Arabian race and handicap could be shown in run-up to Chantilly showpiece

ITV Racing executives will be left with a nervous wait to discover the exact line-up of races on Sunday week when the network broadcasts the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe for the first time.

The network announced last week the Arc would be carried on the main ITV1 channel at the climax of a two-and-a-half-hour live programme, which will be on air between 1pm and 3.30pm.

The uncertainty over the final running order for France's most important day's racing revolves around whether the Arc attracts enough runners to operate the lucrative Quinte bet.

And the ITV team will have to decide whether to show the Qatar World Cup for purebred Arabians, a race which has been moved in the running order to precede the Arc this year.

The Arc is fixed at 3.15pm UK time regardless but could be either race four or five on the card, depending on whether there are at least 14 runners declared.

Failure to do so would mean an earlier start to the meeting – meaning the Prix Marcel Boussac would have to be run before ITV goes on air – in order to allow an all-weather handicap to be staged in support of the bet.

ITV confirmed on Thursday that the on and off-air times would remain the same regardless of any change to the racing programme.

A spokesperson said: "The programme will be in the time slot starting at 1pm and finishing at 3.30pm, which should allow us to show four races, culminating in the Arc."

What remains certain is that three Group 1s which are bound to be of major interest to British viewers – the Prix de l'Opera, the Prix de la Foret and the Prix de l'Abbaye, will only be available to viewers of RUK or ATR.

ITV will be showing the Arc for the first time on October 1Credit: Alan Crowhurst

France Galop is believed to have little room for manoeuvre, partly because of the sections of the card that other global broadcasters have already contracted to take, and partly because of the meeting sponsors, the Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club, who sub-let a number of the races for naming rights to companies such as Total and Al Hazm.

Qatar are also believed to have been behind the move to push the Arabian World Cup ahead of the Arc in order that a showpiece event in the arabian calendar does not get lost.

Potential Arc day card if Arc has less than 14 runners

12.30 Prix Marcel Boussac

1.00 ITV goes on air

1.10 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere

1.50 Qatar Arabian World Cup

2.30 Quinte Handicap (AW)

3.15 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe

3.30 ITV goes off air

4.00 Prix de l'Opera

5.40 Prix de la Foret

6.20 Prix de l'Abbaye

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