Arc undercard filled with Breeders' Cup Challenge races

The 3-year-old filly Fancy Blue may be based in Ireland with trainer Donnacha O’Brien but her best results this year have been in England and France.

Fancy Blue won the Group 1 French Oaks at 1 5/16 miles at Chantilly on July 5 and the Group 1 Nassau Stakes at 1 1/4 miles against older fillies and mares at Goodwood Racecourse in England on July 30.

The wins have propelled Fancy Blue to the fore of Sunday’s Group 1 Prix de l’Opera for fillies and mares at Longchamp Racecourse in Paris. The $351,000 Prix de l’Opera is one of five Group 1 races for Thoroughbreds on the undercard of the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe program.

In her latest start, Fancy Blue was third in the Group 1 Matron Stakes at a mile at Leopardstown Racecourse in Ireland on Sept. 12, beaten 2 3/4 lengths while closing some ground in the stretch.

:: Get free PPs for Sunday's Longchamp card

The Prix de l’Opera is run at 1 1/4 miles and drew a field of 14. The winner receives a fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Keeneland on Nov. 7. Fancy Blue is one of seven 3-year-old fillies in the field, which includes the well-regarded Alpine Star of Ireland and Tawkeel of France.

Alpine Star was second in the French Oaks and later second against males in the Group 1 Jacques le Marois at a mile at Deauville on Aug. 16 on heavy turf. Persistent rain in Paris this week is expected to lead to a heavy turf course on Sunday.

Conditions have affected fields of the other Group 1 stakes on the card. Battaash, the top English sprinter, was held out of the $245,700 Prix de l’Abbaye at five furlongs because of soggy turf.

The 4-year-old filly Glass Slippers will be favored in the Prix de l’Abbaye on the strength of a win in the Group 1 Flying Five Stakes at the Curragh in Ireland on Sept. 13. Glass Slippers earned a berth to the BC Turf Sprint on Nov. 7 with that win. Another berth is available to the winner of the Prix de l’Abbaye.

France’s championship races for 2-year-olds begin the program – the $280,800 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere for colts and fillies at seven furlongs and the $280,000 Prix Marcel Boussac for 2-year-old fillies at a mile.

The nine-race program starts with the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere, which drew a field of six.

The winner of the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere receives a fees-paid berth to the BC Juvenile Turf on Nov. 6. Nando Parrado, the winner of the Group 2 Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot in June and second to the filly Campanelle in the Group 1 Prix Morny at Deauville in August, will start favored in his first race at a mile.

Pretty Gorgeous, owned by John Oxley, should handle turf conditions in the Marcel Boussac, having won the Group 2 Debutante on soft turf at the Curragh on Aug. 22. She was later second by three-quarters of a length in the Group 1 Moyglare Stud Stakes there on Sept. 13.

The winner of the Marcel Boussac earns a berth to the BC Juvenile Fillies Turf on Nov. 6.

Later in the program, the star French 3-year-old Earthlight can win his sixth stakes in the $245,700 Prix de la Foret at seven furlongs. Trained by Andre Fabre, Earthlight has won 7 of 8 starts. He was fourth in the Group 1 Prix Maurice de Gheest at 6 1/2 furlongs at Deauville on Aug. 9, but rebounded to win the Group 3 Prix du Pin at seven furlongs at Longchamp on Sept 13.