Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe: your guide to the big race, star horses and a top tip

It is the 100th running of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (3.05 Sunday) and the race is set to be a vintage contest. It pits the star names of the season against each other so get set for a thriller from the French capital.

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The key runners

Godolphin have had a dominant season throughout Europe so it is somewhat fitting to see them strongly represented with two runners.

Seven Derby winners have landed the Arc in the same season, while 20 have failed, and Adayarlooks to join the greats such as Sea-Bird, Mill Reef and Sea The Stars after his Epsom triumph. He also landed the King George and is undoubtedly the top three-year-old colt.

His Charlie Appleby-trained stablemate Hurricane Lane is already a three-time Group 1 winner and comes here following a smart St Leger success. No horse has doubled up in Britain's final Classic and the Arc but he will relish conditions and looks an extremely classy prospect.

Tarnawa is another proven in conditions as she won at this meeting last season. The Dermot Weld-trained mare went on to prove herself an outstanding middle-distance horse with success at the Breeders' Cup. Her latest Irish Champions Stakes second showed she is as good as ever and she is a leading candidate.

Tarnawa: key contender for the ArcCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

The Arc betting was dominated by Snowfallafter she made a mockery of her rivals in the Oaks but she was defeated in her prep run, leaving a question mark next to her name. If she bounces back, she is feared.

No Japanese horse has ever won the Arc but expectations are high that Chrono Genesis can change that. This five-year-old mare ticks plenty of boxes.

Others to watch

Alenquer defeated Adayar in Sandown's Classic Trial at the start of the season and has gone on to display his talent on soft ground, notably winning the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot. His last run at York was also a solid piece of form.

Alenquer: represents William HaggasCredit: Alan Crowhurst (Getty Images)

Mojo Starwas second in the Derby and St Leger and would be interesting to see on this type of soft surface, while Sealiway is another who thrives on this ground, given he was an eight-length winner on this card 12 months ago.

Last-time-out winners Deep Bond and Raabihah cannot be ruled out either.

Top tip

The three-year-old contingent seems strong but Chrono Genesis looks a top-class performer who can go well at a good price.

Unlike some of the losing Japanese horses who have gone to the Arc in the past, she looks as if she will not be too troubled by testing ground and it seems as if she has been campaigned with this in mind all year.

Chrono Genesis (right): narrowly beaten in Dubai in MarchCredit: Francois Nel

The pick of her form is up there with the best, particularly a narrow defeat to a race-fit Mishriff in Dubai. She looks a big price and next best would be Hurricane Lane.

Best of the rest

There are five other Group 1 races to get stuck into on Sunday on what is one of the finest days of top-class racing in the world.

If sprinting is your thing, the Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp Longines (4.25) will not disappoint. Nunthorpe winner Winter Power is back in action and reopposes Suesa who was sent off favourite at York, but finished only fourth. Recent winners Romantic Proposal and Berneuil add further interest.

Winter Power: one of many brilliant horses in action on SundayCredit: Edward Whitaker

Joan Of Arc, Audarya and Grand Glory are the main names as the girls take centre stage at 3.50 for the Prix de l'Opera Longines, while Raclette is talked about as France's most exciting two-year-old filly and puts her unbeaten record on the line in the Qatar Prix Marcel Boussac (1.15).

The two-year-old colts are also in action in the Qatar Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere (1.50) where Ebro River clashes with leading French prospects Accakaba and Ancient Rome.

The last of the Group 1s is the only one in Europe run over the seven-furlong trip . Space Blues has established himself as the best in that division and looks the one to beat in the Qatar Prix de la Foret (5.00).

Read more:

'Snowfall should be bigger than 5-1' – Maddy and TC answer your Arc questions

'A live each-way player' – three horses who will relish a soft-ground Arc

Longchamp dark horses: four runners who could be overpriced on Arc weekend

2021 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp: the runners, the odds, the verdict

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