Luxembourg in stall eight as 20 tackle Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe challenge

Andrew McDermott | 29.09.2022

Ante-post favourite Luxembourg appears well placed in stall eight after all 20 declared runners were allocated their starting berths in a live draw for the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

Having missed the middle part of the season through injury, Aidan O’Brien’s charge will be having just his fourth start of the season in Sunday’s ParisLongchamp showpiece.

The Irish Champion Stakes winner heads the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe betting with Coral at 7/2 as he bids to provide his trainer with a third Arc success following the previous triumphs of Dylan Thomas in 2007 and Found in 2016.

Sir Mark Prescott is likely to be similarly content after his star mare Alpinista (5/1) was handed stall six, with Ralph Beckett’s Irish Derby hero Westover next door in seven.

John and Thady Gosden’s two runners were not as fortunate, however, with the Clarehaven pair of Mostahdaf and Mishriff breaking from 16 and 17 respectively.

The British contingent is completed by William Haggas’ Alenquer, who is in gate 12.

Frankie Dettori will partner last year’s shock Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner Torquator Tasso, who is also drawn in stall 18 and has been the subject of a sustained gamble which has seen the German horse cut to 5/1 from 7/1.

Can the reigning Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe Champion defend his crown @paris_longchamp this weekend? 🤔

Torquator Tasso will be getting help from the Arc's all-time leading jockey in @FrankieDettori 🤩

Check out his final pre-race workout for Marcel Weiss🇩🇪 pic.twitter.com/A4Cm5O3kN9

— World Horse Racing (@WHR) September 27, 2022

Coral’s John Hill said: “The ground looks to be falling in favour of the defending champion Torquator Tasso this weekend and, as a result, the German horse is being well-backed to prevail at Longchamp once again. He now only has Luxembourg ahead of him in the betting.”

The two leading French hopes are the Fabrice Chappet-trained Onesto (stall 11) and Jean-Claude Rouget’s Vadeni (two) – second and third behind Luxembourg at Leopardstown three weeks ago.

Vadeni had previously won the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown and is ridden by Christophe Soumillon, who has two Arc wins on his CV courtesy of Dalakhani (2003) and Zarkava (2008).

A truly classic @Coral-Eclipse 🏇

Watch 𝗩𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗶's magnificent performance at @SandownPark through @JockeyCam.

This is incredible footage! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/uPQTNtk12n

— Coral (@Coral) July 3, 2022

“I was quite happy to see that I didn’t get a very outside draw. I was hoping to have a draw between the middle and the inside and that’s what we have,” Soumillon told Sky Sports Racing.

“It depends how the track will be on Sunday. We are waiting for a lot of rain on Friday night and Saturday morning, so it just depends on the track really.

“Each jockey will take their own decision after a few strides and hopefully the pace will be good.

“The rain plus the distance is a little worry for us – we don’t really know if the horse is going to handle it. It’s a test for him, but I’m sure the way he finished last time he should be good.

“The track was soft in Ireland and the horse is much better in these conditions now, so he should give us a great result.

“He has a great turn of foot and a lot of quality, which is the most important thing you need in a big race like the Arc.”

Leading Japanese hope Titleholder is down the middle in stall 10, with his compatriot Stay Foolish widest of all in 20 and Germany’s Mendocino is lowest in one.

A message from Kazuo Yokoyama, the jockey of Titleholder (タイトルホルダー 🇯🇵)… 🙏#競馬 #日本競馬 #タイトルホルダー #QPAT | @JRA_WorldRacing pic.twitter.com/TGNJwX68dK

— World Horse Racing (@WHR) September 28, 2022

Coral has also opened betting on where the winner of the big race will be trained, and make the UK the 9/4 favourite ahead of the host nation France at 5/2.

Coral’s David Stevens said: “Not only is this year’s Arc wide open, it has a truly international flavour to it, with the first five in the betting hailing from five different nations.

“Although the current favourite, Luxembourg, is trained in Ireland, we make a UK winner our narrow 9/4 favourite, while it’s 6/1 that Japan’s long wait for a first triumph in the race ends this year.”