'We've had the Arc in mind all year, he's the right type for it' - all roads lead straight to Longchamp for Al Riffa

Al Riffa, the colt who threatened to upset City Of Troy in the Coral-Eclipse, has had the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe as his ultimate aim all season according to Joseph O'Brien and the plan is to go straight to Paris following his recent Group 1 success in Germany.

The four-year-old, who has run in the US, France, England and Germany this season, and who is trained in Ireland and will be ridden by a Japanese legend, failed by a length to collar the relentless City Of Troy at Sandown.

The Eclipse was a stepping stone to the first Sunday in October at Longchamp, as was his German triumph in the Grosser Preis von Berlin, and now O'Brien's mission is to have him in the best possible shape for Europe's championship Flat race, which will be only the second time he will have raced over a mile and a half.