Ability not sex allowance responsible for the success of recent Arc heroines

Fillies and mares have a enjoyed a hot spell on the world stage in the last decade, with the likes of Black Caviar, Zenyatta, Goldikova, Winx and Enable proving the leading females can be rightly crowned outright champions ahead of the colts.

Females have also dominated the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in the last ten years and the potential reasons behind this range from a cultural change, like retiring the best colts to stud at three while keeping the best fillies in training, to this being simply a rather drawn-out statistical aberration.

But there is little doubt in each individual case that the females deserved all the victories and plaudits they received – even after accounting for their weight allowance.