RACING:FAME AND Glory and Cape Blanco are set to lead a team of up to 10 Irish hopes into Sunday's €5.7 million Group One Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe extravaganza at Longchamp, although the prospect of very testing ground conditions is causing headaches among the raiding party.
The going at Longchamp yesterday was officially “soft to very soft”, but with the possibility of considerable rain in Paris on Saturday there is concern the famous surface could turn heavy.
Eddie Lynam’s 100 to 1 Nunthorpe winner Sole Power is the sole Irish sprinter in the Prix de l’Abbaye, but his trainer indicated yesterday the forecast will have to be wrong for their to be any chance of the horse running.
Aidan O’Brien’s Moyglare winner Misty For Me is a likely starter in the Prix Marcel Boussac, where she could be joined by Jessica Harrington’s Laughing Lashes, who chased her home at the Curragh.
But it is his Arc squad that is focusing the champion trainer’s attention most.
O’Brien has seven left in the €4 million Arc, the centrepiece of a hugely prestigious card which features seven Group One races worth a total of €5.7 million.
“Very soft ground wouldn’t be ideal for any of them. The plan is still that Fame And Glory and Cape Blanco will run, but we’re hoping they don’t get too much rain on Saturday,” he said.
Asked if very testing conditions might provoke a re-think on Arc running plans, O’Brien said: “We cross these bridges when we come to them. Ideally we wouldn’t want bad ground.”
Longchamp’s clerk of the course, Christian Delporte, reported: “It is soft at the moment, but with the rain on Saturday it will probably be very soft. The condition of the track is soft, but it will be okay.”
Jim Bolger has enjoyed Group One success at Longchamp with Polonia (1987 Abbaye), Alexander Goldrun (2004 Prix de l’Opera) and Finsceal Beo (2006 Boussac). The former champion trainer has a couple of entries this weekend, with Lush Lashes in the Opera and the Curragh winner Whipless in the Prix Jean Luc Lagadere.
Ballydoyle’s Samuel Morse is also an entry in the Lagadere, but he has been declared to run in tomorrow’s Middle Park Stakes over six furlongs at Newmarket.
The Luke Comer-trained Kargali is the sole Irish hope left in the Prix de la Foret over seven furlongs, which could turn into a sparkling event with Goldikova set to clash with the Richard Hannon pair, Paco Boy and Dick Turpin.
Ground conditions, though, remain of primary importance, and Mick Channon, trainer of the triple-Arc runner-up Youmzain, said yesterday: “They say it looks like being heavy. We’ve never run on that but we seem to go alright on soft. We won’t use it as an excuse.”
Meanwhile, time has been called on the career of the one-time classic hope Arazan, once rated as promising a Group One prospect as his former stable companion Sea The Stars.
