Torquator Tasso will have to overcome one of the widest stalls if he is to retain Sunday’s Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp having drawn stall-gate 18 on Thursday morning.
Torquator Tasso storms home in 2021
The Racing Post reports that Frankie Dettori will partner the German-trained defending champion, who came from stall 12 when recording a 72-1 shock victory last season but only Alleged, in 1977, has won the Arc from stall 18.
Dettori similarly overcame a nightmare berth when famously winning the race on Golden Horn in 2015 but Torquator Tasso drifted to 15-2 (from 6-1) with Sky Bet following the draw.
Vadeni was snipped to 7-1 (from 15-2) with the same firm after his favourable allocation of stall two. Two of the last three Arc winners came from the first four stalls.
Meanwhile, leading fancies Alpinista, Westover and Luxembourg will line up for Sunday’s €5 million contest next to each other in stalls six, seven and eight.
John and Thady Gosden’s two representatives, Mostahdaf and Mishriff, were allocated tricky berths in stalls 16 and 17 while Stay Foolish got the unluckiest draw from stall 20.
Titleholder, considered Japan’s leading hope, is expected to make the pace and should not be hindered from stall ten.
Declarations were finalised on Thursday and the race has attracted a full field of 20 for the first time since 2015. The race was oversubscribed at the latest scratching stage on Wednesday, with 23 entered despite a maximum field of 20 and the lowest-rated horses – La Parisienne, True Testament and Le Destrier – failed to make the cut.
The going at Longchamp is soft, good to soft in places and there is rain in the forecast on Thursday.
Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe runners and riders
1 Mishriff (17) William Buick
2 Torquator Tasso (18) Frankie Dettori
3 Mare Australis (19) Bauyrzhan Murzabayev
4 Sealiway (15) Mickael Barzalona
5 Alenquer (12) Tom Marquand
6 Deep Bond (5) Yuga Kawada
7 Broome (14) Wayne Lordan
8 Stay Foolish (20) Christophe Lemaire
9 Mostahdaf (16) Jim Crowley
10 Mendocino (1) Rene Piechulek
11 Titleholder (10) Kazuo Yokoyama
12 Bubble Gift (13) Olivier Peslier
13 Grand Glory (9) Maxime Guyon
14 Alpinista (6) Luke Morris
15 Vadeni (2) Christophe Soumillon
16 Al Hakeem (4) Cristian Demuro
17 Onesto (11) Stephane Pasquier
18 Westover (7) Rob Hornby
19 Do Deuce (3) Yutaka Take
20 Luxembourg (8) Ryan Moore
- www.racingpost.com
