2010 ARC DE TRIOMPHE PREVIEW AND BETTING SELECTIONS

One of Europe’s top turf races is set to run this Sunday at Longchamp and we’re going to be examining the final field and giving your our early preview of how we expect this dramatic group 1 race to shape up.
Behkabad (Cape Cross) has been putting on a clinic over the Longchamp surface over the past few months, conquering Group 1 and Group 2 races and acquitted himself very well in the process. The Rouget-trained colt boasts several course and distance victories and you can understand why he’s the betting favourite, across the board, at a 7/2 price with most major bookmakers. He’ll be looking to get to the front early and will likely be held up in 2nd or 3rd if he gets the right type of race.
Fame and Glory (Montjeu) will be looking for his fifth win on the bounce and his partnership with Johnny Murtagh continues to pay serious dividends. The AP O’Brien colt finished sixth in this race last year to the legendary Sea the Stars (Cape Cross). He’s going to attempt to run a similar race to Behkabad with a quick move early into a good position and he’ll likely be tucked in behind the lead horse. He’s been knocking down Group 1 victories all year and it’s hardly a surprise that he’s priced at 5/1 with most major bookmakers.
The issue with these two favourites is that they are just so similar to each other in terms of running style. If they both wind up in the front early on then they may try to outdo each other by setting a hotter than usual early pace. If both of these contenders are locking horns early in a pace duel then I don’t see either of them staying the distance.
Sir Michael Stoute’s Workforce (King’s Best) is a high-quality three year-old and I think he’s a stronger contender here than many others may initially assume. He’s competitively-priced with a 5/1 listing and, while he closed extremely well to win the Group 1 Investec Derby, he was a beaten fifth in the King George VI at Ascot in late July. You reckon that he simply took the step up to older colts a little early and being beaten by Harbinger (Dansili), Youmzain (Sinndar) and Cape Blanco (Galileo) is nothing to be ashamed of. He will get things back on track here and he’s a solid selection for the place bet.
Planteur (Danehill Dancer) has been inserted into this race and he’s taken up a 6/1 price with most bookies. He has never finished outside the top two in his entire career under Anthony Crastus and he was a beaten second by Behkabad in his past two races- no shame in that. He’s likely going to take up a spot at the back and try to catch the leading pair- you reckon that a hot early pace is going to give him plenty to run at late on. Dangerous.
Sarafina (Refuse to Bend) has a quality record of three wins from four and she steps up to take on the boys for the first time. The Aga Khan’s 3 year-old bay filly boasts plenty of talent but she is going to need an absolutely perfect race to get anything from this one. She was a beaten third to the highly-rated Midday (Oasis Dream) at Longchamp a few weeks back and her connections will likely tweak her game-plan a bit for this one.
CAPE BLANCO is the one to watch here and you can grab a 10/1 price on this up-and-coming three year-old at William Hill- jump all over him at that price. He has only really run one poor race in his life, and you have to throw that one away as he was bumped hard when coming in from out wide over the Chantilly surface. In a Group 1 contest like that there is simply no margin for error. If he gets it right this time, he definitely has what it takes for the victory- proving that he can take on the world’s best in his last race when he conquered the likes of Rip Van Winkle (Galileo) and Twice over (Observatory) at Group 1 level.
PREDICTION

1. Cape Blanco
2. Workforce
3. Fame and Glory