Alain de Royer-Dupre will bid to claim the latest in a treasure trove of big-race triumphs with hot favourite Zarkava in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

The brilliant three-year-old boosted her claims with a devastating success in the Prix Vermeille three weeks ago, extending her unbeaten run to six races, including four at the highest level.

Royer-Dupre said: “She did it so smoothly after losing ground at the start in the Vermeille, and has delighted me since.”

The handler believes Zarkava had shown signs of her brilliance from an early age.

He added: “As a two-year-old she really surprised me when winning the Boussac because she had no room two furlongs out. After her debut I decided it would be wrong to run her in an intermediary race as she’s so highly-strung.

“The seed was sown on that first ever race, and as early as that I knew she was out of the ordinary.

“She won so easily, and I knew there was a lot of improvement to come.”

Her 2008 triumphs have included the French 1000 Guineas and the French Oaks, making her the hottest property filly-wise the Arc has seen in recent years.

You have to go back to 1993 to find the last distaffer to prevail in the race, in the form of Urban Sea.

And of his uncanny success with top-class fillies, the trainer concludes: “Zarkava is a fifth-generation descendant of Petite Etoile. Maybe the success I have with fillies is down to my training regime, which is less focussed on speed.”
(Source: At The Races)