Four horses are competing to head the market for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in Paris next month after Treve, last year’s winner, could finish only fourth behind the outsider Baltic Baroness in the Group One Prix Vermeille at Longchamp on Sunday.
Treve was still unbeaten after five starts when she swept to an impressive five-length success at Longchamp last October, but has now failed to add a win in three attempts. The decision to replace Frankie Dettori, the retained jockey to Treve’s owner Sheikh Joaan al-Thani, with Thierry Jarnet, who rode her to victory in the Arc, made no significant impact on her lacklustre form, as Treve’s challenge flattened out in the final furlong after she had made some ground from the rear of the field.
“The filly had a few problems and it might be that she is not the same filly as she was last year,” Criquette Head-Maarek, Treve’s trainer, said. “You have to remember that after the race in England [at Royal Ascot in June] she was stopped for a whole month [with a muscle problem].
“Personally I would like to see her in the Arc and I will do everything I can so she can be at the start of the Arc. The decision shouldn’t be made hastily, you have to see her again after the race. There might be some fine-tuning that can be done and she would be much better suited to it being softer.”
Bookmakers reacted by pushing Treve out to a top price of 10-1 to become the first dual winner of the Arc since Alleged in 1978, but Sheikh Joaan could take at least a little consolation from seeing his colours carried to victory in the remaining Arc trials on the Longchamp card.
Ectot, who took the Group Two Prix Niel by a neck under Gregory Benoist after idling in front, and Ruler Of The World, last year’s Derby winner, who was successful in the Prix Foy with Dettori in the saddle, are both potential rides for the Italian in next month’s big race.
Ectot, with Gregory Benoist riding, was held up at the rear of the field in the Niel, a race which has not highlighted the subsequent Arc winner since 2006. The pace was steady and Ectot was pulling for much of the first 10 furlongs, but still made ground with impressive ease in the straight to sweep into a clear lead a furlong out.
With the race won, Ectot then idled in the closing stages and allowed Teletext to close to within a neck at the line, while Aidan O’Brien’s Adelaide, who found trouble in running, finished fast to be another length and a quarter away in third.
Ectot was running for the first time since April and should have scope for improvement ahead of his major target next month. Bookmakers were quick to cut his odds for the Arc, and the three-year-old is now top-priced at 7-1.
“He was very fresh because he had not run in a while,” Elie Lellouche, Ectot’s trainer, said. “If you have a good horse it can go over any distance and I was always confident he could run over a mile and a half.”
Benoist can choose between Ectot and Jean-Claude Rouget’s unbeaten filly Avenir Certain as his big-race ride. If he opts for Avenir Certain, it would leave the way clear for Dettori to take over on Ectot, although he may want to see how the ground is riding in Paris before dismissing Ruler Of The World, now top-priced at 16-1.
“Aidan [O’Brien, Ruler Of The World’s trainer] gave me a lot of confidence,” Dettori said. “He said he stays a mile and a half well so don’t turn it into a sprint.
“If it was raining, he would be knocking on the door [in the Arc].”
Taghrooda, the Oaks and King George winner is now the 6-1 joint-favourite for the Arc with Avenir Certain at the best prices available. Ectot and the Japanese-trained challenger Just A Way are both 7-1 chances, with Harp Star, another runner from Japan, on 8-1.
