Zarak Can Bag Arc Place

Alex Peperell is looking to Chantilly for a big price

- Alex Peperell

PRIX DE L’ARC DE TRIOMPHE

The weight for age and sex allowance in place for the Arc makes it look almost impossible for anything to beat Enable (on paper). It’s likely that she will win easily and perhaps the only thing to do is either back her or just leave the race entirely. However, this is racing and she might have an off day and there are still places to be played for at the very least.

Zarak finally stepped up in trip to 1m4f for the first time in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud and gained his well deserved Group 1 victory. The way he races I wasn’t sure why it took connections so long to take the step up in distance. His mother Zarkava is an unbeaten Arc winner so there can’t have been much doubt about him getting 1m4f.

He’s very much a hold-up horse and that means he can be susceptible to bad luck, which has happened on a few occasions. In the Prix Ganay earlier in the year he got trapped in a pocket and conceded first run to Cloth Of Stars which probably cost him the race. Chasing Almanzor home twice last season is very strong form, he didn’t quite have the pace in the 1m1f Dubai Turf over in Meydan in March but still ran a decent race in fourth.