The Postponed alternative for Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe glory
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Ladbrokes offer money back as a free bet up to £25* if your horse loses to 7/4 favourite Postponed in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, making a punt on an outsider all the more interesting.
None of the past five jollies has taken this and no horse older than four since 2002, so Roger Varian’s runner still has major hurdles to overcome before scooping arguably Europe’s most prestigious equine prize.
The Arc moving to Chantilly for a year while Longchamp gets a revamp is another variable clouding the picture, so 7/4 about the five-year-old pulling off a seven-timer doesn’t really excite.
Andre Fabre’s New Bay has been the subject of a massive plunge since flagged up on these pages at 16s a week ago, with the four-year-old’s price now slashed to less than half at 7/1.
Nobody should be put off Fabre’s runner, who has a Chantilly win in his back catalogue and came third at Longchamp last year, but Dermot Weld’s double-Derby winner Harzand’s presence in the line-up warrants a 7/1 wager.
Harzand was struck into last time out in the Irish Champions Stakes at Leopardstown, leading to the son of Sea the Stars’ first loss in five runs this season down in eighth place.
Trainer Dermot Weld insisted the three-year-old champion colt wouldn’t be risked in the Arc unless fully recovered, and jockey Pat Smullen’s effusive praise of his mount’s ‘tremendous form’ at home suggests he’s healed.
Last year’s winner Golden Horn also bagged the Epsom Derby and went into Longchamp somewhat unfancied at 9/2, with Treve taking a massive chunk out of the market at 1/1 as Criquette Head-Maarek’s five-year-old chased his third Arc win on the spin.
The Good ground is just about soft enough for Harzand to show his stuff, so 7/1 about Weld’s stablestar looks the value.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
