The Wandering Shrew - Prix De L'Arc De Triomphe Weekend Day 1 Preview

The Arc meeting moves to Chantilly for 2016 with its short straight, tight turns and odd 5f course that finishes somewhere in the woods. Day 1 features the Prix Du Cadran for champion stayers supported by a card of 4 other group races all leading up to tomorrows action featuring 6 group 1's including the Arc itself. There will be an early clue as to how good topcontender Makahiki is as he prepares to give the Japanese a long awaited first Arc win when

Shrew's Shrewdies

Newmarket

4:00 - Volta 7/2

Chantilly

1:00 - Moonshiner 10/3

1:35 - Sotteville 6/1 (nb)

2:50 - Zarak 5/4 or Heshem 9/1 e/w

3:25 - Nearly Caught 6/1 or Vazirabad 11/10

4:12 - Taareef 9/2

Race-by-race Guide

1:00 Prix Chaudenay 1m7f

Doha Dream's latest third here behind Makahiki and Midterm reads as really good form having only been pipped on the line by Arc quality horses. However, for me he was showing no extra at the line and therefore there is a question over whether this step up in distance will fully suit - that said Andre Fabre probably knows what he's doing.... Either way he is too short for me

Marmelo and Peribsen have a short neck between them on previous form but seemingly have a lot to find on official ratings with the favourite and also Moonshiner who is the only one with proven distance form - he is on the up and may not need to improve much further to win this.

You'd assume Minamya and Gontchar are here for minor honours but there is so little known about the variations in form lines between this sextet that they could outrun their odds.

1:35 Prix de Royalieu, 1m4f

Probably one of the tighter races of the day. The Juliet Rose has good course form based on a third here last time out, however was only marginally ahead of Sotteville the previous time with not much between them. The latter having a longer rest before this and further improvement entirely possible.

Mango Tango ran well at this level last time out but was behind Impressionist the previous time at Saint-Cloud who in turn was quite a way behind The Juliet Rose at Deauville. The question for me then is whether Almela can win conceding weight to younger rivals. Too tight to call so I'll stick with Sotteville at an each way price.

2:50 Prix Dollar, 1m2f

Free Port Lux won this last year but is inconsistent at the best of times and doesn't at all have the same form coming into this as last year.

I think Zarak is a solid favourite based on his runs behind Almanzor and you'd expect that to be enough. Yorker is an interesting runner and lost nothing in defeat to Scottish and Quebee over distances shorter than ideal. I'd like the look of Heshem each way based on early season form. Didn't run to his best last time out in what was a classier field than this. Two wins at Chantilly make him in with a shout.

3:25 Prix Du Cadran, 2m4f

Vaziribad is one of the best stayers in the world and barring one below par run when dropped in trip at Saint-Cloud two starts out his form figures read 111-11111 back to July 2015. That includes a win here at Chantilly last time out. On that he should be hard to beat. He is drawn wide however and although that should be less of a problem over this distance than in middle distance races it will still require a good deal of strong jockeyship to get him up. His tendency to settle in rear means that if he is too far back coming into the home straight he might have too much to do against some of the more prominent horses of which there are plenty...

Vazirabad's prep run culminated in a win only by a short neck and though he probably wasn't fully wound up, some attention has to go to the second horse on that day, Nahual, who likes to lead - but again may struggle to do so from stall 12. That task should be easier for Quest for More and Nearly Caught who break out of stalls 8 and 6 respectively and both like to race prominently. Of the two Quest for More feels a little more exposed whereas Nearly Caught is still progressing. I don't think either of them have too much to find on Vazirabad and given the right fractions set in front I would expect them to give him a lot to do if they are far enough ahead turning for home.

Burmese is a really interesting runner. His 5th in the Ascot Gold Cup was promising but I'm not sure how much to rate that form. Course form is always worth mentioning though and Fly With Me is 2/2 here - is preferred as a big priced each way selection over Trip to Rhodos.

4:12 Prix Daniel Wilderstein, 1m

Moonlight Magic has been running in better class races than this in the UK and Ireland but the drop in trip seems an odd choice for the Cape Cross colt.

Taareef was second to Dicton here in April and both seem to have improving profiles for the end of the season. I don't think there will be as much between them as prices suggest.

This is a step up for Zayva who has claims on a good win here last time out. But may be too big an ask?