Adam Houghton visits ParisLongchamp and hears the rallying call issued to any British and Irish fans considering a trip to the 2022 Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe weekend.
My first visit to ParisLongchamp came in October 2019. On a weekend when an estimated 7,351 British and Irish racegoers made the same journey, we were all united in the hope and expectation of seeing history being made by Enable, the red-hot favourite to win the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe for the third year in a row.
It wasn’t to be. It looked likely as Enable briefly kicked clear a furlong out, but the enduring image from my first Arc on the ground is that of Waldgeist cutting her down in the final 50 yards, providing a thrilling horse race but not quite the ‘I was there’ moment I was hoping for.
For Enable there was another shot at making history in 2020 – she ultimately finished a weary sixth behind Sottsass – but, even if she had won, it was never going to be an ‘I was there’ moment, neither for myself nor the thousands of others who were forced to watch from home as the race was run behind closed doors due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Even last year the uncertain Covid picture made many people reluctant to travel. The total attendance at ParisLongchamp over that weekend was 16,720 – down from 40,074 in 2019 – and the number of British and Irish fans present counted just 2,691.
The Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe weekend is in many ways a sleeping giant and this year it would gladly welcome another 5,000 roaring racegoers from Britain and Ireland to lift the occasion and help to create the atmosphere which typically makes the meeting one of the most special in the Flat racing calendar.
That was certainly the message from Olivier Delloye, CEO of France Galop, as we met before racing on a baking hot July afternoon at ParisLongchamp, setting the scene for what we can expect 11 weeks from now when the 101st running of the Arc takes centre stage.
Delloye said: “We are coming out from two years badly impacted by Covid, so hopefully we’ll get back to normal this year and have a big crowd coming from England and Ireland as we are used to.
“The British racegoers account for 20% of the global attendance, but they make probably 80-90% of the atmosphere and the noise in the stands! They are racing fans and they are here to support their horses and the jockeys they like best.
“Arc day wouldn’t be the same without the British fans going racing. It has always been the case and they have very much contributed to the aura of the raceday.”
My latest visit to ParisLongchamp coincided with the French national holiday of Bastille Day and the 2022 running of the Grand Prix de Paris. On this raceday, with the first of nine races off at 16:45 local time, the aura progressed from fairly sedate to begin with to very lively by the evening’s end.
Admittedly, it’s debatable what provided the biggest draw on the day, the Grand Prix de Paris won by Onesto or the set performed by German DJ Robin Schulz after racing, but those charged with balancing the books at France Galop are unlikely to be too concerned either way when they add up the gate receipts from the 15,000 or so in attendance.
It was certainly a refreshing sight at a time when small crowds have been the scourge of many fixtures in Britain, with the cost-of-living crisis at least partly to blame.
Sadly, that issue doesn’t appear to be going away anytime soon and so it was interesting to learn of France Galop’s crowd projections for the 2022 Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe weekend, notably the suggestion that somewhere between 7,000 and 8,000 people are likely to make the journey from Britain and Ireland, a similar number to when Enable made her bid for history in 2019.
"At the moment we are not worried because advance figures are very good compared to 2019,” said Delphine Violette, France Galop’s commercial and marketing director, when asked about the possible impact of the cost-of-living crisis.
“I’m not saying we are confident, but they are good for now and the crucial period will be the next few weeks. In France, 60% of sales are in the last month, but that’s not the same case in England and Ireland.
“For now it’s okay, but July and August are the key months, so let’s see where we are at the end of August."
Only time will tell then whether Arc weekend can buck the worrying trend we’ve seen in Britain in recent weeks, but there is certainly value for money to be had for any potential visitors who are yet to make up their mind.
For example, the cost of admission to the Arc Gardens on either day is just €10 and down from €20 in 2021. Similarly, a two-day pass for the Winning Post Enclosure is available at a reduced cost to British and Irish racegoers until August 20, priced at €60 and down from €80 in 2021.
That must be considered a hugely attractive offer, particularly given the quality of racing on show with eight Group One races for thoroughbreds scheduled to be run over the two days. It simply doesn’t get any better than the Arc itself which last year earned the honour of Longines World’s Best Horse Race for the fifth time since 2015.
Could those in attendance witness another ‘I was there’ moment in 2022?
Could Torquator Tasso become just the third horse to win back-to-back editions of the Arc since 1978? Could Derby winner Desert Crown confirm himself a three-year-old colt out of the very top drawer by giving trainer Sir Michael Stoute a second success in the race? Or could Alpinista come out on top for another knight of the realm, Sir Mark Prescott, following her victory in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud?
Perhaps the biggest story would be if Japan could finally gain a first success in Europe’s richest race after more than 50 years of trying.
The multiple Group One winner Titleholder seems primed to spearhead the challenge this year – with a Timeform rating of 130 he clearly has the ability to play a leading role – and Delloye is confident that if the best Japanese horses come over, then their hugely enthusiastic fanbase will follow.
Delloye said: “It’s a very international weekend and definitely what makes this Arc weekend really interesting and exciting is having the good horses from everywhere in Europe but also more and more from Japan.
“I remember when Orfevre ran in the Arc that we really had a big crowd from Japan that year. And when Deep Impact ran it was absolutely amazing.
“If we have the really good Japanese runners – and provided that we are not bothered by Covid travel restrictions – we can hope that the Japanese will be back in force.”
The 14-strong field for last year’s Arc featured two Japanese-trained runners, namely Chrono Genesis and Deep Bond (who could return in 2022). Sadly, the Covid situation meant that the Japanese fans couldn’t make it to ParisLongchamp to support them in the numbers that they probably would have liked, but they made up for their absence in other ways.
Delloye explained: “Last year on the Sunday we achieved nearly €150 million in gambling turnover, with quite a lot coming from Japan – €42 million was only in Japan and only on the Arc.
“The chairman of the Japan Racing Association, Mr. [Masayuki] Goto, said during the international conference that one of the reasons why he thought we achieved such a high turnover on the Arc in Japan was due to all the content that we produced ahead of the race and during the raceday in Japanese. So, we will keep doing it this way.”
It's clear that the team at France Galop are leaving no stone unturned in their efforts to promote the 2022 Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe weekend and the hope is that all their hard work will be rewarded with the sort of crowd we were used to at ParisLongchamp before Covid intervened.
The one thing they can’t control is what happens on the track, though there promises to be another top-class field assembled for the Arc with 86 horses entered at this stage, including possible runners from Britain, Ireland, France, Germany, Poland and, of course, Japan.
As I learned in 2019, there is no guarantee of an ‘I was there’ moment and only on Sunday 2 October will we see what ParisLongchamp has in store for us this year – I cannot wait to find out.
