Air Force Blue already is a two-time Group 1 winner for trainer Aidan O’Brien, easily the best resume among seven 2-year-olds entered in the Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes on Saturday at Newmarket in England. So why isn’t he the ante-post favorite to win the Dewhurst?

Minding, who will be favored in Friday’s $760,000 Fillies’ Mile at Newmarket Racecourse in England, has kept pretty good company in recent starts.

Trained by Aidan O’Brien, Minding was second to stablemate Ballydoyle in the Group 2 Debutante Stakes at The Curragh on Aug. 22 and beat that rival in a minor upset in the Group 1 Moyglare Stud Stakes at The Curragh on Sept. 13.

Ballydoyle won the Group 1 Prix Marcel Boussac at Longchamp in Paris last Sunday.

A rematch in the Breeders’ Cup Turf between the first two finishers in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe is not something American racing fans have gotten to contemplate, but that is very much on the table this year when the Breeders’ Cup comes to Keeneland for the first time.

The 2-year-old Ultra and 3-year-old Make Believe gave leading French trainer Andre Fabre important wins in Group 1 stakes on the undercard of Sunday’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe program at Longchamp Racecourse in Paris.

Make Believe’s win in the $336,000 Prix de la Foret at seven furlongs may lead to a start in the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Keeneland on Oct. 31.

Treve could not get her historic third win in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, but trainer John Gosden got his first when Golden Horn scored a  two-length victory over Flintshire on Sunday at Longchamp.

Frankie Dettori parked Golden Horn just off the flank of Treve’s pacemaker, Shahah, and stayed there until there was about a quarter-mile left in the Arc. Then he asked Golden Horn for run and the English Derby winner gave it to him, opening daylight on a star-studded field and never giving any of the closers a chance.

Esoterique won her second consecutive Group 1 race Saturday in the $377,000 Sun Chariot Stakes for female turf milers at Newmarket Racecourse in England, a victory that could lead to an appearance in the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Keeneland on Oct. 31.

Esoterique, the 11-8 favorite, won the Sun Chariot Stakes by a half-length over Integral, the 2014 winner. Esoterique was ridden by Pierre Charles Boudot, who dropped his whip in the final furlong but still guided his mount to the front in the final sixteenth to get by the pacesetting Integral.

There are seven Group 1 races on Sunday’s nine-race program at Longchamp Racecourse, annually the highlight of racing on the French calendar. Three races on the undercard for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe are part of the Breeders’ Cup Win and You’re In program and may produce runners for Breeders’ Cup races at Keeneland on Oct. 30-31.

In 2014, Treve looked like a dim shadow of her best self, yet she stormed to a two-length victory in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, winning the biggest prize in European racing for the second year in a row. This fall, Treve, well, is very much Treve again. No talk of sore feet or a misaligned back, no worries about her never being the same again. She won her Arc prep, the Prix Vermeille, by six lengths while absolutely cruising under the wire, and all subsequent reports from the camp of trainer Criquette Head-Maarek point to a horse loving life, itching to race.

The 5-year-old mare Integral will make her third consecutive appearance in the Group 1 Sun Chariot Stakes at a mile on turf for fillies and mares at Newmarket Racecourse in England on Saturday, a race she won last year.

Integral will not be favored, a role that will go to the French shipper Esoterique, who won the Group 1 Prix Jacques le Marois at Deauville, France, on Aug. 15.

No horse has won the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe three times, and in fact, no horse even has tried – not until Sunday, when Treve can etch even more deeply her place in racing history if she wins her third Arc.