LONGCHAMP PREVIEW:AIDAN O'BRIEN hopes the 13 runners he fields at this weekend's Group One prizes around Europe will be lucky but fortune could already have deserted Duke Of Marmalade ahead of tomorrow's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.
Johnny Murtagh is currently declared to ride the 'Duke' in the world's richest turf race which is the centrepiece of Europe's richest meeting at Longchamp.
However, the forecast rain for Paris tonight could yet see Duke Of Marmalade taken out and Murtagh switched to his stable companion Soldier Of Fortune. On top of that, the apparent Irish number one was yesterday handed a wide draw in stall 14 of the 16-runner field.
All in all it presents O'Brien with a 'will he-won't he run' headache that doesn't even take into account Arc opposition of the quality of the champion filly Zarkava as well as Getaway who represents the greatest Arc trainer of all, Andre Fabre.
The prestigious Arc festival gets underway today with Yeats leading the O'Brien charge in the Prix du Cadran. The star stayer will be an odds-on favourite to kick off what could be a remarkable weekend for Irish-trained horses as 26 in total will run over the 48 eight hours, including 19 at Group One level.
Eddie Lynam's Duff joins the Ballydoyle pair, Astronomer Royal and US Ranger, in today's Prix de la Foret over seven furlongs while O'Brien has both Halfway To Heaven and Listen in the Sun Chariot Stakes at Newmarket.
But it is tomorrow's top-flight races in France that could see the Irish make a huge impact.
Jim Bolger's star filly Lush Lashes will be joined by John Oxx's Katiyra in the Prix de l'Opera while the Ballydoyle challenge is so strong that the Irish Oaks winner Moonstone is second string to Giant's Causeway's full sister You'resothrilling.
Bolger has two, Maoineach and Paidrin, in the Prix Marcel Boussac but it is the David Wachman number one Again, already a top-flight winner in the Moyglare, who looks to hold the best claims while O'Brien's Mastercraftsman will be long odds-on to give the trainer an eighth success in the Prix Jean Luc Lagadere.
Abraham Lincoln is the sole Irish hope in the Prix de l'Abbaye where Marchand d'Or's perfect wide draw in 20 of 20 looks to make Freddie Head's flying grey the bet of the day.
But even such a sparkling support card can't shake the Arc's position as Europe's most prestigious prize and even with Ballydoyle's A-Team still set to line up, the French will not hear of defeat for Zarkava.
"She will show us if she is a great horse or a good horse," her trainer, Alain de Royer-Dupre, said yesterday before dismissing concerns about Zarkava's slow start in the Vermeille.
"The good thing is she did it in the prep. All we can hope for is luck and not too much rain. That is the main thing."
O'Brien will say 'Amen' to the last point for Duke Of Marmalade as the trainer attempts to follow up Dylan Thomas's win last year. However, softer going would look to swing things the way of Soldier Of Fortune whose greatest win came on testing ground in the Irish Derby.
Cut in the ground would also suit the late contender Kamsin who landed the German Derby during the summer but it could be another German-bred who represents a touch of each-way value.
Getaway has yet to win at Group One level but he was fourth after a troubled run in the Arc last year and looked a potential superstar in the spring. Flops in the Coronation Cup and the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud tarnished his reputation somewhat but he bounced back with a Group Two win at Deauville last month and crucially has won on all surfaces.
Getaway's presence in the race is significant anyway considering his trainer Andre Fabre has won the Arc seven times and jockey Oliver Peslier completed a hat-track from 1996-98. Ten years later an anniversary success could be on.
