Qatar Arc Road: Enable's perfect prep for a historic third Arc

September 5, 2020, Kempton Park (London, UK). - 6yo race mare Enable (Nathaniel) won the September Stakes (Gr3) by seven lengths. Her connections decided to take the ‘easy’ route and let her prepare in this race, which she won in 2018 prior to her second Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe success.

Enable could have taken on Love, her future Arc rival, in the Yorkshire Oaks (Group 1) in August at York. However, the final decision was to give Prince Khalid Abdullah’s mare a final prep race in the September Stakes, before her attempt at a historic third Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (Group 1), on the 4^th October at ParisLongchamp. Enable has a perfect prep run this Saturday at Kempton: quickly up to the lead and running against horses well below her own class, she won effortlessly.

It was a very easy win, even though jockey Lanfranco Dettori insisted that she work all the way to the line: this was a prep, not a walk-about! Enable won by 7 lengths. This winning margin was greater than that when she won the September Stakes in 2018, before her second win in the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe: that day she won by 3 ½ lengths, but in very different circumstances. She was having her first run of 2018, and the second-placed horse was none other than her great rival Crystal Ocean, a top-class racehorse.

This victory for Enable in the September Stakes, against weaker competition, has not changed the betting order for the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. The 3-year-old filly Love remains the bookmaker’s favourite, in front of Enable. However, her faithful jockey, Lanfranco Dettori, said after the race, “All roads lead to ParisLongchamp. We came here to do the job, she felt good and the dream is still alive. » Rendezvous Sunday the 4th of October!