Byword won his second consecutive Group 2 stakes and Rajsaman won his first Group 2 stakes since May in stakes at Longchamp on Saturday, the first program of the two-day weekend Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe festival.
Arc weekend in Paris begins on Saturday at Longchamp with a program that features four Group 2 races, and a few races that could produce runners for the Breeders’ Cup at Churchill Downs on Nov. 4-5.
Two races after the Arc on Sunday's card at Longchamp, Announce, the winner of the Group 1 Prix Jean Romanet at Deauville in August, will be well-backed against 10 rivals in the Prix de l’Opera, which is run over 1 1/4 miles on turf and is worth $470,750.
Goldikova makes her 20th and final French start Sunday in the Prix de la Foret, attempting to win the 15th Group or Grade 1 race of her career in her Paris finale. Before being retired, Goldikova is expected to race once more following the Foret when she tries for a fourth straight Breeders’ Cup Mile win Nov. 5 at Churchill Downs.
The 2011 renewal of the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe has such depth that 2010 winner, Workforce, is nowhere near the early betting favorite for Sunday’s race.
Two fees-paid berths to Breeders’ Cup races at Churchill Downs next month are at stake for the winners of Sunday’s Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere and Prix de l’Opera on the undercard of the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe program at Longchamp in Paris.
Sunday’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp Racecourse in Paris will have a maximum field of 16 after the 2011 Group 1 winners Danedream, Masked Marvel, and Meandre were supplemented to the race for approximately $136,000 on Thursday.
If you're looking for Breeders' Cup clues while watching Sunday's Arc meeting in Longchamp, the thing to do is look beyond the winner.
Nathaniel, the winner of the Group 1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes in England in July, will not start in Sunday’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp in Paris because of expected firm ground, trainer John Gosden told the English press on Wednesday. Instead, Gosden’s stable could start Masked Marvel, the winner of the Group 1 English St. Leger on Sept. 11, in the Arc.
The Emirates Racing Authority this week announced upgrades to group stakes races to be held during 2012 in Dubai, with three Group 2 races attaining Group 1 status next year.
