That intriguing opinion has been voiced by the greatest of all French trainers, Andre Fabre, whose Grand Prix de Paris and Prix Niel winner Sosie is joined by old rivals Look De Vega and Delius in an Arc that lacks a true superstar going into it – and might conceivably also lack one coming out of it.

Hello from Longchamp in the Bois de Boulogne, where the 16 runners in the 103 rd running of the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe are due to set off at 4.20 local time, or 3.20 BST. Unl

Now in its 103rd year, the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe is a horse race like no other. The blue riband event in the flat season, this is where the world's finest middle-distance horses come to become immortal,