Thousands of racegoers will take a long, final look at Longchamp on Sunday evening before they head out into the Bois de Boulogne after the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. A handful may remember an earlier version of the course, but for most, the track’s two magnificent grandstands, which were built in the 1960s, represent the only Longchamp they have ever known.
Great champions like Alleged, Mill Reef, Peintre Celebre and Dancing Brave won their Arcs here, but the old stands are now surplus to requirements on 364 days of the year. The huge crowds that crammed into the course 50 years ago are a distant memory, and cards worth €200,000 unfold in front of empty terraces. The punters are around the country in PMU cafes, while the true turfiste is a dying breed.
The wrecking crews will move in soon after Sunday’s race, and it will be a much more compact Longchamp that greets racegoers on Arc day in 2017 after a one-year relocation to Chantilly. There could be no better way to bid farewell to its much-loved predecessor, however, than an historic third victory for Criquette Head-Maarek’s Treve (2.55).
It would be not only a unique achievement but a most appropriate one too, given that the Head-Maarek family’s association with both track and race is even older than the grandstands. The elements, though, do not seem to agree, and a dry week has seen Treve’s price extend from odds-on to 11-10 against. That is where it remained on Saturday morning, even after a single-figure draw for Treve in stall eight while the Derby winner, Golden Horn, and Frankie Dettori, ended up on the outside.
Some bookies suggest that Treve’s price could drift further still on Sunday, but any quote of odds-against about the five-year-old is a very fair price. The ground will be good, not firm – very similar to the going for her two-length victory 12 months ago, in fact – and while luck in running will always be a factor in a big field at Longchamp, Treve has the attitude and attributes to reduce it to a minimum.
Treve’s win in the Prix Vermeille last time out was hugely impressive, and suggested that there are few, if any, chinks in her armour for rivals to exploit. If Thierry Jarnet, Treve’s jockey, has her within striking distance at the top of the straight, Dettori would need to be riding a Harley-Davidson to stand much chance of reaching the line faster than the favourite, even if he has found a relatively clear route from stall 14.
Golden Horn is the only opponent in Sunday’s field within 4lb of Treve on Timeform’s ratings. New Bay, an André Fabre-trained three-year-old colt who has won the French Derby and Prix Niel this season, would have the classic profile of an Arc winner in an ordinary year. It is not.
Found ran a solid race when a length behind Golden Horn in the Irish Champion Stakes last time out and has attracted some each-way support to become the fourth three-year-old filly to win in eight years. She has the worst draw of all, though, and does not look quite good enough to win in any case.
On drying ground, Flintshire, last year’s runner-up, could run well again, but it is very difficult to see beyond a remarkable third victory for Treve, with Flintshire and New Bay possibly filling the places.
The Prix Marcel Boussac is the first Group One on a rejigged running order at Longchamp. Ballydoyle (1.00) has several pounds in hand of her field there, while Johannes Vermeer (1.35) can complete a double for Aidan O’Brien and Ryan Moore in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardère.
The draw, as always, will be key to the result of the Prix de l’Abbaye and Mecca’s Angel, the Nunthorpe winner, has the worst of it in 19. Steps (3.40) is a big price but in the best form of his career and has a good pitch in three, while Limato (4.50), the runner-up in the Coronation Cup at Royal Ascot, should record his first Group One success in the Prix de la Forêt.
