Longchamp hit with heavy shower but conditions expected to remain soft for Arc day
Despite an unexpected sharp shower shortly before the Prix Dollar late on Saturday, the ground at Longchamp is expected to remain soft on Sunday for the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.
The late rain added another two millimetres on top of the 12 millimetres which fell from Friday afternoon through to Saturday morning, and sent the penetrometer from a dry and fast 3.3 to an altogether more testing 3.8.
The French going description is 'tres souple' – equivalent to soft on the GoingStick – while British and Irish-based jockeys confirmed the ground on Saturday was very soft, with further emphasis placed on stamina by a strong breeze.
"We had an extra two millimetres, but I don't think it will have had much of an impact and we should be around the same reading on the penetrometer as today," said clerk of the course Charles de Cordon. "We've had 14 millimetres overall and the rain we had late morning will still be making its presence felt on Sunday."
Conditions look set to mirror two of the last three runnings of Europe's great middle-distance championship, with Bluestocking having won on a 3.8 track 12 months ago and Alpinista triumphing on turf measured at 3.9 in 2022, although a late downpour in the 20 minutes before that running may mean that underestimated how soft conditions were by racetime.
There will be a seven-metre strip of completely fresh ground around the Grande Piste on Sunday, turf which hasn't been raced on since July, while that becomes 15 metres in the straight, as the 'Open Stretch' cutaway rail opens up at 450 metres from the first winning post.
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Published on inPrix de l'Arc de Triomphe
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