The three-year-old colts Continuous (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}) and Fantastic Moon (Ger) (Sea The Moon {Ger}), winners of the St Leger and Deutsches Derby respectively, have been supplemented for Sunday's Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.
Sixteen horses remain engaged for the weekend's €5 million showcase race at ParisLongchamp. Eleven of the potential field are already Group 1 winners, including another Classic-winning colt of 2023, the unbeaten Prix du Jockey Club hero Ace Impact (Ire) (Cracksman {GB}), who is currently favourite.
With Emily Dickinson (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) holding multiple entries at the Arc meeting, Continuous is likely to be the sole runner for Aidan O'Brien and the Coolmore team in the big race and will aim to build on his Classic success at Doncaster 15 days prior to the Arc.
Fantastic Moon, who was ruled out of an Arc bid only last week through fears of soft ground, will now travel to Paris from Munich and will be ridden by Rene Piechulek, who won the race two years ago aboard Torquator Tasso (Ger). Owned by the Liberty Racing 2021 syndicate, Fantastic Moon is set to remain in training next year.
His trainer Sarah Steinberg said, “Fantastic Moon is in excellent form. He worked very well yesterday and handled the workout very well. We continue to hope for sunshine and good ground conditions in Paris for him to be able to call up his best form. We thought long and hard about which of the races would be the best for Fantastic Moon, and together with the owners we decided against a long trip to the US or Japan for Fantastic Moon this year.
“We will take advantage of the beautiful fall weather in Paris, the dried-up turf at Longchamp and a horse that has recovered very quickly after his last race. A trip to the Breeders' Cup at the beginning of November, or travelling to Japan at the end of November, places an enormous burden on three-year-old horses, which we do not want to expose Fantastic Moon to.
She added, “The horse has shown everyone that he is a real star, and we are looking forward to his last outing in 2023 on Sunday in ParisLongchamp. I hope that the German turf fans will keep their fingers crossed for our Derby winner, and I am looking forward to a very exciting race against internationally accomplished top opponents.”
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