Longchamp: Tarfasha tepid choice in Prix de l'Opera

Before and after the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp Racecourse in Paris on Sunday, there are six Group 1 races for Thoroughbreds, some of which could produce runners for Breeders’ Cup races at Santa Anita this fall.

The Arc is worth a staggering $6.2 million, and the second-most-lucrative Thoroughbred race is the $500,000 Prix de l’Opera for fillies and mares over 1 1/4 miles on turf. Tarfasha, the winner of the Group 2 Blandford Stakes in Ireland last month and the runner-up in the English Oaks in June, is a lukewarm favorite in a field of 11. She also is considered a candidate for the BC Filly and Mare Turf on Nov. 1.

Sole Power will be favored to win his third Group 1 race in his last four starts in the Prix de l’Abbaye over a straightaway five-furlong course on the Longchamp infield. Trained by Ed Lynam, Sole Power, 7, was only fourth in the Group 1 Haydock Sprint Cup in England on Sept. 6. The $437,500 Prix de l’Abbaye drew a field of 19.

The day’s other leading sprint for older horses is the $375,000 Prix de la Foret over seven furlongs. Anodin, a 4-year-old full brother to the star miler Goldikova, and Olympic Glory, the winner of two Group 1 races in England in the last year, head a field of 16.

The Wow Signal, unbeaten in three races, will be favored against nine rivals in the $437,500 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere for 2-year-olds over seven furlongs. The Wow Signal won the Group 2 Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot in June and the Group 1 Prix Morny at Deauville in August.

His main rival is Gleneagles, the winner of the Group 1 National Stakes at The Curragh in Ireland on Sept. 14 and two other stakes for Aidan O’Brien since late July.

O’Brien has the leading contender in the $375,000 Prix Marcel Boussac for 2-year-olds fillies over a mile in Found, who was third in the Group 1 Moyglare Stud Stakes at The Curragh on Sept. 14. She must beat Ervedya, who was third behind The Wow Signal in the Prix Morny.

The longest race on the program is the Prix du Cadran over 2 1/2 miles. The 5-year-old mare Pale Mimosa, who won the Group 2 Lonsdale Cup at York, England, in August but was fifth in the Group 1 Irish St. Leger last month, is part of a field of 10.

The Prix de l'Opera (Filly and Mare Turf), Prix de la Foret (Mile), Jean-Luc Lagardere (Juvenile Turf), and Marcel Boussac (Juvenile Fillies Turf) are all Breeders' Cup Win and You're In races.