Look Who Heads the 2024 Prix de L’Arc de Triomphe Shortlist
A world championship in everything but name, the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe is traditionally staged on the first Sunday of October. The Paris contest attracts contenders and racegoers from around the globe and is broadcast live in 60 countries. Here, in betting order, we will take an early look at 2024’s principal contenders.
Could Mqse De Sevigne and jockey Alexis Pouchin give Andre Fabre a ninth Arc winner? ©PMU
Torquator Tasso landed the 2,400-metre race for Germany in 2021. Alpinista, trained by Sir Mark Prescott in Newmarket, took the €5 million contest in 2022. Last year, France kept the trophy at home when Ace Impact scored for Jean-Claude Rouget. His victory brought the number of French-trained Arc winners to 69.
In comparison, British runners have won 15 l’Arc de Triomphes. Irish-trained horses have claimed the prize eight times. Italy, with six successes and Germany, three times successful, complete the list of nations that have won Europe’s most prestigious horse race. Bookmakers that offer ante-post Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe betting markets are fully aware of the stats.
The Arc’s Entry Criteria, Weights and More
The Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe is open to three-year-olds and above. Horses from the classic generation (three-year-olds) carry eight-stone 12-pound in the Arc. Horses aged four and older carry nine-stone five-pound. Fillies and mares receive a three-pound allowance, but geldings cannot run in the contest.
The rules mean this year’s impressive King Edward VII Stakes winner, Calandagan, will not participate in the race. The French-trained gelding backed up his Royal Ascot success with a fine second to City Of Troy in the Juddmonte International. His conqueror, winner of the Epsom Derby and the Coral Eclipse, is reportedly another Arc absentee and is being aimed at the Breeders’ Cup Classic in California.
In 2023, the maximum field size for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe rose from 20 to 24, although only 15 runners took part in last year’s race. History shows a low draw is favourable, and a high draw is equally disadvantageous. Recent Longchamp l’Arc de Triomphe winners started from stalls 8-6-12-4-3-6-14-3-15-6.
Recent Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe Winners
| Year | Winner | Age | SP | Trainer | Jockey |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Ace Impact | 3 | 19/10 | Jean-Claude Rouget | Cristian Demuro |
| 2022 | Alpinista | 5 | 33/10 | Sir Mark Prescott | Luke Morris |
| 2021 | Torquator Tasso | 4 | 71/1 | Marcel Weiss | Rene Piechulek |
| 2020 | Sottsass | 4 | 73/10 | Jean-Claude Rouget | Cristian Demuro |
| 2019 | Waldgeist | 5 | 131/10 | Andre Fabre | Pierre-Charles Boudot |
| 2018 | Enable | 4 | Evens | John Gosden | Frankie Dettori |
| 2017 | Enable | 3 | 10/11 | John Gosden | Frankie Dettori |
| 2016 | Found | 4 | 6/1 | Aidan O’Brien | Ryan Moore |
| 2015 | Golden Horn | 3 | 9/2 | John Gosden | Frankie Dettori |
| 2014 | Treve | 4 | 11/1 | Criquette Head | Thierry Jarnet |
| 2013 | Treve | 3 | 9/2 | Criquette Head | Thierry Jarnet |
| 2012 | Solemia | 4 | 33/1 | Carlos Laffon-Parias | Olivier Peslier |
| 2011 | Danedream | 3 | 20/1 | Peter Schiergen | Andrasch Strake |
| 2010 | Workforce | 3 | 6/1 | Sir Michael Stoute | Ryan Moore |
| 2009 | Sea the Stars | 3 | 4/6 | John Oxx | Michael Kinane |
| 2008 | Zarkava | 3 | 13/8 | Alain de Royer-Dupre | Christophe Soumillon |
| 2007 | Dylan Thomas | 4 | 11/2 | Aidan O’Brien | Kieren Fallon |
2024 Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe Runners Guide
3/1 Look De Vega (Trainer: C & Y Lerner)
Raced just three times, this three-year-old was last seen at the start of June when readily winning the French Derby. The l’Arc de Triomphe was immediately named Look De Vega’s long-term objective. Notably, last year’s Arc winner, Ace Impact, won both races and was unbeaten heading into the 12-furlong feature. Will history repeat itself?
Look De Vega takes the G1 Prix du Jockey Club (French Derby)!
— IFHA’s Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings (@worldsbesthorse) June 2, 2024
8/1 Sosie (Trainer: A. Fabre)
Andre Fabre, now in his late 70s, has won the big race eight times. His Arc De Triomphe winners are Trempolino (1987), Subotica (1992), Carnegie (1994), Peintre Celebre (1997), Sagamix (1998), Hurricane Run (2005), Rail Link (2006) and Waldgeist (2019). This year, Sosie appears to be his best chance of taking his remarkable record to nine.
