Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe Betting Tips

No race in Europe carries as much history and importance with it than the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. Hosted every year at Longchamp at the end of September or beginning of October, it brings together the best middle distance performers of every age from every racing nation.

It is contested over 1m4f of the Paris turf, bringing a culmination to all the speculation about which horse is the true star of that year’s flat season. Inaugurated in 1920, the list of previous winners reads as a who’s who of racing history.

Names like Ribot and Sea-Bird were the first heroes to capture global attention for the race, with France, Germany, Ireland, Italy and the UK all sending out winners over the years. In more recent times, the likes of Sea The Stars, Treve and Enable have left their imprint on the contest, while there is the constant expectation that soon, Japan will become the first non-European nation to have a winner trained in their country.

Tips to follow

Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe Favourites Runners & Form

The Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe field will be unknown for the majority of the flat season. However, some of the prospective runners can be deduced a long way from the off, with previous runners and up-and-comers both having made a name for themselves already.

Leading the market is Sosie, whose trainer Andre Fabre has won the Arc on more occasions than any other trainer in the history of the race. He won his eighth and most recent title courtesy of Waldgeist in 2019, when he upset the hot favourite Enable, with his leading hope this year much better fancied having gone unbeaten at Longchamp thus far in his career.

He dethroned Look De Vega as favourite after defeating the French Derby winner in the Prix Niel over the Arc course and distance. Nevertheless, the son of Lope De Vega also has obvious claims, as he had won all three of his races prior.

Los Angeles is third favourite for Aidan O’Brien, seeking his first Arc winner since Found in 2016. Ballydoyle have only ever had two winners of this great race, but their son of Camelot has only ever lost twice, and warmed up for this with a superb run over an inadequate 1m2f in the Irish Champion Stakes last time out.

Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe Racecourse 

The Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe is run every year at Longchamp racecourse, apart from when it was briefly closed for maintenance and run at Chantilly. However, now the track is open again, it will not be moved for the foreseeable future.

The race is regularly run on soft or testing ground, which is more prevalent in French flat racing. This can also be down to the time of year in which the race is run, as to gather all the best horses at the end of the season necessitates a date in the autumn.

It is a relatively open track with a couple of tight bends and a late jink after swooping right-handed for the majority.

Betting Strategies for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe

Betting on the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe can be straightforward or more complex depending on your preference. All of the following are ways to bet on the race without sticking to the simplest “win only” market.

Each Way

The Arc is the most coveted prize in European flat racing, so plenty of connections are tempted to chance their best horses at the race. As a result, a bigger field than many similar races often prevails, allowing for players to back some runners at substantial prices, such as 2021 winner Torquator Tasso, a German horse who won at an official starting price of 72/1!

Non Runner No Bet

Entries for the race come out well in advance, but the season progresses at a rate of knots. If you want to back a horse early to get a better price, you can, but you can also do so with Non Runner No Bet terms, with which you get the insurance of your money back if your horse does not make it to the Arc.

Without the Favourite

As was the case in some recent renewals featuring the likes of Enable and Ace Impact, there can be a very short price favourite. However, if you do not wish to simply back the favourite at odds-on, you can back an alternative in a market without the favourite, meaning you win even if your horse finishes second to the market leader.

Draw Biases

With the Arc often run on slow ground, it can be crucial to get a good draw. The wider your horse is drawn in the race, the poorer start they are likely to endure, as the ground can sometimes be deeper and more difficult to race across from.

Are There Any Specific Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe Betting Offers?

The Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe is run in September or October of every season, and as yet no offers are yet available for the race. However, because the Arc is so significant to European flat racing, there will definitely be some offers that will relate to the race.

Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe Trends & Historic Data

As mentioned above, the draw can be vital, and only one horse has emerged from a double-figure stall to win since 2017. Equally, this never used to be a comfortable betting race for favourites, but four have claimed the title in the last seven runnings, including in each of the last two years.

The Classic generation of three-year-olds get a 7lb swing at the weights from the older horses, but Ace Impact’s success in 2023 was the first by a horse of that age for six years. Overall though, 61 winners have been aged three, so it remains the most prominent age group for winners to emerge from.

Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe Past Winners

Year	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Odds
2014	Treve	Christiane Head	Thierry Jarnet	11/1
2015	Golden Horn	John Gosden	Frankie Dettori	9/2
2016	Found	Aidan O’Brien	Ryan Moore	6/1
2017	Enable	John Gosden	Frankie Dettori	10/11F
2018	Enable	John Gosden	Frankie Dettori	Evs F
2019	Waldgeist	Andre Fabre	Pierre-Charles Boudot	131/10
2020	Sottsass	Jean-Claude Rouget	Cristian Demuro	73/10
2021	Torquator Tasso	Marcel Weiss	Rene Piechulek	72/1
2022	Alpinista	Sir Mark Prescott	Luke Morris	33/10F
2023	Ace Impact	Jean-Claude Rouget	Cristian Demuro	19/10F