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Arc countdown: Daryz is best I've trained, says Graffard

By Racing TV

Last Updated: Tue 29 Sep 2026

Francis-Henri Graffard described Daryz as “the best” he has ever trained as he applied the finishing touches to his bid to go back-to-back in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at ParisLongchamp on Sunday.

Just seven horses have reached for immortality with consecutive Arc wins but not since Alleged in 1978 has a colt doubled up.

Yet after watching Daryz complete his final piece of work with three stablemates on Tuesday morning, the Chantilly handler who trained Calandagan to become the best in the world in 2025, was happy to load the extra burden on the likely favourite ahead of his biggest test.

“When he is right and things go his way with a good pace he is probably the best I have had. He is physically a very impressive horse who has a strong powerful back end which can really produce acceleration and the work this morning went well,” said Graffard.

“There was four runners and three horses with a lead horse. Daryz was sitting at the back and he came really nicely under Mickael Barzalona. Mickael was very pleased with him and reported the horse had a normal blow afterwards.”

Daryz winning the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in 2025 (Scoopdyga/France Galop)

Daryz has headed the market since running out an easy winner of his trial in the Prix Foy on September 6, a race in which he confirmed Graffard’s firmly held belief that he is better on faster ground not the soft ground conditions that he encountered when winning the Arc 12 months ago.

“He is a 10-furlong good-ground horse with a massive turn of foot. The only reason why he won the Arc over soft ground and a mile and a half is because he is a very good horse. I really prefer him on good ground because he can really produce his turn of foot,” he said.

“So I’m really happy that the race is being run on good ground.”

Graffard’s confidence about a faster surface – it was good to firm in the Foy – will cause a grimace or two amongst his rivals on Sunday, some of whom will have been hoping the lack of rain was tilting fortunes away from a title defence and into their laps.

Worse still, Graffard believes that the four-year-old is a much more potent threat this time around than he was last year when getting home a head in front of Minnie Hauk to tee up a repeat bid.

“During the winter he was starting to be very dominant and I had to make a hard decision to change his morning rider. So we have a very well experienced rider (Jean Phillipe Bresler) who doesn’t let him play too much and I think that was very important to keep the horse focused on the job he had to do.”

Bresler’s input appears to have been key to keeping a lid on Daryz throughout his four-year-old season.

“I never thought I was not going to be able to manage it (train the horse) but I had to make a hard decision,” said Graffard. “It was hard to take a horse from a lad that has done such a good job – I mean he had just won the Arc.

“But Jean-Phillipe is a wonderful man and a very good rider. You need to reprimand the horse at the right time especially this type of horse and he knows how to do that without making mistakes.

“As soon as we changed, things went differently. The team makes a big effort to keep him in his own bubble and make sure the horse is focused on what he has to do.”

Varandir winning at ParisLongchamp (France Galop/PA)

Bresler is due to retire on Thursday, October 1 but has postponed his departure until the end of the colt’s racing career which connections admitted may not conclude on Sunday with international options remaining.

Treve (2013-14) and Enable (2017-18) both backed up on the first Sunday in October, but Daryz would become the first colt since the great Alleged in 1978 to land back-to-back Arcs. If he does that, a safe passage to the Aga Khan’s Stud may well appeal more than a trip to Keeneland for the Breeders’ Cup.

Graffard will go into the race with another arrow in his quiver in the form of Prix Niel winner Varandir, who runs in the same Aga Khan silks.

The colt landed the trial from Alam over the Arc course and distance after finishing a close fourth to Maltese Cross on his autumn comeback in the Group One Grand Prix de Paris over the same trip. Graffard believes he has come on plenty for the experiences.

“Mentally and physically he has improved a lot through the year. I targeted the Niel as his autumn comeback, but I was coming there with a horse that had really improved,” said the trainer.

“I was quite confident and he confirmed he was a very nice horse over a mile and a half. Since the Prix Niel he has never stopped improving and he definitely has his chance to run in the Arc and be competitive.”

Boudot handed ride on Thundering On

Pierre Charles Boudot has picked up the ride on Thundering On in the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe after Dylan Browne McMonagle failed to pass the doctors in time to return to the saddle for the ParisLongchamp spectacular.

Boudot’s agent Herve Naggar confirmed to the Nick Luck Daily Podcast that the three time French champion jockey who won the race on Waldgeist in 2019 has been snapped up by trainer Joseph O’Brien.

“He is very excited. He loves the filly and she has everything to (run well). She looks a bit like Minnie Hauk last year and to ride the best three-year-old filly in an Arc with the weight advantage and being in good form is really exciting for him,” said Naggar.

Thundering On, an impressive winner of the Oaks at Epsom on soft ground, disappointed in the Pretty Polly Stakes behind Estrange in June but returned to form on good ground over one mile two furlongs at the Curragh in the Group Two Blandford Stakes last time.

It is generally felt she would be better suited with a rain-softened surface but it looks as though she will not get that on Sunday.

“The forecast has been changing in the last few days,” said Naggar. “We are waiting for some rain tomorrow. I would say it is not going to be as fast as the day of the prep races but it is going to be French good ground.”

Boudot looks set to have a decent weekend of rides and Naggar picked out Christopher Head’s unbeaten two-year-old Avec Toi in the Jean-Luc Lagardere and Pink Panthera in the Prix de l’Opera as two highlights.

Naggar also represents Christophe Soumillon who has been booked for one of the Ballydoyle trio, Minnie Hauk, Benvenuto Cellini or Diamond Necklace depending on which way stable number one Ryan Moore elects to go.

“We are waiting for Ryan to make a choice,” said Naggar. “He has ridden the three of them and won a Group One with Diamond Necklace so she is a princess for him and he is unbeaten with her,” said Naggar.

“Minnie Hauk was beaten just a head in last year’s Arc. One of the two fillies would be his preference I would think.”

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