Daryz to head strong Aga Khan Studs team on Arc Trials Day

ParisLongchamp will host a top-class Qatar-sponsored card on Sunday featuring the Group One Prix du Moulin de Longchamp, Group One Prix Vermeille, Group Two Prix Niel and Group Two Prix d'Aumale. The first three races offer Arc contenders one final opportunity to fine-tune their preparations ahead of the big race in four weeks' time.

Aga Khan Studs will be particularly well represented. Three of its homebreds and representatives, all trained in Chantilly by Francis-Henri Graffard, will take part in the day’s main races: Daryz in the Prix Foy, Varandir in the Prix Niel and Erdenali in the Prix du Moulin de Longchamp.

Nemone Routh, Racing Manager for Aga Khan Studs in France, gives us an update on their contenders.

Winner of the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe last year, Daryz is the current ante-post favourite to return his crown but has not been seen since finishing third in the Prince of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot. His preparation for a second Arc will take in the Qatar Prix Foy.

Now a four-year-old, the son of Sea The Stars began his season with a win in the Prix Ganay on April 26 before winning the Prix Aga Khan IV (Prix d’Ispahan), again at Longchamp, on May 21.

Nemone Routh said: “Everyone is waiting to see Daryz! He is in really great form. At the moment, we find him very relaxed and focused.

"During his gallop at Deauville, he was really very calm, and it was the same again this Tuesday morning for his gallop on Les Réservoirs [one of the tracks at the Chantilly training centre].

"His jockey, Mickaël Barzalona, really felt that he was listening to him. He won’t be at 100 per cent on Sunday because we want him to be at his peak for the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, which is our main objective.”

Fourth in the Group One Cygames Grand Prix de Paris on July 14 at Longchamp, Varandir will line up in the Group Two Prix Niel, the Qatar Arc Trial reserved for three-year-olds.

Nemone Routh commented: “Varandir galloped with Daryz [on Tuesday morning]. He is a horse who has progressed as the year has gone on and who gives his best every time.

"He knows the course well and is really well suited by this distance. It will be a strong field, with Group One winners, so it is of course still quite a difficult race.”

Impressive when making a winning debut on March 29 at Saint-Cloud, Erdenali then followed up with two more victories, including the Listed Prix de Saint-Patrick on June 27 at Deauville.

The three-year-old gelding (who is not eligible to run in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, as the race is not open to geldings) subsequently finished third in the Group Three Prix Messidor on July 19 at the same racecourse.

On Sunday, he will take another step up in class when he lines up in the Prix du Moulin de Longchamp.

Nemone Routh said: “We had several horses entered in this race, including Rayif, but we decided to give him some time after his victory in the Prix Jacques Le Marois, and also to give Erdenali his chance.

"Last time, in the Prix Messidor, he was really unlucky and should have won. After discussing it, we decided we would take our chance in this Group One rather than run in another Group race.

"We will really find out where he stands at this level in such a high-quality field and, above all, it will help us decide what comes next. In the mornings, he is a very understated horse who does the minimum.

"He is quite difficult to assess from what we see on the training track. That is also why we were surprised by his promising debut.”