"Arc" weekend at Longchamp

this column is now off to Paris for the weekend, but first here are our thoughts on the big meeting at Longchamp, with several interesting German-traind runners. In our view the best chance of a German winner is in Saturday´s Prix Dollar at 16.50, in which the classy Zazou (Mario Hofer/ Olivier Peslier) and the much-improved Budai (Waldemar Hickst/ Dominique Boeuf) are engaged. With very soft ground expected, both German runners could finish in the money, but Zazou, racing over his best trip, is the selection. Also on Saturday we like High Heeled (John Gosden/ Peslier) in the Prix Royallieu at 16.15 and Baden-Baden winner Emerald Commander (Saeed bin Suroor/ Mikael Barzalona) in th Prix Daniel Wildenstein at 17.25.
Sunday of couzrs is the big da and fatures no g´fewer thn 7 Gropip One racs for thoroighbbrds and one more for Arab-breds. The "Arc" itself will be run at 16.05 and a fild of almost 20 is expected. There are two German runners Wiener Walzer (Jens Hirschberger/ Tom Queally) and Liang Kai (Uwe Ostmann/ Stephane Pasquier), but the going will be too soft for the former while the latter - with all due respect- looks outclassed. This is a very open "Arc" and - dare one say it?- of much lower class than usual, with question marks over many of the leading candidates. Youmzain (Mick Channon/ Richard Hughes) has been runner-up 3 times running, and the horses that beat him, Dylan Thomas, Zarkava and Sea the Stars are certainly much superior to anything in this field. He could make the frame again, while we also expect Cavalryman (Saeed bin Suroor/ Frankie Dettori) to run much better than he did at Baden-Baden. The Aga Khan´s pair, Planteur and English Derby winner Workforce look the be st of the 3yo´s. The best German chance on Sunday is in the Prix du Cadran at 13.05 over 4000 metres, with Brusco (Andreas Wöhler/ Peslier) and Shawnee Saga (Werner Baltromei/ Boeuf) engaged. Peter Schiergen´s two runners, Danedream in the Prix Marcel Boussac at 14.10 and Elle Shadow in the Prix de l´Opera at 17.35, will both b prtnerd ny ndrsch Starke, while Smooth Operator (Hofer/ Guyon) might be an interesting each-way bet on the soft going in the Prix de la Foret at 15.20.