THE world may be on the brink of Armageddon and there is plenty about which to be worried even if it is not, but the microcosm that is horse racing continues to provide a welcome refuge from wider reality, and sometimes gives the impression of never having been better.

In the space of just 48 hours last weekend racing fans witnessed the best sprinting performance in this part of the world in over a decade, the fastest two-year-old on the planet so far this year, the best timefigure by a juvenile in Britain and Ireland to date in 2017 and the best effort on the clock of what is admittedly a low-key jumps season so far.

Oh, and an impressive and above-average winner of the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at its temporary home at Chantilly. Let us start with that.

Enable was that horse of course, and in beating Cloth Of Stars, Ulysses, Order Of St George and 14 others emphatically, she put a seal on a stellar season in which she has emerged as comfortably the best middle-distance performer in Europe.

In time terms, this win was not quite out of the top drawer – I make it worth a figure of 124, which is just above her previous best of 123 at Ascot – but Enable was in little danger once set alight at the 400-metre marker and could probably have run quicker still had the early pace been a bit more generous.

There were healthy margins all the way back to the sixth, though it has to be said that behind that the runners were in something of a heap.

Enable has a marvellous blend of speed and stamina, and possesses a rare adaptability to going and course. It is excellent news that she may still be around in 2018.

Cloth Of Stars (123 timefigure) had threatened to put in a big performance and dispelled slight lingering doubts about his stamina, doing well to come from a few lengths back. Ulysses (120) may be better at slightly shorter and Order Of St George (118) at slightly longer, but the right horse won and the 2017 Arc was essentially a fair contest.

That is not always the case, especially where French races are concerned, and so it is one more thing to be celebrated in our little world of racing.