French have serious Arc de Triomphe hope in Vadeni

The French do not enjoy overseas raiders plundering their most important race, the Prix de L’Arc de Triomphe, but until Tuesday there looked little chance of a home country runner taking top honours in Sunday’s €5m event.

Then came the news that trainer Jean-Claude Rouget had rerouted his star three-year-old, Vadeni, to Paris rather than take on Baaeed in the Champion Stakes at Ascot on October 15.

A son of Churchill who has won five of his eight starts including the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown, Vadeni started favourite for the Irish Champion Stakes but had no luck in running and finished third behind ruling Arc favourite, Luxembourg.

Georges Rimaud, manager of the Aga Khan’s studs in France, said: “All things being well, Vadeni will run in the Arc next weekend.

“We feel the forecast is better for France at the moment than it is generally for the meeting at Ascot. So we have opted to go for the better ground. Hopefully the ground will be suitable in Paris as that is an element of importance for this horse. He doesn’t need good ground as such, but he doesn’t need to have it very slow or deep or challenging.”

Asked whether the decision has been reached because Baaeed is headed for Ascot not the Arc, Rimaud said that “when making these decisions you put all the elements on the table. Baaeed not running in the Arc has been discussed, but it is not the primary concern. We really feel this horse needs the right ground and feel he is more likely to have what he needs in Paris than at Ascot.”

There is also the concern whether Vadeni, who has never raced beyond 2,000m, will stay the 2,400m Arc trip.

“We will find out on the day about the distance, but we feel that with his pedigree and his dam being by Monsun, and his sire by Galileo, there is no evidence that he cannot stay. Vadeni doesn’t have to travel — he’s at home and we’ll give it a shot,” Rimaud said.

Another Arc hopeful, Adayar, winner of the 2021 Epsom Derby, could also miss the Champion Stakes and head for Paris instead.

Trainer Charlie Appleby said: “He worked well this morning and I couldn’t be happier with him. But we’ll be on ‘weather watch’ more than anything this week.

“If it’s turning soft this time of year [at Longchamp], then it’s really soft which we wouldn’t want. We will have someone over there to walk the course then we’ll know the situation.”

Adayar was beaten in both the Arc and Champion Stakes last year on ground described as heavy and good to soft, respectively.

In latest betting on the Arc, Skybet have Luxembourg as the 4-1 favourite followed by Alpinista at 7-1 with both Adayar and Vadeni at 8-1.

William Hill spokesperson John Hill, said: “All the support in the last 24 hours has been for Alpinista. If the interest continues, she could well be challenging Luxembourg for favouritism come Sunday.”