Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe Preview

Quite possible the biggest flat race in Europe and one of the biggest in the world as a whole this Sunday see's another star studded Arc renewal take centre stage in Chantilly this upcoming Sunday afternoon.

It's headed by quite possibly the superstar horse of the season in Enable for John Gosden and Frankie Dettori on the back of a string of top class victories in four consecutive in Group 1 races. She bolted up last time out at York which was also the case in the King George and the Oaks the times previous. It doesn't take a genius to work out that she is quite clearly the horse to beat here and looks the most likely winner as her best priced of 10/11 suggests.

Personally I do think Enable will win here and cement her place at the top after a remarkable campaign however thats not to say that isn't a whole host of rivals that have more than enough ability to serve it up to her. The horse just below her in the market Ulysses is currently rated a pound better than Enable on official ratings albeit Enable receiving the allowances. He's had an outstanding year himself culminating in him winning the Group 1 Juddmonte International at York last time out. He was second behind Enable in the King George however he did travel very well at Ascot that day as he does in so many of his races and a better surface might just see him get closer.

There's still many questions hanging over the race and possibly the most prominent one of all is which horse is Ryan Moore going to ride? As at the moment he has a choice of a whole host of Group 1 stars to take his pick from including Order Of St George, Highland Reel, Winter, Capri, Cliffs Of Moher, Seventh Heaven & Idaho. There's certainly been worse problems to have I suppose than that group. Me personally thinks that he'll go for Order Of St George, I still have my doubts over whether Winter will go as I do Highland Reel due to the ground. If he does ride Order Of St George and goes for the same type of tactic that was deployed in the Group 1 Irish St Leger last time out where he bolted up by many lenghts, he could well make a serious bid here. He's best priced at around 12/1 at the minute which I think is a great price.

Brametot & Zarak look to be the strongest of the French contenders by the betting however its one of the outsiders that I quite like at somewhat of a tasty price and that's Cloth Of Stars for the French maestro that is Andre Fabre who has won this race an outstanding seven times. This horse really came into his own throughout the spring with wins in Group contests. He was then given a rest until the Autumn for a tilt at this, he ran a good race when second behind the German contender here Dschingis Secret despite being as keen as ever under Mickael Barzalona. He's trading at a best priced 33/1 for this and if he gets a bit of luck in running he might just make a bold bid to get into the frame.

The other one I like at a huge price is one of the outsiders of the O'Brien mob and thats Idaho. He flopped last time out when favourite over in Saratoga and I'm more than happily putting a line through that run. Before that he ran a fine race in the King George when finishing third behind Enable & Ulysses and also won the Group 2 Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot. He handle's all kinds of ground and is in my opinion a strong contender at a big price, best priced at 33/1. As is normally the case with O'Brien runners, its never certain whether they'll be running so it's always best to wait until firms go No Runner No Bet if you are punting.