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| Chantilly Racecourse; absolutely stunning |
1.10
The horse I want to be with here is Polydream, a twice raced horse trained in France under the watchful eye of Freddy Head. She is unbeaten so far, running over 6 furlongs and 7 furlongs, and the form of her last race is really stacking up. That was the day she beat a horse called Laurens so easily, with the jockey looking up at the big screen constantly, and that horse has since won a grade 2 at Doncaster. Huge chance here and acts with a bit of cut in the ground, a really exciting horse.
1.45
I find it really interesting that Aidan O'Brien pitches Happily in here against the boys rather than keeping her against her own sex and he must think she is capable of giving them a real race, especially given the weight she will receive from them. A good winner last time out under the capable Donnacha O'Brien, Ryan Moore steps in for the ride here and I think she will appreciate the step up a furlong after that Group 1 win last time. That's probably the best form on offer going into the race, and in the receipt of 4 lbs from her rivals she must have a cracking chance.
3.05 - Prix de l'Arc Du Triumphe
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| One of my favourite Arc winners, the amazing Treve |
Now I think this is probably more a bet looking at getting into a place rather than the win but I really think Order of St George is absolutely rock solid here. He seems better for being ridden more aggressively and comes into this race in better form than last year, where he managed to be placed.
His running style should be suited to the race, where we often get a lot of hard luck stories, and his middle of the road draw in 9 will be ideal to bounce out, sit handy and use his assured stamina. Forecast soft ground will not phase this horse, where as the likes of 2nd fav Ulysses will not like that.
I don't really think Ulysses's style of running will suit, he could easily find a few hard luck stories trying to thread his way through and be produced right at the end. Winter is interesting but 8/1 is short enough considering the stamina concerns. Clearly Enable is the most likely winner, but even money about a 3 year old filly who has had a seriously tough campaign and could easily be over the top? No thanks! Capri, the St Leger winner, will be trying to become the first horse to double up in Leger/Arc in many a year which concerns me, and he has a horror draw on the outside.
There are horses as huge prices that could outrun their price, but given I'm not a huge fan of Ulysses in this particular race, Winter has stamina concerns and Enable is even money I am taking a punt that Order of St George will come in the top 4 at the very least, and seems really well placed to take advantage if those right at the top of the market come undone by the ground, trip or luck in running.
4.35
I'm going to side with Battash here because I was so impressed with his win at Sandown 2 runs ago, where he had the likes of Marsha and Profitable in behind his bundle of pure speed. Charlie Hills has always rated him as a seriously fast horse, in fact last year he said he was his fastest, and this season he seems to be fulfilling his trainer's hopes for him. York last time was not his running, but he will not the first, or even the best to be unbalanced on the Knavesmire. IF, and that is a big IF, he can handle the preliminaries better this time (I believe they are to saddle him down at the start) then he has a massive chance as he is in my opinion the fastest horse in this race.
5.15
I'm going to end the day with a punt at a price on So Beloved, a horse with plenty of form on soft. The form of his run last time out took a big boost on Saturday with the winner coming out and winning a big sprint at Haydock. He needs a good it of pace to the race if he is going to run well but we should get that with a field of ten and some fast horses here. at 33/1 he rates a decent e/w bet to end the day.
Thanks for reading and enjoy Arc day
