Battaash may use Prix l'Abbaye as springboard to Breeders' Cup

Enable might be the main attraction on Sunday’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe card at Longchamp, but she’s not the only one.

There are five other Group 1 races on the Arc card, including the Prix l’Abbaye de Longchamp, a five-furlong straight-course dash that’s part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Win and You’re In series, offering a fees-paid entry into the BC Turf Sprint plus travel expenses to Santa Anita.

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Battaash, the odds-on early favorite for the Abbaye, might take the Breeders’ Cup up on that invitation should he prevail Sunday. Battaash likes fast ground, and his owner, Hamdan al-Maktoum, races regularly in America. Battaash already has been mentioned as a serious BC Turf Sprint candidate.

He’s also a very strong candidate for Sunday’s race, though he could only finish fourth in the 2018 Abbaye as the 11-10 favorite. Battaash’s 2019 has proven more straightforward and has produced three wins from four starts, with his lone loss to the excellent Blue Point in the King’s Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot. That said, Battaash hasn’t raced on a softer course this year, and much more weekend rain in Paris could compromise his chances. The chief opposition could be Mab’s Cross, who won the 2018 renewal of this race.

It’s not a Win and You’re In, but the Prix de la Foret over a little more than seven furlongs often yields starters for the BC Mile, as it did in 2010 with the great Goldikova. One Master won last year and returned to finish fifth in the BC Mile, and she’s back for the Foret on Sunday. One Master comes off a fifth-place finish going 6 1/2 furlongs in the Prix Maurice de Gheest and figures to improve Sunday, but City Light is the heavy favorite in the Foret. City Light in 2018 was mainly a five- to six-furlong horse but has stretched out to longer trips this season to good effect and comes into Sunday’s race – which is less than a vintage Foret – following two wins.

Trainer John Gosden and jockey Frankie Dettori have the spotlight with Enable in the Arc, but also have the favorite for the Prix de l’Opera in Mehdaayih. Three-year-old Mehdaayih, by Frankel, has improved throughout the season and comes off a career-best performance, a second to the Japanese mare Deirdre in the Group 1 Nassau Stakes. Terebellum, Watch Me, and With You also have taken support in this 1 1/4-mile race restricted to fillies and mares.

Rounding out the Group 1 action are a pair of 2-year-old races, the Jean-Luc Lagardere and the Prix Marcel Boussac, which is restricted to fillies. Godolphin is rich in 2-year-olds this fall and with trainer Andre Fabre sends out favored Victor Ludorum in the Lagardere. Victor Ludorum has started his career with two easy wins, both over the Lagardere’s one-mile trip, and is solidly favored to beat six foes.

Fabre also trains one of the main players in the Boussac, Savarin, who like Victor Ludlum has won both his starts this season. Savarin is second favorite in the early wagering to the Ireland-based Albigna, who was sixth in the Group 1 Moyglare Stud Stakes last out after winning her first two starts.