Andre Fabre’s fantastic four could surprise in Arc de Triomphe

The hype around Andre Fabre’s one-time Arc de Triomphe favourite Flintshire may have died down somewhat, but the French master still has high hopes.

The fourth to Japanese Derby winner Kizuna on soft ground in the Prix Niel at Longchamp earlier this month has seemingly turned many away from the three-year-old colt, who after heading the betting can now be found down at 12/1.

That is a long way off the 2/1 Japanese favourite Orfevre, who shot into contention following a hugely impressive Prix Foy win on soft ground on that same day by the banks of the River Seine.

If the ground is good in the Arc then Flintshire could come back into contention, but although plenty would regard him as Fabre’s best chance of an eighth success in the continent’s feature race to even further improve the trainer’s record, the man himself isn’t so sure.

“Flintshire will run if it is good,” said Fabre recently. “Penglai Pavilion will run too, with Ocovango we are watching the weather as he likes it softer and of course Intello will run.

“I think all of them deserve to run, but you wouldn’t say any of them are the favourites. The one with the class is Intello.”

The German colt was a hugely impressive winner of the Group 3 Prix Du Prince D’Orange at Longchamp last week, and can be found at 10/1 for victory in the Arc, where a win would mark a seventh success in nine outings.

He perhaps represents Fabre’s best chance of prolonging his dominance in this race then, with Penglai Pavilion and Ocovango losing support.

Three disappointing showings at Longchamp and Epsom this year – where he finished third twice and fifth – has seen the previously unbeaten Ocovango lose fans, and Fabre won’t be counting on the 16/1 shot to deliver next Sunday.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing