The most exciting aspect of Daryz starting in Sunday’s Group 1 Prix Ganay at Longchamp Racecourse in Paris is that he is still an active racehorse. Daryz won the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, Europe’s leading flat race, at Longchamp last October. From 2019 to 2024, five of the six winners of the Arc did not start again after their wins in the big race. The exception in that span is 2021 winner Torquator Tasso, who raced in 2022 and finished third in the Arc that year. Daryz, a 4-year-old colt by Sea The Stars, will be heavily favored to win for the sixth time in his eighth start in the $352,000 Prix Ganay, which is run at 1 5/16 miles and is the first Group 1 race of the year in France. Daryz has won 4 of 5 career starts at Longchamp, the loss a second by a short head in the Group 3 Prix du Prince d’Orange to Croix du Nord at 1 1/4 miles last September. In the 1 1/2-mile Arc, the 16-1 Daryz closed from the middle of a field of 17 to lead in the final sixteenth, edging 5-2 favorite Minnie Hauk by a head. Trained by Francis-Henri Graffard, Daryz starts from the outside of six in the Prix Ganay. Mickael Barzalona, who has been aboard Daryz for his seven starts, retains the mount. :: Get free past performances, analysis, and picks for international racing. The Prix Ganay field consists of five males and the 5-year-old mare Aventure, who was second in the 2024 Arc and 11th in last year’s running. She has won five group-level stakes, including the Group 1 Prix Vermeille against fillies and mares at Longchamp last September. This is the first start of the year for Aventure, who won her first two starts of 2025 in group stakes at 1 1/4 miles and 1 5/16 miles for trainer Christophe Ferland. Legendary French trainer Andre Fabre starts half of the Prix Ganay field – Bright Picture, Cualificar, and First Look. Cualificar, second in the 2025 French Derby but 15th in the 2025 Arc, was third by a half-length behind Bright Picture in the Group 2 Prix d’Harcourt at 1 1/4 miles at Longchamp on April 5 in his first start of the year. First Look was fourth in that field. The Prix Ganay will be the first start in a Group 1 for Bright Picture, who has won his last two starts, beginning with the Group 3 Prix Exbury at 1 1/2 miles at Saint-Cloud in March. The longshot Arrow Eagle also starts on Sunday for trainer Jean-Claude Rouget. Arrow Eagle was sixth in the 2025 Arc and returned three weeks later to win the Group 1 Prix Royal-Oak at 1 15/16 miles at Longchamp. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.