So You Think (NZ) Looking to Join the World's Best

The eight time Group 1 winner So You Think (NZ) will be looking to re-write the history books on Sunday as he contests one of the world's most prestigious Group 1 races, the �4 million Prix de L'Arc de Triomphe (2400m).

Held in the beautiful surrounds of Longchamp Racecourse in Paris, the Group 1 Prix de L'Arc de Triomphe was first run in 1920 and has been won by some of the world's very best thoroughbreds.

Celebrating its 90th running this year, the Arc has been won by the likes of the Sea The Stars (Cape Cross), Zarkava (Zimindar), Dylan Thomas (Danehill), Hurricane Run (Montjeu), Dalakhani (Darshaan), Montjeu (Sadler's Wells), Peintre Celebre (Nureyev), Dancing Brave (Lyphard), Mill Reef (Never Bend), Sea Bird (Dan Cupid) and dual winner Ribot (Tenerani).

Trained by Aidan O'Brien, So You Think (NZ) (High Chaparral x Triassic) will be out to accomplish what no thoroughbred from the Southern Hemisphere has managed since the race's inception, to join the illustrious list of Prix de L'Arc de Triomphe winners.

New Zealand bred Balmerino (Trictrac) ran one of his best career performances in the Arc in 1977, and was extremely unlucky not to have won the race for the kiwis, having to settle for second behind the dual Arc winner Alleged (Hoist the Flag).

So You Think (NZ)

So You Think comes into the Arc after a well fought victory in the Group 1 Irish Champion Stakes (2000m) where he held off a determined Snowfairy to win by half-a-length, and is a 4-1 second favorite for the race.

The only horse in history to win the Cox Plate at ages three and four, So You Think has never raced over 2400 metres, but has shown his ability to perform over longer trips when running a brave third in the Melbourne Cup over 3200 metres.

A horse that has won 12 of his 17 career starts, and is the World Champion Stayer and Co-World Champion Middle Distance Performer, the fact that So You Think has built such a formidable record in England and Ireland is an achievement in itself, but the Prix de L'Arc de Triomphe looks to be the toughest test of his career thus far.

Heading So You Think's competition is the current 3-1 race favourite Sarafina (Refuse to Bend) for trainer Alain de Royer-Dupre. Owned by the Aga Khan who is no stranger to Arc success, the four-year-old comes into the race having won her last three starts including the Group 1 Grand Prix De Saint-Cloud (2400m), and the Group 2 Qatar Prix Foy (2400m) at Longchamp.

Last year's winner, the Sir Michael Stoute trained Workforce (King's Best), is quoted at 7-1 after his second to Nathaniel in the Group 1 King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2400m) at Ascot in late July.

Workforce has been working well coming into the race but will have history against him on Sunday as only five horses in the Arc's history have taken back-to-back wins, the last being Alleged in 1977-78. In addition, of the five three-year-old Arc winners who have returned to defend their crown as four-year-olds since 1994, none have been successful.

Taking a look at recent Arc winners, the last 17 runnings of the race suggests that market leaders Sarafina, So You Think, Workforce, and at slightly longer odds Snowfairy, will have a tough ask as they look to break what has become a strong hold in the race by three-year-olds who have won 14 of the last 17 Prix de L'Arc de Triomphes.

The only horse to beat the three-year-olds in the last eight runnings of the Arc is Dylan Thomas in 2007. Older entires are forced to concede eight pounds to the colts and eleven pounds to the fillies, a large amount of weight for horses that are only three months away from being four themselves.

Heading the three-year-olds at 7-1 is the blue-blood filly Galikova (Galileo), a half-sister to the 14-time Group 1 winner Goldikova. Only lightly raced, she has only had seven starts for five victories for trainer Freddy Head and impressively won the Group 1 Qatar Prix Vermeille (2400m) at Longchamp at her last start. She will be looking to become just the third filly in the last 30 years to win the Arc, the last being Zarkava in 2008.

The three-year-old Reliable Man, by the 2003 Arc winner Dalakhani, has only been beaten in one of his five starts and was another to show that the 2400 metres should pose few problems when winning the Group 2 Qatar Prix Niel at Longchamp against his own age earlier this month. Trained by Alain De Royer-Dupre, he is a Group 1 winner over 2000 metres and is quoted at 10-1.

A dual Group 1 winner over 2400 metres, the Ed Dunlop trained Snowfairy (Inktihab) was a brilliant three-year-old taking four Group 1 races, but has had an interrupted campaign as a four-year-old with only three track appearances. She showed in her last start second to So You Think in the Group 1 Irish Champion Stakes that she still has that brilliance and determination, and she has been kept safe in the market at 12-1.

Last year's runner up Nakayama Festa (Stay Gold) has returned to Paris to compete in the race and is at 20-1 for the Japanese. Trained by Yoshitaka Ninomiya, he is a Grade 1 winner in Japan and finished fourth in a four horse field behind Sarafina in the Group 2 Qatar Prix Foy (2400m) at Longchamp at his last start.

Aidan O'Brien's assault on the Arc will also see him saddle three additional runners including the Group 1 Coronation Gold Cup winner St Nicholas Abbey (Montjeu) who ran third to Sarafina in the Group 2 Qatar Prix Foy (2400m) at his last start.

O'Brien's two three-year-olds in the Arc are the Irish Derby winner Treasure Beach (Galileo) who won the Grade 1 Secretariat Stakes (2000m) in America in his last performance and Seville (Galileo) who ran fourth in the Group 1 St Leger Stakes (2800m) against his own age in his last track appearance.

At Longer odds of 50-1, the Pascal Bary trained filly Testosterone (Dansili) will line up after running second to Galikova in the Group 1 Qatar Prix Vermeille (2400m), with the Aga Khan owned Shareta (Sinndar) running third in the same race. She has incurred more support in the market and is kept at 40-1 along with the Carlos Laffon-Parias trained Silver Pond (Act One) who placed in his last track appearance, the Group 2 Grand Prix De Deauville (2400m).

The �4 million Group 1 Prix de L'Arc de Triomphe (2400m) will be shown live on trackside on Monday 3 October at 3.15am New Zealand time.