Scott Burton picks out the highs and lows of a memorable Arc day at Longchamp

It was all supposed to build to a momentous climax with a third Arc coronation for Enable but, while the script went awry in the big race, there were plenty of highlights to take away from Paris.

The highest of highs

Fabre remains an undisputed master of his trade

Racing journalists are almost contractually obliged to mention the need to never discount any horse sent to a top-class race by Andre Fabre.

With Waldgeist there was a certain amount of mouthing the platitude ahead of time, minus any real conviction.

In the 12 editions of the Arc since Rail Link became winner number seven, Fabre had saddled another eight placed horses.

Eighth wonder: Waldgeist extended Andre Fabre's record number of Arc de Triomphe wins to eight on SundayCredit: Edward Whitaker

Plenty expected Waldgeist to extend that run without being able to find the necessary improvement at the age of five to reverse three career defeats to Enable.

Yet the light-framed chestnut has become an altogether tougher proposition this season and Fabre saw all the encouragement he needed in Waldgeist's barely noted but fast-finishing third in the King George.

Harrington right at home around Flat racing's top table

When Jack Naylor finished third to Found in the 2014 Prix Marcel Boussac, Jessica Harrington joked that she had got lost and should have been across the Bois de Boulogne at the jumping headquarters of Auteuil.

Five years on and nobody would pigeonhole her as anything other than a dual-purpose trainer who operates at the very highest level under both codes.

Albigna was ultimately a comfortable winner of the Boussac and confirmed the high opinion in which she is held by Harrington and owners the Niarchos family, so soon after the same combination produced the remarkable Alpha Centauri.

Ryan's own remarkable training performance

The biggest Group 1 field of the weekend in the Prix de l'Abbaye told its own story in terms of whether trainers felt Battaash was unbeatable, but for Kevin Ryan, thoughts that Glass Slippers would be among their number must have been a distant consideration at the start of the summer.

Glass Slippers and Tom Eaves burst clear of their rivals in a one-sided Prix de l'Abbaye at LongchampCredit: Edward Whitaker

Bearstone Stud's homebred daughter of Dream Ahead has gone from Listed to Group 3 and then Group 1 winner in just three steps, all in France over the space of just eight weeks.

Ever since the Prix du Jockey Club exploits of The Grey Gatsby in 2014 French punters have learned to respect everything sent to their country which hails from Ryan's yard, while Tom Eaves once again shone on Glass Slippers.

Met expectations

Course bears up well despite wet weather

There will always be years when its slot at the beginning of October leaves the Arc meeting vulnerable to Paris rain and a penetrometer reading of 4.1, or very soft, told its own story.

But the racing surface at Longchamp throughout the season has been light years ahead of the dusty, crumbly track of 12 months ago and, whatever the weather, it is a layout that over a mile and a half remains a supreme test.

Authorities have also learned much more about the way to use their newly rebuilt flagship and the extra temporary facilities blended well with what is a fairly modestly proportioned grandstand for greater comfort all round than was the case in 2018.

Fear of Pinatubo gives Lagardere a timely boost

The decision in 2015 to return the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere to a mile was part of a wider reorganisation designed to defend the Group 1 status of the Criterium International.

One unintended consequence has been to give the Dewhurst a free run as the premier end of season race for two-year-olds over seven furlongs, with the BHA able to bring the Newmarket race forward by a week.

But with Pinatubo carrying all before him in Britain and Ireland, this year's Lagardere looked beforehand to be arguably the most interesting race on the card apart from the Arc, so it is to be hoped Victor Ludorum can advertise the form next year.

The lowest of lows

Wattel left thinking what might have been

Christophe Soumillon kept hold of City Light for as long as he dared in the Prix de la Foret but the talented five-year-old once again had to settle for bridesmaid role behind One Master, just as when narrowly denied by Merchant Navy at Royal Ascot last year.

For trainer Stephane Wattel it must have been another tough defeat to take as he continues to wait for that elusive Group 1 success in a career that stretches back to 1992.

One Master (left) wins a second Prix de la ForetCredit: Alan Crowhurst

In 2017 Wattel took Sacred Life to the Criterium International as a warm favourite, only to have the meeting abandoned because fellow trainers were blocking the entrance to the Saint-Cloud paddock in protest at France Galop budget measures.

Enable brave but beaten

What Sunday shared with the 2015 Arc and Treve's bid to win a third crown, was the difference in atmosphere around Longchamp, a place that is always electric on the big day but where the prospect of history being made ensured an extra-special feel to proceedings.

If some felt flat in the wake of her defeat then it had still been an extraordinary occasion and a memorable finish to a gruelling race.

Fans of Enable thronged the Longchamp stands in the hope of seeing their heroine prevail againCredit: Edward Whitaker

Among racing professionals who know just how difficult it is to win one Arc, there was genuine warmth for the winning connections, with John Gosden's travelling head lad Tony Proctor embracing his opposite number Richard Lambert, while Aidan O'Brien and every other member of the Coolmore hierarchy congratulated Fabre.

And for whatever disappointment the thousands of travelling fans may have felt, the ovation they gave Enable as she returned to be unsaddled is something I suspect might resonate with Gosden, Frankie Dettori and Teddy Grimthorpe once the dust has settled.

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