Sudden fame and deserved fortune for German pair as Dettori and Peslier sit out

You could call it a rebuilding Arc, with nothing like the usual rammy in the golden grandstand as a crowd estimated at 15,000 were here to see the 100th Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe produce one of the most unexpected results in the race's history. In a normal year there would be four times as many bodies here, but even if the place had been packed with inveterate punters, the number who were left clutching winning tickets after the big race might still not have reached three figures.

Generally speaking, the British contingent here regret the absence of racecourse bookmakers at French tracks. But on this occasion it was possibly a mercy, as the crowing from the satchelmen would have been too much to bear. Torquator Tasso was surely a skinner for some firms.

The original Tasso was evidently a 16th century poet who achieved significant fame before it was decided that he had gone mad and should be incarcerated. In these more enlightened times, he may have been diagnosed as suffering from bipolar disorder. A very few tried to make a case in recent days for the horse who bears his name and may themselves have found their sanity being called into question.