2.50 Qatar Prix Vermeille (Group 1) (3yo+ Fillies & Mares) 1m 4f

Question: When is Arc Trials Day not really Arc Trials Day?

Answer: When, like tomorrow at ParisLongchamp, those trials do not feature a single horse among the first five in the betting for October 2nd’s Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

Stranger still, in an era when France is struggling to produce anything close to its expected share of top-class thoroughbreds, this year it can actually boast two bona fide domestic Arc candidates in Vadeni and Onesto. And both are running this weekend, at Leopardstown rather than ParisLongchamp!

The most valuable and prestigious of the three ‘trials’, all run over the precise 1m 4f course and distance of the Arc, is the Qatar Prix Vermeille for fillies and mares.

Having saddled the runner-up twice in the last four years, this remains one of very few top-level European races yet to be won by Aidan O’Brien and this time around he has a strong candidate in the shape of the Oaks heroine, Tuesday.

Disappointing in her next outing, when beaten over 10 lengths into fourth in the Irish Derby, this Galileo full-sister to the six-time Group 1 scorer Minding then had eight weeks off and was probably slightly short of peak fitness when getting to within a length of one of the Arc favourites, Alpinista, in the Yorkshire Oaks.

Much has been made of the fact that Tuesday is a June foal, so is open to above-average improvement, and another step forward is anticipated here.

Yet I still expect her to again have to settle for the bridesmaid’s role, with Grand Glory grabbing the garlands as leading actress.

Trained in Chantilly by Gianluca Bietolini, Grand Glory was a Group 1 winner 13 months ago and later proved herself a force at the top international table when finishing fifth in the Japan Cup.

Smooth Success

Having started this season with two smooth successes, she has not been seen since finishing third in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot in June which turned out to be a highly tactical affair.

She is a much stronger physical specimen now than when beating just one home in this race two years ago and may just have too much speed in the finish for Tuesday.

Perhaps with this in mind, O’Brien has decided to also run History, a decent filly in her own right (third in the Irish Oaks) but one that has failed to beat a single rival in either of her last two starts. It will be interesting to see if she is assigned with pacemaking duties.

There are two British challengers in a field of 11: William Haggas’s Lilac Road, third in the Nassau Stakes prior to finishing fifth, more than four lengths behind Tuesday in the Yorkshire Oaks, and the Ralph Beckett-trained Albaflora, who has run just once since being short-headed in a Group 1 at Ascot last October.

Of the remainder, I have always had a soft spot for André Fabre’s Love Child and she was ill suited by the slow pace when runner-up in the Group 2 Prix de Pomone last time out.

It will also be fascinating to see what this step up in distance does for La Parisienne, the joint-least-experienced member of the field with just four career starts under her belt.

She has not been seen since she succumbed by a short neck following a tremendous duel with Nashwa in the Group 1 Prix de Diane back in June.

SELECTION: GRAND GLORY

Next Best: Tuesday

1.33 Qatar Prix Foy (Group 2) (4yo+) 1m 4f

The highly commendable and sporting project of trying to turn the Australian wondermare and Melbourne Cup winner Verry Elleegant into a major Arc candidate is set to suffer another setback in the six-runner Prix Foy.

Now under the care of trainer Francis Graffard, Verry Elleegant was given way too much to do and trailed home in last on her European debut in the Prix Jean Romanet at Deauville three weeks ago.

More positive tactics and this return to a mile and a half should help her do better here, especially with O’Brien’s High Definition likely to set a strong gallop. But she may still find one too good in the shape of Alex Pantall’s Mutabahi, an easy Group 3 winner over this track and trip back in May.

SELECTION: MUTABAHI

Next Best: Verry Elleegant

3.25 Qatar Prix Niel (Group 2) (3yo) 1m 4f

An intriguing Prix Niel with the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) winner Do Deuce getting his first taste of the ParisLongchamp turf, and the French-trained Arc dark horses Lassaut and Simca Mille taking each other on in a six-strong line-up. Aikhal, who was so disappointing in the Great Voltigeur Stakes at York last time, represents Ballydoyle.

This is very much the hors d’oeuvre for Do Deuce, who last ran in May, so it is hard to see him being subjected to a hard race by jockey Yutaka Take.

Marginal preference is for Lassaut, who displayed a flash of brilliance when scoring in listed company at Deauville last month, just ahead of the front-running Simca Mille, who showed a superb appetite for a fight when battling back to go down by only a neck to Onesto in the Group 1 Grand Prix de Paris over this course and distance two months ago.

SELECTION: LASSAUT

Next Best: Simca Mille

The James Tate-trained Royal Aclaim, who was beaten for the first time when sixth in the Nunthorpe, should return to winning ways in the 12-runner Group 3 Prix de Petit Couvert, also held over five furlongs.

The seven-furlong Group 3 Prix du Pin should see Francis Graffard’s Rozgar and the Hugo Palmer-trained British raider Ever Given, the only three-year-olds among a seven-runner field, fight out the finish.