Enable crowned queen of Europe with brilliant Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe success

Enable became the latest champion racehorse to carry the colours of owner Khalid Abdullah after the likes of Dancing Brave and Frankel when she blitzed the opposition in the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Chantilly.

No British-trained filly had previously won Europe’s premier middle-distance prize, but the John Gosden-trained Enable showed she is something very special by making racing history as she took her Group One haul to five.

The winner of the English, Irish and Yorkshire Oaks and the King George, Enable saved her best performance of the year for the last, with her tactical speed meaning Frankie Dettori could place her just where he wanted and make his move at the right time for him.

Leading inside the two-furlong marker, Enable pulled away to score by two and a half lengths from Cloth Of Stars, with Ulysses third.

Dettori, winning the Arc for an unprecedented fifth time, said: “I was very confident all week…she is a tremendous filly. I said to John last week she is the best she has ever been. To keep this filly at 100 per cent all year is fantastic.”

Gosden said: “She’s very special and she was well positioned by Frankie in order to show her sheer class and brilliance. I think it would be wrong to run her again this year. I think to go to the Breeders’ Cup would be wrong, too hard on the filly.

“If she’s in great form we should consider next year. She has only raced for 10 months of her life. There would be every reason to keep her in training next year as a four-year-old, particularly with the new Longchamp opening.

“That would be exciting – to try to win the Arc on two different tracks.”

Aidan O’Brien was out of luck in the Arc after saddling the first three home 12 months ago, but still took his Group One tally for the year to 22 with a double through Happily in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere and Rhododendron in the Prix de l’Opera.

Charlie Hills’ Battaash bounced back from defeat in the Nunthorpe Stakes to lead his rivals a merry dance in the Prix de l’Abbaye, romping home by four lengths from last year’s winner Marsha in the Prix de l’Abbaye.

Aclaim capped an unforgettable weekend for trainer Martyn Meade, lifting the Prix de la Foret the day after Dolphin Vista took the Cambridgeshire at Newmarket. In doing so he ensured all six Group One events on the card went to British- or Irish-trained runners.

Performance of the day

Enable had to put up a career-best performance to win the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, despite having carried all before her this season, and she did just that, assuring her place as one of the best fillies ever to grace a racecourse.

Ride of the day

Jim Crowley had arguably the toughest job of the day in keeping a lid on Battaash and trying to ensure the brilliant but quirky sprinter conserved his energy for the Prix de l’Abbaye, after he blew it in the preliminaries in the Nunthorpe at York.

Quote of the day

Frankie Dettori after winning his fifth Arc on Enable: “She’s amazing and is an absolute freak. I love her.”