suffering just three defeats in his 13 career starts.
Denied a short-head in a Punchestown maiden on his debut, the horse’s only other losses came when third in both the 2002 and the 2003 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
Having won the Ballysax, Derrinstown, Derby and Irish Derby, and gone on to end his glittering Classic campaign with victory in the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Arlington Park, one could be forgiven for thinking he must have had a pretty decent excuse for being beaten in his first Arc.
He even had good ground, a relatively kind draw (stall five) and seemed to settle well right on the heels of the front two, but he just wasn’t quite at his very best and failed to pick up sufficiently in the straight.
His jockey Mick Kinane suggested the following year – when a well-held third behind Dalakhani – that he probably preferred to race on left-handed circuits, but when it comes to High Chaparral and the Arc de Triomphe, the over-riding feeling is that it was simply the one that got away.
SINNDAR – WON, 2000
In last week’s excellent Arc de Triomphe memories Podcast, Graham Cunningham was almost incredulous at discovering Sinndar hadn’t even made the cut for Ben Linfoot’s '30 greatest Arcs' feature, and with all due respect to everyone concerned, you can see his point.
Another dual Derby winner, having slipped past Sakhee at Epsom and positively slammed Glyndebourne I at the Curragh, there was a real aura about the Aga Khan’s son of Grand Lodge.
He’d enjoyed a late-summer break and was visually impressive in a Prix Niel prep which saw him go off 6/4 under Johnny Murtagh at Longchamp in the autumn of 2000.
It was billed as the big battle between two Irish powerhouses – three-year-old Sinndar against four-year-old Montjeu in the care of John Hammond, the latter getting the people’s vote and sent off 4/5 favourite under Kinane.
The race crackled with intensity from the off, Murtagh sitting right on the tail of his pacemaker Raypour and Kinane electing for the more patient approach. Sinndar consequently got first run as Montjeu briefly looked like he may get caught in a pocket, but he was soon in the clear and disappointingly failed to bridge the gap, ending up fourth as the winner galloped on resolutely.
To his credit, Montjeu was the only older horse to finish inside the first six.
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