It was Arc trials day Sunday at Chantilly, but how much relevance the three races had to the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe next month is questionable. Cracksman solidified his status as the second choice in antepost Arc betting with a win in the Group 2 Prix Niel for 3-year-olds, but Cracksman is far from a certain Arc starter. Under Frankie Dettori, Cracksman raced from second in a five-horse field, took over a furlong and a half out, and drew away late to beat second-place Avilius by 3 1/2 lengths. Over a soft course he probably didn’t especially enjoy, Cracksman ran 1 1/2 miles in 2:37.78. Cracksman is trained by John Gosden, and Gosden also trains the 3-year-old filly Enable, presently the even-money Arc favorite. Dettori rides her, too, and Cracksman’s owner, Anthony Oppenheimer, has been ready for weeks to put Cracksman away for the year and point to 2018. Dettori is committed to Enable, and Oppenheimer said Sunday the final decision on Cracksman’s status for the Arc rests solely with Gosden, who was at the Keeneland September yearling sale this week, and probably won’t announce a choice, Oppenheimer said, for 10 days or so. Cracksman also is a possible runner in the Champion Stakes at Ascot. Cracksman, by Frankel out of the Pivotal mare Rhadegunda, now has a record of 6-4-1-1, and though he was a good third in the Epsom Derby he has yet to win a Group 1. Meanwhile, the improved 5-year-old mare Bateel had the fastest 1 1/2-mile time of the day, clocking 2:32.90 in her 2 1/2-length win over Journey in the Group 1 Prix Vermeille. A soft-ground specialist, Bateel’s connections said after the Vermeille they had no designs on the Arc, and would run in the Champions Filly and Mare Stakes only if the course has sufficient give. Bateel, ridden by Pierre Charles-Boudot for trainer Francis Graffard, won her third race in a row and captured her first Group 1. By Dubawi out of Attractive Crown, by Chief’s Crown, she is owned by Al Asayl Bloodstock. The German horse Dschingis Secret’s sustained wide rally under Adrie de Vries was good enough to win the Group 2 Prix Foy by 1 1/2 lengths over Cloth of Stars, with Talismanic third and the favored Japanese horse Satono Diamond fourth. Dschingis Secret has come around nicely this summer and won his third race in a row, the Foy coming on the heels of his first Group 1 triumph, the Grosser Preis von Berlin at Hoppgarten. Dschingis Secret, a 4-year-old by Solder Hollow out of Divya, by Platini, is trained by Markus Klug for Horst Pudwill, and was timed in 2:35.86.   Dschingis Secret is a likely Arc runner as long as the ground does not become too firm, his connections said. For Satono Diamond, whose connections said he might have been less than adequately fit making his first start since April 30, the situation is just the opposite, with good to firm ground what he needs for his best in the Arc. Cloth of Stars, starting for the first time since winning the May 1 Prix Ganay, also is a likely Arc starter for trainer André Fabre. Ribchester back on track Ribchester abides soft turf but does not love it, and his workmanlike victory Sunday in the Prix du Moulin de Longchamp showed as much. Ribchester beat Tareef by three-quarters of a length, and though the margin was relatively narrow, and Ribchester’s camp had to wait out a stewards’ inquiry, it never looked like Tareef was going past the favorite. Ribchester was coming off a surprising loss in the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood, and won his fourth Group 1 of 2017 for trainer Richard Fahey and Godolphin. Ribchester, by Ifraaj out of Mujarah, by Marju, was ridden by James Doyle, who took over from injured William Buick. Ribchester remains a possible runner in the Breeders’ Cup Mile, but connections must decide how to manage his fall schedule with the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot coming up just two weeks before the Breeders’ Cup. ◗ The excellent French stayer Vazirabad won his fourth race in a row and 12th from 17 starts as much the best Sunday in the Group 3 Prix Gladiateur over 15 furlongs. ◗ Decorated Knight, who won the Irish Champion Stakes on Saturday, was announced as a likely Breeders’ Cup Mile starter by trainer Roger Charlton on Sunday. The BC Mile would be the career finale for Decorated Knight, who should enjoy a fast California turf course.