The Derby winner Serpentine has been added to the field for this weekend's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe to bring Aidan O'Brien's team in the race against Enable up to five.
Enable is seeking a historic third win in the Paris showpiece on Sunday and will be joined by superstar staying stablemate Stradivarius at Paris Longchamp. Olivier Peslier will ride Stradivarius while Frankie Dettori will as usual, be on the dual Arc winner.
Thanks Enable, I love you😘 pic.twitter.com/smRdxqM2uA
— Frankie Dettori (@FrankieDettori) September 5, 2020
The John Gosden trained mare is already the most successful horse in the history of the race having won it twice and finishing second to Waldgeist in 2019, but no horse has ever won the French centrepiece three times.
The Coolmore partners shelled out €72,000 to supplement the Derby winner to the Arc field meaning 16 horses remain at the five-day stage.
Serpentine was last seen when fourth to stablemate Mogul in the Grand Prix de Paris over the Arc course and distance just over a fortnight ago.
Brothers Mogul and Japan, are also among the Ballydoyle Arc quintet. While Sovereign and dual Classic-winner Love complete hand for Aidan O'Brien.
Enable back to favourite
Love was favourite for the race until recently, however rain in Paris has softened the going significantly and Enable has been restored to the head of the market.
Enable may be the most successful horse in Arc history but Andre Fabre is the leading Arc trainer with eight victories.
Fabre denied the Enable hat-trick attempt 12 months ago and he looks to a ninth with Persian King, who will be stepping up to a mile and a half for the first time.
The son of Kingman won the Prix du Moulin from Pinatubo over a mile on his latest start and on pedigree there are doubts about him staying the trip, particularly on rain-softened going.
A further 0.9 millimetres of rain fell at the track in the last 24 hours, making a total of 14.4mm so far this week, with the going reported to be very soft and an unsettled forecast ahead of the weekend.
