Longchamp the place to be again - as it was so memorably in the past
France correspondent Scott Burton looks back to the future of Arc Trials day
Might we see a real 'wow' performance at Longchamp on Sunday that shakes up the picture for the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe?
Trials day is not an occasion when trainers habitually like to peer too hard under the bonnet of their big-race hopes and the most obvious examples of wide-margin winners have tended to confirm star status rather than reveal it.
In 2000 John Oxx ran a pacemaker for Sinndar in the Prix Niel and he duly dotted up by eight lengths in a manner that you just don't see in these races. The only comparable performance from the three main races on the card in recent years was when Treve won the Vermeille by six lengths in 2015, posting the third highest RPR of her career.
Read the full story
Read award-winning journalism from the best writers in racing, with exclusive news, interviews, columns, investigations, stable tours and subscriber-only emails.
Subscribe to unlock
- Racing Post digital newspaper (worth over £100 per month)
- Award-winning journalism from the best writers in racing
- Expert tips from the likes of Tom Segal and Paul Kealy
- Replays and results analysis from all UK and Irish racecourses
- Form study tools including the Pro Card and Horse Tracker
- Extensive archive of statistics covering horses, trainers, jockeys, owners, pedigree and sales data
Already a subscriber?Log in
Published on inComment
Last updated
Copy- We know that times are tight - but racecourses really do need to step up and improve outdated weighing rooms
- The budget has heaped even more trouble on racing - and I fear many trainers will now decide the numbers just don't add up
- Why I think Cheltenham Festival handicaps need to change - JP McManus writes exclusively for the Racing Post
- No-one has ever emerged from the womb wearing a trilby - racing's future survival hangs on pursuing a young audience
- Four score and ten just a number to Peter Harris as July Cup triumph shows there's more to the elderly than medical conditions
- We know that times are tight - but racecourses really do need to step up and improve outdated weighing rooms
- The budget has heaped even more trouble on racing - and I fear many trainers will now decide the numbers just don't add up
- Why I think Cheltenham Festival handicaps need to change - JP McManus writes exclusively for the Racing Post
- No-one has ever emerged from the womb wearing a trilby - racing's future survival hangs on pursuing a young audience
- Four score and ten just a number to Peter Harris as July Cup triumph shows there's more to the elderly than medical conditions