Wet turf will impact Breeders' Cup qualifiers in France
Très souple. Collant.
Those words mean trouble in rainy Paris for over-the-ground horses hoping to catch a break in Sunday’s five Breeders’ Cup qualifiers, including the $5.8 million Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (G1).
“Très souple” means very soft, and in this context “collant” means sticky and gooey. Those are two of the descriptions that may describe the bottomless turf at ParisLongchamp.
“This year the ground will ease considerably given the recent rains in the Parisian region,” said a statement Friday morning from France Galop, the organization that runs that nation’s horse racing.
Persistently rainy weather this week is forecast by Météo-France to continue through Saturday with a possible break Sunday morning.
Those conditions already cost the Arc one of its headliners. Trainer Aidan O’Brien removed Love, his filly that is 3-for-3 in Group 1 starts this year, before the race was drawn Thursday. Instead, she will train right up to the Breeders’ Cup next month at Keeneland.
“The notion that the Breeders’ Cup Turf is going to feature Ghaiyyath and Love arguably will make it the best 1 1/2-mile race anywhere in the world this year on turf,” said Scott Burton of Racing Post. Racing for Godolphin, the 5-year-old horse Ghaiyyath is also a three-time Group 1 winner in 2020.
That leaves the Arc, also at 1 1/2 miles, with less of a storyline but also a sense of déjà vu. It was only last October when Enable was trying for an unprecedented three-peat. Now she is simply trying for an unprecedented third Arc win, albeit non-consecutive.
Very soft ground may have cost Enable last year when she crossed a rueful second to 13-1 long shot Waldgeist. The result was unpopular with the 40,000 spectators at the track, and it prompted winning jockey Pierre-Charles Boudot to say, “We kicked Bambi.”
“Bambi” is all grown up now. Trained by John Gosden, who will not be in France because of COVID concerns, and ridden by Frankie Dettori, the 6-year-old Enable drew post 5 in the field of 15 and has firmed to a nearly 7-5 (+137) favorite in European betting, according to Oddschecker.com. Even before Love’s defection, Enable was still about a 9-5 (+175) top choice. Love was more than 5-2 (+275) when she was withdrawn.
Now Enable’s stablemate Stradivarius is the second betting choice. The 6-year-old runner-up in last month’s Prix Foy (G2) at Longchamp is 6-1. Then comes Prix Ganay (G1) winner Sottsass at 8-1.
France Galop points out that 11 of the last 30 runnings of the Arc were on sticky, heavy or very heavy ground. The favorite has not won under such conditions since Dalakhani in 2003. Bekhabad, Camelot, Orfèvre and Enable have since fallen victim to the ground. Or perhaps better horses on the day.
A win-and-you’re-in race for the Breeders’ Cup Turf, the Arc is scheduled to start Sunday at 10:05 a.m. ET.
In Sunday’s other four Breeders’ Cup Group 1 qualifiers at ParisLongchamp, Coolmore maiden winner St Mark’s Basilica (3-2) is the favorite in the seven-furlong Prix Jean-Luc Lagardère (Juvenile Turf) at 8:15 a.m. ET, Group 2 winner Pretty Gorgeous (7-4) is shortest priced in the one-mile Prix Marcel Boussac (Juvenile Fillies Turf) at 8:50 a.m., Coolmore’s two-time Group 1 winner Fancy Blue (11-4) is favored in the 1 1/4-mile Prix de l’Opéra (Filly & Mare Turf) at 10:50 a.m., and Glass Slippers (5-2) seeks back-to-back victories in the five-furlong Prix de l’Abbaye (Turf Sprint) at 11:25 a.m.