Enable faces heavy ground in bid to win third Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe; Love rerouted to Breeders' Cup Turf

The Arc’s loss appears to be the Breeders’ Cup’s gain.

Love, the standout Ireland-based 3-year-old filly, wasn’t among the 15 entries Thursday for Sunday’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp in Paris. That leaves Enable, seeking to become the first three-time Arc winner, as the favorite for the 1 1/2-mile fixture.

But Enable will have to deal with conditions that blunt the brilliance of horses like she. The Longchamp course already was rated very soft as of Thursday and with further rain all but certain Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, the clerk of the course is forecasting heavy or holding ground by the time the Arc comes round.

Those conditions spurred trainer Aidan O’Brien to leave Love out of the Arc. The smashing winner this year of the 1000 Guineas, the Epsom Oaks, and the Yorkshire Oaks, Love does not suit rain-sodden courses. O’Brien told overseas press that he would now redirect Love to the Breeder’s Cup Turf at Keeneland, with possible later stops this year in Japan and Hong Kong. Keeneland has hosted one previous Breeders’ Cup, in 2015, and O’Brien won the Turf that year with the 3-year-old filly Found.

As for Enable, she drew post 5, a good draw, for Sunday’s race. Enable was defeated by Waldgeist in 2019 when seeking her third Arc in a race run over very soft going, but the ground this year figures to be deeper and more demanding even than in 2019, and nearly all Enable’s races have come on turf with “good”
somewhere in the designation.

From the rail out, the Arc field consists of In Swoop (who is proven on soft ground and thus is taking plenty of early betting action), Raabihah, Mogul, Sottsass (who was third in the 2019 Arc), Enable, soft-ground-loving Way to Paris, Persian King, Royal Julius, Gold Trip, Sovereign, Japan, Deirde, Chachnak, Stradivarius, and Serpentine.

Stradivarius, the antepost wagering second choice behind Enable, is trained, like Enable, by John Gosden. O’Brien, even sans Love, entered four: Japan, Sovereign, Mogul, and Serpentine. Serpentine, upset winner of the Epsom Derby, had to be supplemented into the Arc. Ryan Moore rides Mogul, who won the Prix Foy at Longchamp over good ground last month.

Five other Group 1 races – the Jean-Luc Lagardere for 2-year-olds and the Marcel Boussac for 2-year-old fillies, the five-furlong straight course Prix l’Abbaye, the seven-furlong Prix de la Foret, and the 1 1/4-mile Prix de l’Opera – fill out a tremendous card.

Live video and wagering will be available at DRFBets.com, and Daily Racing Form is providing American-style past performances for the card.