93rd Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe

The most significant horse race that is run outside of the United States, Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, will be televised live in this Sea-to-Shining-Sea country perhaps for the first time ever but certainly for the first time here at The Ranch.  Broadcast live from Longchamp Racecourse, along the banks of the River Seine in Paris, North American coverage of the event begins at 8am Eastern and continues until Noon on a little known Qatari-owned sports network calling itself beIN sports.  Check your local listings; set your DVR.

Each year the Arc, as we refer to it here, draws a large field of the best turf horses from around the globe and this year's 93rd edition is no exception.  Similarly, each year a few of the horses which compete in the Arc will make the trip across the pond to race in the Breeders' Cup.

The field has not yet been set for the Arc, but in scanning the pool of horses for which various English websites are taking bets, a few entrants stand out:

The best-bred horse (sired by Galileo [IRE] and out of Ouija Board [GB]) in the field would have been the colt named Australia (GB), a horse I wrote about here previously.  Australia, winner of this year's Epsom and Irish Derbies, is listed at 10-1 on a few sites but is being pointed toward running in the Champion Stakes at Ascot in mid-October.  This effectively rules him out of the Arc and, most likely, this year's Breeders' Cup.

The morning line favorite, at odds of 4-1, is a 3-year old British filly name Taghrooda.  The sire of Taghrooda is Sea the Stars (IRE).  Sea the Stars, half-brother to Galileo, had 8 wins in 9 lifetime starts including the Arc in 2009. The dam sire of Taghrooda is Sadler's Wells, a legendary turf sire.

At morning line odds of 8-1 is a Japanese entrant, Harp Star.  The sire of this 3-year old filly is Deep Impact (JPN), a winner of the Japanese triple crown in 2005.  The sire of Deep Impact was the great American horse Sunday Silence.  Written about here, often, in 1989 Sunday Silence won the Kentucky Derby, won the Preakness Stakes, finished second in the Belmont Stakes but then won that year's Breeders' Cup Classic.  In 14 lifetime starts Sunday Silence won nine and placed in the other five; he was never worse than second.  Sunday Silence was a favorite of mine, in no small part because my winning bets on him in those races led me, as a high school-aged kid, to my first highly profitable year at the race track.

Last year's winner of the Arc, the French filly Treve, is currently listed at odds of 10-1.  The sire of Treve is Motivator (GB), winner of the 2005 Epsom Derby.  This 4-year old filly suffered a minor setback recently, hence the longer odds on the defending champ.

The 3-year old filly Tapestry (IRE), another Galileo-sired entrant, is currently listed at 16-1 odds.

Yes, the Arc is open to both males and females - despite the impression I may have given you so far - and one for we Yankees to cheer on is a 3-year old colt named Teletext.  Bred in Kentucky, the sire of Teletext is Empire Maker, winner in 2003 of; the Florida Derby, the Wood Memorial and the Belmont Stakes.   As the winner of the 2003 Florida Derby, Empire Maker was my pick in that year's Kentucky Derby in which he finished second to Funny Cide.  I cashed the back half of a Win-Place wager on Empire Maker and cashed a big Exacta Box on Funny Cide-Empire Maker that paid $97.00 on a $2 wager (I'll let you guess at how much I had on that Exacta).  I then cashed another winning ticket on Empire Maker in the Belmont.  There have been 14 American-bred winners of the Arc, most recently in 2001.  You can currently get Teletext at odds of 20-1.  

While my heart might pull for the Kentucky-bred Teletext, my francs and pounds sterling would be placed - in the absence of Australia -  on a 4-year old colt named Ruler of the World (IRE).  Sired by Galileo, who is a very busy sire indeed, the dam sire of Ruler of the World is Kingmambo.  Kingmambo was bred in Kentucky, but raced in France, and his progeny are known to have tremendous stamina and to have an affinity for turf.  One son of Kingmambo was Lemon Drop Kid, winner of the 1999 Belmont Stakes.  Another son is Henrythenavigator, 6-2-1 in 10 lifetime starts - mostly on the turf in Ireland and England - including finishing second on the dirt in the 2008 Breeders' Cup Classic.  The current odds on Ruler of the World are 14-1 and with that you also get the greatest jockey in all the world, the Italian-born Lanfranco "Frankie" Dettori, himself a three-time winner of the Arc.

Roll the credits!