There are some fascinating contests in store on a revamped Arc Trials day card at Longchamp this Sunday.
Could Vermeille be key trial once again?
The three significant Arc pointers – namely the Prix Foy (four-year-olds and above), Prix Niel (three-year-olds) and Prix Vermeille (fillies and mares) – are all run over the same course and distance as the big race on October 5 and have thrown up several subsequent Arc winners over the years including the likes of Waldgeist and Rail Link.
Treve (2013) and Bluestocking last year are among the seven horses to win both the Prix Vermeille and the Arc in the same season and Aidan O’Brien has nominated the Qatar-backed contest as the ideal stepping-stone for his three-year-old filly Whirl, winner of the Group 1 Nassau Stakes at Goodwood and runner-up to stablemate Minnie Hauk in the Betfred Oaks earlier in the season.
Whirl faces six potential rivals in Sunday’s Vermeille, including another Ballydoyle stable companion in Bedtime Story, plus the Henk Grewe-trained Innora, who was runner-up in the German Oaks on August 3.
The rest of the field is made up of home-trained fillies, including the Christophe Ferland-trained Aventure, runner-up to Bluestocking in both the Vermeille and the Arc last year and last seen chasing home top gelding Calandagan in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud at the end of June.
Francis-Henri Graffard has confirmed the White Birch Farm-owned Gezora, who lowered Bedtime Story’s colours when landing the Prix de Diane at Chantilly, while Ginalyah is the other three-year-old in contention.
The Vermeille septet is completed by the four-year-old Survie, who was seventh in the race last year before filling the same spot in the Arc the following month. She has finished second behind Aventure and third to Whirl (in the Pretty Polly Stakes) earlier this campaign before returning from a short break with another runner-up effort in Deauville’s Prix Jean Romanet a couple of weeks ago.
There is a further supplementary stage for all three Arc Trials which will be confirmed on Thursday, September 4.
Rouget runner looks big Niel hope
The Prix Niel has thrown up a dozen subsequent Arc winners over the decades but you're going back 19 years for the last horse to do the double - the Andre Fabre-trained Rail Link. The race has produced an Arc hero since then, but 2019 Niel winner Sottsass had to wait for his day in the sun, finishing third in the Arc to Waldgeist before eventually going on to win the Longchamp showpiece the following year after taking in the Irish Champion Stakes en route.
Sottsass was trained by Jean-Claude Rouget and he has this year's Prix Niel poster-boy in Leffard, the three-year-old son of Le Havre who appeared to relish the move up to 12 furlongs when beating Trinity College to win the Grand Prix de Paris at Longchamp in mid-July.
He has yet to race since then and, along with the aforementioned Aventure, heads into the weekend among the leading French-trained hopes in the antepost betting for the Arc itself.
O'Brien has entered the fascinating colt Aftermath who hasn't been seen since winning a Curragh maiden last September, along with the bet365 Classic Trial victor Swagman. He would also be looking to defy a layoff having not been seen on track since landing the Sandown Group 3 over 10 furlongs in the spring.
Ireland could also be represented courtesy of Joseph O'Brien's Tennessee Stud and the Johnny Murtagh-trained Zahrann, the latter a striking winner of the Group 3 Royal Whip Stakes at the Curragh last month having been second to Amiloc in the King Edward VII at Royal Ascot on his previous outing.
Major test for Almaqam
The Qatar Prix Foy is the chance for the older horses to state their Arc claims and Ed Walker has high hopes for Almaqam bouncing back to his best after suffering a surprise defeat in the Sky Bet York Stakes on his most recent outing.
The four-year-old had previously beaten the top-class Ombudsman at Sandown and is likely to head to France for his Arc prep rather than Germany where he also holds an engagement.
In his path could be the O’Brien-trained Los Angeles, who is on something of a recovery mission himself after disappointing efforts in both the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot and when fourth to Zahrann on his return from a two-month break in the Royal Whip.
Los Angeles finished third in the 2024 Arc and could be joined in this weekend’s race by stablemate Mont St Michel, who has acted in the role as pacemaker for Kyprios in the past.
Joseph O’Brien has the seemingly progressive five-year-old Trustyourinstinct in the mix, although being gelded he would be ineligible to put his hat into the ring for the Arc itself.
John and Thady Gosden could be represented by Goodwood Cup also-ran Military Academy, while the other overseas challenge is the Japanese-based Byzantine Dream for trainer Tomoyasu Sakaguchi. The chestnut colt was a Group 2 (handicap) winner in Saudi Arabia earlier this year before finishing second in the top-class Tenno Sho at Kyoto when last sighted in May.
Andre Fabre’s leading four-year-old Sosie is a three-time Group 1 winner – all of which came at Longchamp – and he is out to restore his reputation back on home soil after finishing last behind Delacroix in the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown in June.
The other key contenders among 11 horses in line for the Foy include the Graffard-trained Map Of Stars for owners Wathnan Racing and the veteran Iresine, winner of the trial 12 months ago before finishing fourth to Anmaat in the Champion Stakes at Ascot.
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