Japanese duo get positive draw for Arc
PARIS (AFP) - Japan's hopes of landing Sunday's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe for the first time were boosted on Friday as both their runners received favourable draws for the Longchamp showpiece.
Last year's unlucky runner-up Orfevre was drawn in eight -- where 2010 winner Workforce sprang from -- and Japanese Derby winner Kizuna 11 of the 18 runner field giving them an excellent chance of fulfilling a dream that began with their first runner 44 years ago.
The highly-fancied unbeaten French filly Treve -- who was the mount of Frankie Dettori until he fractured an ankle on Wednesday -- will have a tough task to extend her unbeaten record as she drew 15.
Treve will also be aiming to improve the dire record of horses that have been supplemented for Europe's most prestigious race.
Owners are allowed to enter their horse 72 hours before for the princely sum of 100,000 euros -- but just two have gone on to reward their connections' investment with victory.
Only two winners of the Arc since 2001 have been drawn higher than stall six, the latter number being filled this year by Epsom Derby winner Ruler of the World and from where Solemia won last year.
Master French trainer Andre Fabre, who is bidding to win an eighth Arc, has three runners with French Derby winner Intello, who would give jockey Olivier Peslier a record fifth win in the race, drawn in nine from where the filly Urban Sea won in 1993.
Flintshire, Fabre's impressive winner of the Grand Prix de Paris in July, got stall seven which has produced six winners of the Arc since the starting gate was installed for the race in 1964.
German runner Novellist -- bidding to give the Germans their second Arc winner in three years after filly Danedream won in 2011 in a record time -- got stall 12 but perhaps the most ill-favoured of the favourites was English runner Al Kazeem who is on the wide outside in 18.
The only consolation for his trainer Roger Charlton is that Orfevre finished second from there last year while Irish great Alleged won one of his two Arcs from the 18 barrier.
Kizuna's owner Shinji Maeda was delighted with his draw, he having unscrewed the ball with his barrier draw inside it -- France's now retired women's Wimbledon title winner Marion Bartoli drawing the horses' names first.
"I was looking for a draw of either 10, 11 or 12, so this is ideal," he beamed.
Maeda said that he was hoping his star -- whose name translates into 'ties' or 'bonds' - a sentiment the owner hoped the Japanese people would embrace after the 2011 tsunami and earthquake which hit north eastern Japan killing over 18,000 people -- would deliver on Sunday.
"With this name I wanted to send a message to the Japanese people and by bringing the horse to France to give it an international audience," he said.
Claude Beniada, French racing manager for Flintshire's owner Saudi Prince Khalid Abdullah, was also pleased with the draw although a little concerned that the rain which fell on Thursday had made the ground officially soft.
"He is a good ground horse but the next couple of days there is no rain predicted," he said.
"He is in great shape, we have a good draw it is as usual a very high quality race and if he doesn't win well too bad but that is the nature of sport."
