I HAD a long love-hate relationship with the Arc. It was mostly hate in my younger years because the horses I had loved through the season were generally beaten in Paris. Ardross, Troy, Sun Princess, Mtoto...

How could it be a great race when the best horses were regularly beaten and a ‘randomer’ took the prize? Who cheered for Tony Bin and Saumarez? Things improved in the late 90s, more of the best horses won. Montjeu left Alastair Down with a memorable line in 1999, “Kinane didn’t merely flirt with danger, he was in bed with it two furlongs out.”