Enable likely to use Epsom as launchpad for historic Arc treble

Enable is likely to kick off her history-making bid to land a hat-trick in the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in the Investec Coronation Cup at Epsom.

The Group 1 race on May 31 was originally pencilled in for the return of the seven-time Group 1 winner last year until she sustained an injury in the spring that delayed her four-year-old campaign until September.

Enable has enjoyed a regime of trotting through the winter but trainer John Gosden is in no hurry with her.

He said: "Enable has had a good winter and it was never the intention to get her ready early.

"She's had a nice easy time and she'll be heading into late May or June before she's seen in action, with races like the Coronation Cup and Prince of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot on her radar.

"Beyond that, it's all about where we have her come the first Sunday in October."

Gosden fielded an able substitute in the Coronation Cup last year in Cracksman, who is now retired, and Enable's absence from Epsom did not do her any harm as she returned in triumph in the Group 3 September Stakes at Kempton before bagging her second Arc at the expense of Sea Of Class.

That effort was even more commendable as Enable had suffered a minor setback just weeks previously and was described as only 85 per cent fit by Gosden.

John Gosden: 'Enable has had a good winter'Credit: Alan Crowhurst

Enable might even have surpassed that effort when following up in the Breeders' Cup Turf at Churchill Downs in November, becoming the first Arc winner to emerge victorious at the Breeders' Cup the same season.

Gosden said: "It's been well publicised that Enable had an injury last spring that was operated on and she did brilliantly to come back from it.

"She had a hiccup between her comeback race at Kempton and the Arc, which wasn't ideal, but she showed a lot of courage to win in Paris and then overcame quite a lot to win at the Breeders' Cup."

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