Duke Of Marmalade is surely the equine equivalent of Ernest Tidyman’s 1970s fictional gritty hard-man detective John Shaft whose rhetorically-posed catch-phrase begged no reply — “Who delivers ten-out-of-ten?”

Ballydoyle’s own bullet-proof, uncompromising hard-man is only five-out-of-five when it comes to Group Ones in 2008 but even that seemed improbable on the basis of last year’s evidence when he drew a blank from six attempts at the highest level — twice suffering the humiliation of following home a fellow Tipperary team-mate. Indeed, before this campaign’s flawless nap-hand of Group Ones, the Duke’s only previous win had been a neck verdict in a two-year-old Curragh maiden.

So whilst this year’s exploits might have seemed improbable to those who measure life with a slide-rule, it came as nothing more than a final effulgence of a flame — damped by injury — they always saw flicker at Ballydoyle.

The Duke may well have made it a six-pack had he been permitted to compete in the rescheduled Irish Champion Stakes on ground that ultimately returned closer to good than the forecast near untraceable. In fact, in a season of supreme sure-footedness, Champion weekend will register as a rare slip in the Coolmore think-tank as it threads a path to a world-record number of Group Ones in a season. With Henrythenavigator on what ultimately proved a fool’s errand at Longchamp, and the Duke confined to barracks, a valuable contribution to the G1 World Record Benevolence Fund might well have gone abegging.

The same mistake is unlikely to occur in the Arc with Coolmore apparently possessing a man — or a colt at least — for all seasons. Although the longer lens for Duke Of Marmalade is focused on the Breeders’ Cup Classic (on the more Euro-friendly Polytrack for the first time), a closer-to-home shot at Europe’s most prestigious championship race, the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, in a fortnight’s time fits right into the schedule if the ground is goodish.

Slow ground could bring Irish St Leger winner Septimus into calculations. His Melbourne Cup aspirations (for which he has already entered quarantine) could well be swapped for the Longchamp spectacle if weather conditions persuaded. Either way, Soldier Of Fortune — Johnny Murtagh’s selected from the Aidan O’Brien raiding party last year, and shortest of the trio currently for this year — is set to line up whatever the weather, having been saved for the Arc following his surprise defeat behind Youmzain in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud at the end of June.

No doubt O’Brien will be twice as keen for victory this year as he was last year with Dylan Thomas — given that prize-money has been doubled with the advent of a five-year sponsorship with Qatar. A prize-fund of €4m for the race makes it unique in Europe and added an extra dimension to last weekend’s series of traditional Arc trials, also sponsored by Qatar.

The talk of the trials was the visually “scintillating” (to use the Racing Post’s Monday headline) performance of the Aga Khan’s Zarkava in the Group One Prix Vermeille. In spite of doing the best impression of the old Hamlet ad ever seen on the Paris circuit — where she dozed off in the stalls — the unbeaten filly still managed to win eased down in a record-equalling time on her first ever attempt at the trip. This, in spite of the fact she had worked moderately the previous Tuesday, her trainer Alain de Royer Dupre claiming she would be rusty. She still had all rivals to pass with just 400 metres to run; and that she may have been in season makes the performance all the more sensational.

But perhaps what spoke the most about her performance was what partner Christophe Soumillon did not say — but rather communicated non-verbally — in the direct aftermath. He shook his head as the filly crossed the line and puffed his cheeks with air of disbelief at what Zarkava had just accomplished. And instead of the routine of making himself the centre of attention all the way to the winners’ enclosure, for once, all he could do was point at the filly. If the bookmakers’ reaction was to make her a 2/1 shot for the Arc, behavioural scientists would certainly have made her odds-on.

That said, she has history to master. The last Vermeille winner to score in the Arc was Three Troikas in 1979. The last three-year-old filly to win was another Aga Khan bred, Akiyda, but that was in 1982. And

the last filly to land France’s finest was Urban Sea back in 1993. So although fillies like Aquarelliste and Leggera have represented their sex with placed efforts in recent years, the Arc winners’ roll of honour has been populated exclusively by colts in recent years.

The Prix Niel, on the other hand, has almost patented the knack of throwing up the Arc winner. The race has accounted for seven of the last 10 Arc winners including, most recently, Rail Link as well as the likes of Hurricane Run, Dalakhani and Montjeu. If Zarkava delivered with a bang, then Niel winner Vision d’Etat arrived with a whimper. His nose verdict over Ideal World was hardly inspiring either in manner or on the book but his career unbeaten record is identical to Zarkava (six from six). Descending unbeaten from the provinces, he was both unfathomably bred and unfashionably connected. Some wondered if either trainer or jockey even has a passport. He started at 14/1 when he won the French Derby and most bookmakers were unmoved by his workmanlike win last Sunday.

However, Jimmy Fortune was allowed a very easy lead on Centennial and slowed the game considerably in the false straight to try to nick it from the front in a sprint to the line. Consequently, the visual impression of the race (by contrast to Zarkava) is exceedingly misleading and therefore there might be a little extra juice in the price of Vision d’Etat (11 on Betfair) versus the filly for value-hunters.

The value of the form of the third trial, the Prix Foy, is neatly summarised in Betfair’s current Arc odds for the winner Zambezi Sun. 120. So enough said.

Finally, my attention was drawn to the quote from last Sunday’s press conference where vice president of Qatar’s Racing and Equestrian Club, Sheikh Mohammed bin Faleh al Thani, spoke of his “satisfaction of associating the name of Qatar with this mythical race”. Does that make the Arc a virtual race then?
(Source: Irish Independent)