Five horses of interest on 2024 Arc Trials Day

Sunday is day two of the Irish Champions Festival, but it’s also Arc Trials Day at ParisLongchamp. 

The informative card includes three stepping stones to the Oct. 6 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (G1) – the Prix Niel (G2), Prix Vermeille (G1), and Prix Foy (G2) – as well as course-and-distance preps for the Prix de l’Abbaye (G1) and Prix de la Foret (G1).

Here are quick takes on horses of interest in the five Group stakes for Thoroughbreds.

Prix du Pin (G3): Race 1, 7:23 a.m. ET

At the risk of being incorrigible, I’ll give #7 Shartash (4-1) another chance to make good since his acquisition by Wathnan Racing. The Archie Watson trainee appeared to be returning to the smart form he’d shown as a juvenile, but the cutback to six furlongs hasn’t panned out quite as well as hoped. Maybe going back up to about seven furlongs will do the trick. After all, his spring renaissance came at this trip. 

Prix Foy (G2): Race 3, 8:33 a.m. ET

Aidan O’Brien’s #4 Continuous won’t be anywhere near his 7-2 morning-line price, but he’s the most compelling horse in the small field. A sneaky fifth in last year’s Arc, when wheeling back from his St Leger (G1) triumph, the son of Heart’s Cry is eligible to be stronger as a four-year-old. His recent victory in the Royal Whip (G3) over Trustyourinstinct, who came back to win during the Irish Champions Festival, should set Continuous up well for this venture.

Prix Vermeille (G1): Race 5, 9:57 a.m. ET

How often can #2 Bluestocking keep going to the well after a series of outstanding efforts? Will star sophomores #9 Opera Singer and #5 Sparkling Plenty pass their stamina test? Will #3 Emily Upjohn be in the mood to compete? 

As that preamble indicates, there’s no shortage of questions surrounding several prime players in the Vermeille. In the circumstances, #10 Aventure (8-1) appeals as a price play. 

The Wertheimer et Frere homebred looked bound for stardom when romping in the Prix de Royaumont (G3) at this about 1 1/2-mile distance. Sent off as the favorite two weeks later in the Prix de Diane (French Oaks) (G1), Aventure was a close fourth to Sparkling Plenty and #6 Survie. Trainer Christophe Ferland believes that the quick turnaround worked against her, but a wide trip throughout didn’t help either.

Aventure resumed from a freshening to beat older distaffers back up in trip for the Prix de Pomone (G2), which was designed as a warm-up for this goal. A half-sister to 2016 Vermeille heroine Left Hand, Aventure is also from the immediate family of Group 1 queen Plumania, a two-time Vermeille placer. 

Prix Niel (G2): Race 6, 10:40 a.m. ET

#1 Look de Vega (4-5) rates as the antepost Arc favorite in light of his Prix du Jockey Club (French Derby) (G1) heroics, but the rub is whether the form can be taken literally. He won on heavy going in his first start in a Group race. If you harbor a mental reservation that a few of his rivals were not seen to best effect that day, you’ll be wary of getting stuck into him at short odds here.

I suspect that #2 Delius will offer a bit more value than his morning line of 5-2. Although he suffered his first loss as the favorite in the course-and-distance Grand Prix de Paris (G1), the Jean-Claude Rouget pupil didn’t have the best early position.

Delius uncorked the fastest final sectional according to france-galop.com, covering about three furlongs in :33.57, to finish third. That was marginally quicker than Grand Prix de Paris hero #6 Sosie’s :33.66. Sosie, who had been third in the French Derby, is a case in point of a colt moving forward in the interim and relishing the stretch-out to about 1 1/2 miles. 

Note that Delius gets a rider change to tactical genius Ioritz Mendizabal, implying that he’ll be given every chance to put his best hoof forward on Sunday. The Frankel colt had won both prior starts at this trip, including the Prix du Lys (G3) at Chantilly.

Prix du Petit Couvert (G3): Race 7, 11:15 a.m. ET

Ballydoyle raider #7 Aesop’s Fables has to need this race off the layoff, doesn’t he? If he’s anywhere near the form of his third in last year’s Abbaye and Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (G1), he’ll win, but it’s a real gamble to assume so. The No Nay Never colt was a ring-rusty seventh in his April comeback before capturing the May 19 Sole Power Sprint (G3), and he’ll presumably appreciate this tightener ahead of the Abbaye.

Trainer James Tate has made no secret of his high regard for #13 Electric Storm (8-1), who could thrive on the cutback to about five furlongs. A stiff six at the Curragh arguably found her out last time, but her near-miss in the Prix de Ris-Orangis (G3) two back establishes that she fits at this level. The well-bred daughter of Night of Thunder is still very much an unknown quantity with just six lifetime starts, making her less exposed than most.