Prix de L’Arc De Triomphe 2017

It’s considered to be one of the most prestigious races in the sport and in 2017, the Prix de L’Arc de Triomphe heads back to France for its latest renewal. It carries the biggest prize fund in its category and it’s another occasion when casual punters and serious bettors combine to take a punt on a huge sporting event.

With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at the Arc and see if we can pick this year’s winner.

History and Format

This is a Group One flat racing renewal for horses aged three years old and over. It’s held on the famous Longchamp course and takes in a distance of 2,400 metres. It’s therefore a decent test of stamina but its main draw lies in the simple fact that it is the richest turf race in the world.

The Arc was first run in 1920 and its roll of honour includes some of the greatest names in horse racing history. 2016’s winner was Found, trained by Aidan O’Brien and ridden by Ryan Moore who completed the course in a fast time of two minutes, 23.61 seconds – a record for this event.

Horse to Beat

We have a clear front runner this year with Enable way out in front in the straight win markets. The John Gosden trained horse is on offer at a best of Even Money with most bookies including bet365 and Sun Bets and when you look at the three year old’s credentials it’s easy to see why.

Enable has enjoyed seven outings so far on the flat and has won all but one of those. Five victories in a row have been recorded including the most recent at the Darley Yorkshire Oaks at York back in August. With Frankie Dettori likely to be on board this is an impressive combination but will there be an upset on the day?

Chasing Pack

A gap of nine points follows the leaders until we find the second favourite Satono Diamond who is quoted at a top price of 10/1 with Winner Sports and 10Bet. The Japanese trained four year old has a decent record on the flat with five wins from eight starts but will that be enough to have any impact in France on October 1st?

At that same best price of 10/1 is Cracksman who is listed at that figure with 888Sport and SkyBet. Casual Punters may remember this horse from the Epsom Derby where he was highly fancied before finishing in a disappointing third place.

Cracksman recovered to take a first place at York last month but tipsters and bookmakers clearly feel that there is a big gap in quality between this horse and the favourite.

Outside Punts

We saw an upset in the Epsom Derby with Wings of Eagles coming home as a 40/1 shot but will we get a similar outcome in France at the start of October? Among those being considered for a shock are Order of St George at a best of 28/1 with SkyBet, Cliffs of Moher at 33/1 with bet365 and Jack Hobbs at 33/1 with SkyBet.

All three of those horses have seen some success in England but they are up against better competition from around the world and there have been few upsets at Longchamp in recent memory.

Enable looks uncomfortably short at that Even Money price but he does have some competition. However, if the favourite and this race as a whole doesn’t look tempting, there are a number of ways in which you can gain some extra value.

Offers

For a race as prestigious as the ‘Arc’ the bookmakers will be busy as they try to outdo each other in terms of providing the best promotions. We could expect to see Best Odds Guarantees put in place, similar to the schemes that apply to all UK and Irish Horse Racing.

This would mean that you can bet ante post and if the subsequent SP price proves to be longer, you will be paid out at the higher of the two figures. All of the main players such as Paddy Power have these systems and they have been joined by new bookies including SportNation, Sun Bets and EnergyBet.

Each Way placings should increase too with SkyBets among those bookmakers who frequently increase the list of places where a return will be paid out. Frequently these will extend down to sixth place or possibly even lower so keep this in mind if you are looking to place an Each Way stake.

Price boosts and enhanced odds deals may also drop in for a race of this magnitude. While these can never be guaranteed, they may typically take the price of the favourite Enabled and increase it substantially for new customers to the bookmaker in question.

Whatever happens we will bring you the best of the sportsbook promotions for the Prix De L’Arc de Triomphe as they are published and we will keep you up to date with all the latest news and offers. Keep reading as this classic race draws closer to get the best value from 2017’s renewal.