Third, beaten two-and-a-quarter lengths behind Look De Vega in the French Derby, Sosie’s one subsequent outing saw the son of Sea The Stars step up to 12 furlongs and win the Group-1 Grand Prix de Paris. Interestingly, all of this three-year-old’s form is on soft and heavy going, and the Arc is regularly run on those underfoot conditions.
10/1 Opera Singer (Trainer: A. O’Brien)
Winner of the Qatar Prix Marcel Boussac on the Arc card in 2023, this three-year-old filly finished third in this season’s 1000 Guineas and second in the Group-1 Coronation Stakes at Ascot. Opera Singer was then stepped up to 10 furlongs and crossed the line ahead – by a diminishing neck – in Goodwood’s Nassau Stakes.
Fillies and mares have enjoyed excellent recent success in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe with Zarkav (2008), Danedream (2011), Solemia (2012), Treve (2013 and 2014), Found (2016), Enable (2017 and 2018) and Alpinista (2022) all scoring. But, remarkably, trainer Aidan O’Brien has only won the Arc twice in the past.
14/1 Economics (Trainer: W. Haggas)
This impressive winner of York’s Dante Stakes – recognised as the best Derby trial – did not contest the Epsom showpiece and needs to be supplemented for the Arc at a cost of €120,000. However, Economics took his 2024 record to three wins from three runs when winning a Deauville Group-2 in mid-August.
This son of 2000 Guineas winner Night Of Thunder has been typically brought along slowly by trainer William Haggas, and there is no guessing what Economics will achieve as his career progresses. For now, the sky is the limit.
What a performance!
Economics runs out a thrilling winner of the @ABE_Dubai Dante Stakes in the manner of a very exciting colt for @TomMarquand, @WilliamHaggas and Isa Salman Al Khalifa pic.twitter.com/MRGgn1IH9s
— York Racecourse (@yorkracecourse) May 16, 2024
16/1 Al Rifa (Trainer: J. O’Brien)
The first four-year-old down the Arc betting list, Al Rifa has mixed it with the very best since winning a two-year-old Group-1 contest in 2022. A one-length defeat by City Of Troy in July’s Eclipse Stakes appeared to be Al Rifa’s best subsequent run, and it was matched when he scored over 12 furlongs at Group-1 level in Germany during August.
16/1 Los Angeles (Trainer: A. O’Brien)
The only blemish in a six-race career came in this year’s Betfred Derby when Los Angeles was beaten six lengths into third. Two subsequent starts yielded career successes four and five when this son of Camelot won the Irish Derby and then the Great Voltigeur at York. Reportedly, the Irish Champion Stakes or Doncaster’s St Leger will be his next target, with the Arc potentially coming after that.
16/1 Delius (Trainer: J-C. Rouget)
Not making his racecourse debut until April of this year, Delius quickly won his first three starts before tasting defeat in July’s Grand Prix de Paris, where this three-year-old finished two-and-a-half lengths adrift of Sosie. Already a two-time winner over the Arc’s 12-furlong trip, Delius has form on soft and heavy going.
Mare of a Lifetime Can Join Greats
There is a lot of strength and depth in this year’s Arc; however, should Aidan O’Brien have a change of heart and allow City Of Troy to take his place in the field, the Derby winner would almost certainly start a very short-priced favourite.
As it stands, Look De Vega is the current market principle, but our experts believe he has too many questions to answer to make his odds an attractive proposition. No Arc winner in living memory has had fewer races. Furthermore, he is untried beyond 10 furlongs and has only raced on ground described as very soft or heavy.
Japanese trainers have three entries, and its horses have shone on the global stage in recent years. However, an Arc victory continues to elude the country. Therefore, an ante-post each-way bet on a long shot is the recommended play. That longshot is Mqse De Sevigne, a thoroughly likeable five-year-old mare.
Next stop, the Prix de L’Opera?
Mqse De Sevigne is made to work but does enough to see off American Sonja, retaining her Prix Jean Romanet crown at @fgdeauville…
— Sky Sports Racing (@SkySportsRacing) August 18, 2024
Our fancy ticks numerous positive boxes. They include her sex, which has an excellent record in the contest considering its relatively small number of representatives, and her stable. She is trained by the master, Andre Fabre. Unbeaten in four 2024 starts – culminating in Group-1 success in Deauville’s Sumbe Prix Jean Romanet – Mqse De Sevigne’s career record reads: eight wins and six seconds from 17 starts.
Jockey Alexis Pouchin has described Mqse De Sevigne as “the mare of a lifetime”, and her owners always stated the 2024 Arc was her long-term target. On a sequence of three consecutive Group-1 wins, successful on all types of going, and currently producing the best figures of her career, in quoting 40/1 odds, 888 Sport appears to have underestimated the chances of this consistent mare.
