Sea The Stars four-year-olds piqued my interest in the Arc - but I'm jumping ship from one to another

Exactly three months have passed since this column last pivoted to something resembling a tipping missive. 

A week earlier I'd gone back down the Curragh rabbit hole to lament a nine-race card that did a great injustice to the tone of Irish Derby day, so I might have been eager for some light relief. Or I was simply lacking in inspiration. Either way, it meant a departure from the usual ramblings that prompted me to analyse the manner in which the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe was shaping up in the first week in July. 

Andre Fabre was bringing Sosie for a stab at the Eclipse and his decision to run a horse in the Sandown showpiece for the first time in 20 years piqued my interest. To me, it all pointed to the Arc maestro's four-year-old announcing himself a serious contender for Longchamp's season-defining Flat race, a working theory that carried the inherent possibility of giving the column an inspired look or a particularly short shelf life.