Daryz’s super acceleration up the ParisLongchamp straight must give him an exciting chance of becoming the first dual G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (2400m) winning colt since Alleged in 1978 in Sunday’s (4 October) spectacular. And confidence was not dampened in a ceremony in Paris, France on Thursday evening (1 October) when Daryz was allocated stall five.

Apart from his thrilling defeat of Minnie Hauk on this day last year, he has dismantled his opponents on six other occasions here, most recently when setting himself up for this challenge in last month’s G2 Prix Foy (2400m).

The opposition is fierce as you would expect in Europe’s richest race, but Daryz’s trainer Francis-Henri Graffard is upbeat and especially with the rare prospect of the race run on good or even fast ground.

He said: “I think the only reason he managed to win on soft ground last year is because he is a very good horse. I much prefer quicker ground so that he can really show his turn of foot.”

Graffard also expressed his delight with the way the son of Sea The Stars came through his final piece of serious work in Chantilly on Tuesday (29 September).

“Mickael (Barzalona) found him very athletic even more so than before the Prix Foy. He is in great shape physically, which is exactly what I wanted to see before the Sunday,” Graffard said.

Graffard and owners Aga Khan Studs also have an intriguing alternative chance with the sharply progressive Varandir, who made his own claim when smoothly landing last month’s G2 Prix Niel (2400m), a three-year-old ParisLongchamp trial for Sunday.

Coming from gate four on Sunday, Varandir’s only career defeat in five starts came when just half-of-a-length fourth in a riveting finish to ParisLongchamp’s mid-summer highlight, the G1 Grand Prix de Paris (2400m). The winner was Maltese Cross, who bravely squeezed through a gap, earning plenty of plaudits in the process.

Under a 5lb penalty, Maltese Cross built on that in August when mastering two Group 1 winners in York’s G2 Great Voltigeur Stakes (2371m) and ever since then the colt has been high on many a list for glory this Sunday.

Like Daryz, Maltese Cross is a son of Sea The Stars and similar to Graffard, his trainer William Haggas is very pleased about the predicted good or faster ground for Tom Marquand’s mount, who is drawn in gate eleven.

Haggas, whose Sea Of Class got to within a short-neck of winning the 2018 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, said of the athletic colt: “The first time he showed me real speed, also getting out of a tricky spot, was in the Grand Prix de Paris. He was even better at York and that’s what I like about him; in every single race he has had this year he has been better than the previous one.

“Everyone wants to win the Arc, and we think we can give it a good shot with Maltese Cross.”

The G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (2400m) is carded as S4-4 and will be run at 10.05pm (Hong Kong time) on Sunday, 4 October.

Picture: Scoop Dyga