Ectot, Certain Ready for Arc

Connections of Ectot (GB) (Hurricane Run {Ire}) and Avenir Certain (Fr) (Le Havre {Fr}) remain unconcerned by ground conditions at Longchamp as Sunday's G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe draws ever closer. 

The Elie Lellouche-trained Ectot and Jean-Claude Rouget's Avenir Certain are two of the headline acts among the 20 horses still in contention for the 1 1/2-mile showpiece. Ectot booked his placed in the Arc with a narrow victory in the G2 Prix Niel Sept. 14, while Avenir Certain won the French 1000 Guineas and Prix de Diane earlier in the season before claiming a comfortable verdict in the G2 Prix de la Nonette on her prep Aug. 19. 

Gerard Augustin-Normand part-owns both runners, with his retained rider Gregory Benoist opting to partner Ectot, who won on good ground at Longchamp. It was officially very soft at Deauville when Avenir Certain triumphed. 

“The weather is good and I think the forecast is for a nice weekend,” said Augustin-Normand's racing manager Sylvain Vidal. “I'd expect the ground to be good, or between good and soft. I'd expect a little bit of ease maybe, but not soft ground. I don't think the ground will be too important as our horses have run well in different conditions before, so it shouldn't be a problem.” 

It is due to be warm and dry in Paris on Friday with some rain forecast for Saturday ahead of a fine, although fresh, day on Sunday. 

G1 Investec Oaks and G1 King George VI & Queen Elizabeth S. victress Taghrooda (GB) (Sea the Stars {Ire}) heads the ante-post markets for the Arc and jockey Paul Hanagan is waiting to see where his Classic-winning filly is drawn before he starts to map out his big-race tactics. Taghrooda was reported to be coming into season after she was beaten a half-length by Tapestry (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in the Aug. 21 G1 Yorkshire Oaks at York. 

With a large field set to go to post, there are bound to be some hard luck stories after the race, but Hanagan believes Taghrooda will rise to the challenge if things get a little tight in running. 

He told At The Races: “She won't shy from anything really, she can hold her own. She's a big filly, she rides kind of like a colt so that [a big field] wouldn't worry me. It's hard to say yet [how the race may pan out] because we don't definitely know what is going to run yet and we don't know where we're going to be drawn. It's a bit early to be going into tactics.” 

Tapestry, a 12-1 chance with Coral, was the sole supplementary entry, with Chicquita (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}) and Ruler of the World (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), the likely mounts of Joseph O'Brien and Frankie Dettori respectively, also representing Ballydoyle.

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