Sea Of Class moved alongside last year’s winner, Enable, at the head of the betting for the Prix de l’Arc De Triomphe after an effortless success in the Group One Yorkshire Oaks at York on Thursday, a race that also fell to Enable in 2017 on her path to victory in France.
Enable beat Coronet by five lengths last season while Sea Of Class was two-and-a-quarter lengths in front of the same horse. The style and ease of her win were exceptional, however, and she is top-priced at 5-1 for the Arc even though she does not hold an entry.
That is a situation William Haggas, Sea Of Class’s trainer, will expect to rectify at the next supplementary stage and his filly could well go to Longchamp without another race. Victory on 7 October would see her become the eighth female Arc winner in the space of 11 years and the fifth winning three-year-old filly.
Ffos Las 1.45 Sesame 2.15 Momkin 2.50 Sweet Pursuit 3.25 Q Twenty Boy 4.00 Spirit Of Appin 4.30 Rock Force 5.00 Royal Flag
York 1.55 Erik The Red (nap) 2.25 Stradivarius 3.00 Chuck Willis 3.35 Battaash 4.15 Beat Le Bon 4.50 Ulshaw Bridge (nb)
Newmarket 2.05 Ice Gala 2.40 Bacacarat 3.15 Mordred 3.45 Matewan 4.20 St Mary’s 4.55 Highland Pass 5.25 Choosey
Goodwood 5.05 Belated Breath 5.35 Sapa Inca 6.05 Aegean Mist 6.35 Oeil De Tigre 7.05 Astromachia 7.35 Hateya
Salisbury 5.15 Gala Celebration 5.50 Flashcard 6.25 Hallalulu 6.55 Kuwait Currency 7.25 Crystal Casque 7.55 Fields Of Fortune
Chelmsford 5.45 Kalissi 6.15 Deep Sea 6.45 Compass Point 7.15 Pactolus 7.45 Toy Theatre 8.15 Dark Side Dream 8.45 Lulu Star
Tips by Greg Wood
“You always hope they are going to do something like that,” Haggas said, “but she really was impressive. She’s got a great turn of foot and she’s a strong traveller.She’s not in the Arc yet but I stress that it is ‘yet’. There is a lot of water to pass under the bridge but I imagine Mrs [Ling] Tsui [Sea Of Class’s owner] will be keen to pay the supplementary fee.”
Sea Of Class was sired by the brilliant Sea The Stars, who won the 2,000 Guineas, Derby and Arc in the Tsui family’s colours in 2009.
