SOMETIMES all you have to do is stand still to go forward.

Just before 3pm on Tuesday, Enable was a general 2/1 shot for the Arc. Five minutes later last season’s European three-year-old of the year Almanzor made an underwhelming return to the track at Deauville and John Gosden’s filly was cut to a 7/4, 13/8 and 6/4 shot.

Then, 45 minutes later, dual classic winner Brametot, trained by Almanzor’s trainer Jean Claude-Rouget, made his bid to be credited a serious Arc contender. But the son of Rajsaman fluffed his lines also and looked nothing like the horse we’d seen earlier in the season.

And then, Enable was, and is now, rated a 5/4, 11/10, Even-money shot for Europe’s premier flat race. Close to a coin flip chance of winning Europe’s premier flat race.

To say Enable has come a long way in a short space of time is an understatement. The daughter of Nathaniel showed up to Chester at the beginning of May for just her third ever run and she left as a creditable Oaks contender. The rest, two classic wins and a King George, is history.

She goes to York next week as a long odds-on shot to gain another Group 1 in the Yorkshire Oaks and then she will probably go straight for Chantilly, where she now looks to have a golden opportunity.

But there is one word of warning as we’ve been here before – a John Gosden Oaks and King George-winning superstar filly, heading to York for a perceived easy race back against her own sex. Taghrooda got beaten at 1/5 at York before heading to Longchamp to finish third to Treve in the Arc.

Sometimes you need to go forward to… go forward.