Arc Rain Won't Dampen Novellist Prospects
- Saturday, 05 October 2013 16:15
Connections of Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe runners will need to brace themselves for potential rainfall close to Sunday's race.
The ground at the Paris course was reported as officially good to soft on Tuesday by the International Racing Bureau, and it will be generally warm and dry in the region until Friday night.
A field of 21 horses stood their ground at the first forfeit stage, with the leading ante-post hopes still in the mix, while the likes of Treve and Leading Light are expected to be supplemented on Thursday.
John Lee, a forecaster for MeteoGroup, said: "There is a chance of a shower but it is otherwise generally dry on Wednesday, and Thursday will have sunny periods with the chance of an isolated shower, but most areas are staying dry.
"There does appear to be an area of unsettled weather on Friday afternoon and early into Saturday."
Ground should not be a concern for Novellist, who has won on conditions ranging from good to firm to soft.
Trainer Andreas Wohler is confident his representative will strip much fitter than when winning at Baden Baden last time out.
Novellist is unbeaten this season, including three times at the highest level, but he really sprang to prominence when routing top-class opposition in the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot.
Next time out in Germany he was nowhere near as impressive in seemingly weaker company, despite it being a Group One, but Wohler was using the race purely as a stepping stone.
Man-of-the-moment Johnny Murtagh was on board at Ascot and he will take over in the saddle once more at Longchamp.
"The horse is very well and he did his last piece of work (on Monday),'' Wohler told At The Races.
"Everything has gone smooth and fine since his last race and hopefully it will for the next couple of days so we are looking forward to Sunday.
"He's a different type of horse since Baden Baden. It was a Group One race but we treated it as a prep race."
