Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe Tips and Free Bets

Each year on the first Sunday of October we have one of the real treats of the racing year, as the best 1m4f performers in the world congregate in France, this year at Longchamp, for what for many is the world’s championship middle distance event. Here we take a look at the best odds and offers surrounding the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and provide our betting tips for the race.

This 1m4f Group 1 contest for runners aged three and older was first run at Longchamp in 1920. The €5 million in total prize money now on offer make this the richest turf race in the world, and not far behind the Dubai World Cup and Pegasus World Cup.

Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe Tips and Betting Offers, 3:05, 6th October 2019

The Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe is the biggest race remaining for the flat racing season. The build up for this incredibly prestigious Group 1, which takes place over 1 mile 4 furlongs at Longchamp, is always exciting but especially so this year as the wonder mare Enable goes for an unprecedented hat-trick of Arc wins.

Perfect Preparation Should Make Enable Unbeatable

Every single bookmaker has Enable at odds on to win the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. That says a lot about the quality of John Gosden’s five-year-old given the quality of the competition she’ll face in Paris.

Enable’s first Arc win was mightly impressive. She was the odds on favourite that day and was a straightforward winner. That wasn’t the case 12 months ago when Enable had to dig deep to hold off in the closing stages following a season that was badly affected by injury.

Gosden was delighted that Enable was able to hang on last year and is hoping for a better showing this time around following a much better season. Following a deserved win in the Breeders’ Cup Turf, Enable won the Eclipse at Sandown, edged out Crystal Ocean in an incredible renewal of the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes then put the field to the sword in the Yorkshire Oaks.

Enable is the best racehorse in the world and is fully deserving of the chance to make history.

Magical the Each Way Value

Aidan O’Brien has a big decision to make ahead of the Arc. He has two excellent entries for the race – Japan and Magical. The early rumours were that Ryan Moore would be booked for the ride on Japan, thus marking him out as O’Brien’s main option.

There is no doubt that the three-year-old is on the up. Japan has already won over the same course and distance at Longchamp and beat Crystal Ocean last time out in the Juddmonte International.

However, it’s Magical who looks the best each way betting option at a more than generous 12/1 with Ladbrokes. The four-year-old claimed some impressive wins earlier in the season before running into Crystal Ocean and Enable who were just too good.

Avoiding those two at the Irish Champion Stakes gave Magical a chance to add another Group 1 win to her CV which she duly took. Indeed, her run at Leopardstown was better than it needed to be to win the race and certainly good enough to suggest that she will be a major player at Longchamp.

Betting Predictions

Enable has been the horse to beat in every race that she’s competed in for at least two years. She is an absolute superstar and has every chance of landing that historic hat-trick of Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe wins. The prices may look a little short but it’s tough to argue that the 8/11 bet365 are quoting is anything but fair.

Enable will have to overcome a large number of top quality rivals at Longchamp, the most tempting of which from a betting perspective is Magical at 12/1 with Ladbrokes.

Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe Previous Winners

  • 2018 – Enable – jockey Frankie Dettori, trainer John Gosden
  • 2017 – Enable – jockey Frankie Dettori, trainer John Gosden
  • 2016 – Found – jockey Ryan Moore, trainer Aidan O’Brien
  • 2015 – Golden Horn – jockey Frankie Dettori, trainer John Gosden
  • 2014 – Treve – jockey Thierry Jarnet, trainer Criquette Head-Maarek
  • 2013 – Treve – jockey Thierry Jarnet, trainer Criquette Head-Maarek
  • 2012 – Solemia – jockey Olivier Peslier, trainer Carlos Laffon-Parias
  • 2011 – Danedream – jockey Andrasch Starke, trainer Peter Schiergen
  • 2010 – Workforce – jockey Ryan Moore, trainer Sir Michael Stoute
  • 2009 – Sea The Stars – jockey Michael Kinane, trainer John Oxx
  • 2008 – Zarkava – jockey Christophe Soumillon, trainer Alain de Royer-Dupré
  • 2007 – Dylan Thomas – jockey Kieren Fallon, trainer Aidan O’Brien
  • 2006 – Rail Link – jockey Stéphane Pasquier, trainer André Fabre

Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe History

With the inaugural running of this race in 1920 coming so soon after the end of the First World War, the title was chosen as a nod to the famous war monument in the French capital which was also the scene of a post war victory parade.

The concept for this contest was to create a race which allowed the best of the best to compete, on non-handicap terms, over the championship distance of 1m4f. Having grown to become the most prestigious – and with €5 million in prize money, also the richest – turf race in the world, “the Arc” has certainly delivered on its initial aim.

To look through the previous winners here is akin to taking a journey through a list of some of the greatest racehorses of the past century. Sea Bird (1965), Mill Reef (1971), Dancing Brave (1986), Montjeu (1999), Zarkava (2008), and Sea The Stars (2009) are just a few of the names to stand out.

To win Europe’s mile and a half championship once is no small feat, to do so twice therefore is an achievement worthy of considerable acclaim. As of 2015 seven horses had twice had their name added to the Arc roll of honour. Ksar was the first, winning in 1920 and 1921, being followed by the likes of the greatest Italian horse of all time, Ribot in 1955 and 1956 and the sensational filly Treve in 2013 and 2014.

Motrico deserves special mention as the only horse in history to reclaim the prize having lost it. Retired to stud following his victory here in 1930 he missed the 1931 edition, however having failed to produce the desired results in his stallion duties he was returned to the track in 1932, where he showed he still had what it takes on the track at least. Motrico was seven years old at the time of that second win, no other horse older than five has ever won this race.

Overall this has been a race in which the younger runners have fared particularly well. Of the first 94 editions, 59 were won by a three year old, 27 by a four year old, and only eight by a runner aged five or older.

The great French trainer André Fabre is out on his own as the most successful handler in the history of the race, with seven wins between 1987 and 2006.

Olivier Peslier was the man in the saddle for the Fabre trained winners Peintre Celebre (1997) and Sagamix (1998). With two further victories to his name, Peslier is included in the group of jockeys who have won this race four times. Jacques Doyasbére, Freddy Head, Yves Saint-Martin, Pat Eddery, Thierry Jarnet are the other members of this elite club. But it is Frankie Dettori who is ahead of the pack with his fifth and sixth victories in 2017 and 2018 on John Gosden’s Enable.