'Everyone says that type of filly has a good chance' - the world's finest converge on Longchamp in an Arc for the ages

At the end of a season that has been synonymous with recurring chaos rather than any sort of perceptible order, autumn in Paris retains its lustre at the moment of truth approaches.

In short, there is little more evocative than the smouldering promise of a Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. Granted, you could point to the absence of a marquee colt, but that's the sort of asterisk that has defined the campaign.

There is no Ombudsman, Delacroix, Lambourn, Camille Pissarro, Scandinavia or, dare we say it, Calandagan, so it's all about to unfold at Longchamp without the winners of many of the best middle-distance races having a say. It has been that kind of year, punctuated at every turn by a medley of Group 1s that raised as many questions as answers.