Enable favored to repeat in Arc

A field of 19 very much headed by the 4-year-old filly Enable passed the final entry stage Thursday for Sunday’s Group 1, $5.77 million Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

Enable won the 2017 Arc and was roughly an even-money favorite with British bookmakers Thursday after drawing favorably in post 6. Enable, trained by John Gosden for her breeder, Khalid Abdullah, enters the contest a very fresh horse: An early-season knee injury delayed her 2018 debut until Sept. 8, when she won a minor stakes race over Kempton Park’s synthetic surface. Frankie Dettori rides Enable, who carries 128 pounds, seven more than the 3-year-old fillies in the race, three more than the 3-year-old males, and three fewer than older males.

The 1 1/2-mile Arc is back at Longchamp, now called ParisLongchamp, for the first time since 2015 after being contested at Chantilly as Longchamp underwent extensive renovation. The ParisLongchamp course has been watered this week and as of Thursday was described as good-to-soft. There’s a chance of rain Saturday evening into Sunday, but little chance the Arc will be contested on ground much worse than good.

Because of the fast ground, Enable’s stablemate Cracksman won’t race in the Arc and instead will have his career finale Oct. 20 at Ascot in the Champion Stakes.

Three-year-old filly Sea of Class was supplemented into the Arc on Wednesday for $138,241 and is a solid second choice. But while course conditions are favorable to Sea of Class, her draw is not. Sea of Class, who last out won the Yorkshire Oaks – the race that propelled Enable to her 2017 Arc win – breaks from post 15.

Waldgeist, the general third choice, drew post 13, while Aidan O’Brien entered five horses, with the 3-year-old Kew Gardens the shortest price among them at 11-1 as of Thursday. French Derby winner Study of Man drew poorly in post 19, while 2017 Breeders’ Cup Turf winner Talismanic has post 8.

The Arc is the third of six races on an all-Group 1 card with significant Breeders’ Cup implications. First post is 8:20 Eastern with the Arc set for 10:05.

Sun Chariot edge to youngsters

The Group 1 Sun Chariot Stakes on Saturday at Newmarket is open to older fillies and mares but the cream of the field comes from the 3-year-old set.

Bookmakers had 3-year-old fillies Laurens, Wind Chimes, and Veracious all pegged at odds of 15-2 for the straight-course mile.

Laurens is a versatile three-time Group 1 winner this year, having captured the Prix Saint-Alary and the French Oaks in May and June, and the Matron Stakes at Leopardstown last month. But she might have no edge on Wind Chimes, a fine second to high-class miler Recoletos Sept. 9 in the Prix Du Moulin de Longchamp and improving all season for trainer Andre Fabre.

The Michael Stoute-trained Veracious possesses significant upside after only three starts this year. She was third to retired giantess Alpha Centauri in the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot and has been turned back to one-mile races after one stretch-out to 10 furlongs over the summer.

◗ The Saturday card at Longchamp features the Group 1 Prix du Cadran over 2 1/2 miles, but for an American-focused audience the race to watch might be the Prix Daniel Wildenstein. Among its starters is Plumatic, whose connections have designs on the Breeders’ Cup Mile.