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Nick Luck

Nick Luck’s blog: Blue is the colour in the Arc

2 years ago
| BY News Team

What a Sunday we have in store at Longchamp with the Prix De l’Arc de Triomphe headlining a stellar card. This is going to be a belter and Nick Luck has previewed it all for us at William Hill.

Arc 1-2-3-4

ADAYAR (10/3) remains the strong fancy for Sunday’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Paris Longchamp (3.05pm), despite obvious concerns over the extremity of the going conditions. It is easy to forget that he bolted up in the Derby: even allowing for Hurricane Lane’s inability to act on the track and Mojo Star’s slightly interrupted passage, it was a complete demolition job from the disadvantageous inside post. His King George romp over an on-song Mishriff could be marked up significantly on the basis of how hard he pulled in the early part of the race, but a bigger field and more signed-on pace here should enable him to settle and be even more potent at the business end.

His stablemate Hurricane Lane is much respected, but Tarnawa (already a Group One winner on horrible ground here) surely poses a greater threat given her almost perfect preparation for this and the fact she’s ridden by Christophe Soumillon, who can be expected to deliver her with the final challenge.

There are very few results that would amaze me: clearly Snowfall would be a huge threat if returning to her early season zest, but she looked listless in the Vermeille and it will take all of Aidan O’Brien’s skill to have her moving forward to win an Arc of this depth, while Chrono Genesis has all the ability, but might find the ground has really gone against her, a comment that partially applies to the slightly exposed Love.

With the classy Raabihah not favoured by draw or ground, Sealiway might be the most interesting home-trained contender. Subsequent events have shown his Jockey Club second to be pretty creditable and it’s hard to erase the memory of his romp in the mud here last year. If the pace battalion of Mojo Star, Broome, Deep Bond and Hurricane Lane get too spicy too early, I’d expect a pretty decent run from the German contender Torquator Tasso, who had a very cosy time of it in the Grosser Preis von Baden. By the same sire, the unexposed Alenquer will surely appreciate a return to 12 furlongs and is another who should be finishing. The Prix Niel form of Bubble Gift and Baby Rider doesn’t look good enough.

  1. Adayar

  2. Tarnawa

  3. Sealiway

  4. Torquator Tasso

Remainder of Longchamp card

PALMAS can win the Prix de l’Opera (3.50pm) for Germany and the hugely experienced Andreas Wohler at 13/2. Admittedly she’s taking on a different calibre of opponent here, but she was simply devastating in the German Oaks, thrashing a filly that was most unlucky not to win a Group 2 next time. She’ll need a thorough test at the trip, but will likely get it.

SUESA might just blow them away in the Abbaye (4.25pm) at 9/4. It’s hard to overstate how well she ran in the Nunthorpe when nothing was in her favour, and for me she produced the sprinting performance of the season when winning at Goodwood. Anything like that and she’s really hard to beat here with a decent set-up much more likely. Compatriot Berneuil might round out an unlikely exacta for the home team in this.

SAGAMIYRA (13/2) looks to have an awful lot in her favour in the Prix de la Foret (5.00pm). Apart from the draw, that is. But it’s worth taking a chance, given her stalk-and-pounce style, that she can weave her way into it. She’s certainly in excellent form, and looks a seven furlong filly on balance. I am keen to take on Space Blues on the ground, admirable though he is.

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