10/04/2012 4:45PM

Arc de Triomphe: Field now at 18 with late supplements

By Marcus Hersh
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With three horses supplemented to the race on Thursday and another horse removed from the race, Sunday’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe seems set to go with a field of 18, barring withdrawals at the final declaration stage on Friday morning.

Supplemented to the race were Saonois, who won the French Derby and Prix Niel in his last two starts; Bayrir, winner of the Secretariat at Arlington and second in the Niel; and the John Gosden-trained 3-year-old filly Great Heavens. Great Heavens, whose current four-race win streak was capped by a three-length score in the Group 1 Irish Oaks, is a full sister to Nathaniel, whose Arc plans were derailed by a minor illness this week. Taken out of Arc consideration was Reliable Man, with the France-based colt rerouted to the Canadian International at Woodbine on Oct. 14.

LIVE FROM LONGCHAMP: Watch full Saturday card | Watch full Sunday card

Ante-post betting markets, meanwhile, shifted on Thursday, with 3-year-old Camelot, announced as a definite Arc starter only on Wednesday, taking over favoritism at many betting houses from the Japanese 4-year-old Orfevre. Orfevre has long had the Arc as his major seasonal goal, and won his prep race for the main event in the Prix Foy last month at Longchamp. Nevertheless, the presence of Europe’s top 3-year-old, Camelot, and his partnership with popular rider Frankie Dettori has shifted the Arc betting.

Also receiving considerable betting play late this week is Sea Moon, who, it was determined Thursday, will have regular rider Ryan Moore as his pilot on Sunday. Moore has been out with an injury but was set to return to action Friday in England.

The Michael Stoute-trained Sea Moon also could benefit from course conditions, which are entirely different than in 2011, when Paris was hot and very dry, and Danedream won the Arc in course record time. The weather this October has been much wetter, with Longchamp’s clerk of the course saying Thursday that the going for Sunday’s races would be no better than soft, and, with more rain, could become very soft.

 

Paul_Tuon More than 1 year ago
For the record, the late money that Marcus was talking about was not from me as I haven't place a single dime on the race. Kidding aside, I have always like Sea Moon in this race even when Snow Fairy, Danedream and Nathaniel were still being pointed to this race. He's sitting on a big time surprise performance of his lifetime (I think). He's my dark horse lookiing to be a party parade spoiler. Before the bad news, I was going to make the exacta play with Nathaniel over Sea Moon, and now without Nathaniel I will play exacta Sea Moon over Camelot. Hopefully Sea Moon will run a race of a lifetime as I think he's capable of doing so in this race. As for Camelot, I will withhold my money from him until he regains his old self and shows me there's nothing wrong with him. He definitely has a world of talent, but his last race is still a mystery and he'll have to show me something other than his last race before I jump on his bandwagon. He has a chance to show the world what he's made of as the group he's facing is much tougher than the group he'd faced in the past.
WILLARDtheRAT More than 1 year ago
DUDE I'M FISHING FOR CLUES TOO, YOUR NOT GOING TO GET IT HERE...TRY THE EXPERTS AT RACINGPOST... SOME EXPERT CHICK THERE GAVE ME THE WINNER IN THE DUBAI BIG RACE LAST YEAR. SHE WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO HAD IT. 'M LOOKING FOR FREE PDF;S BUT THIS IS WHAT YOU DO FOR THE ARC, IDENTIFY THE WINNING TRAINERS AND OWNERS THE LAST 10-15 YEARS AND PLAY THEIR LONGEST SHOTS..ANDRE FABRE, AGA KAHN ETC ETC. THERE'S ABOUT 6-8 OF THESE HORSES THIS YEAR, SO THAT WILL GIVE YOU ABOUT A 30% SHOT..... AND FORGET PRICE., F THE FAVS
WILLARDtheRAT More than 1 year ago
FOR THE WIN THROW OUT YESTERDay news, i saw all that nathanel crap...that;s like the brits betting animal kingdom. in our classic racingpost.com is a great start for euro racing. forget the pdf for past perfomances , look at the connections.. look at their age (you do not want horses that have only raced against 3 year olds) , look at the money. the (the brit experts) know who's doing better than what we can see on that pdf of their s ( 2 calls???????) been playing this race for years in the usa...in 2005 I missed being there by 2 weeks. I was in Paris end of october...did do harness racing there thought. I still have nightmares about that. I play at penn national.