Superstar mare Enable is on course for a record third Arc at Longchamp in October following her victory in the Eclipse Stakes at Sandown, which brought up her 10th straight success on the course.
John Gosden’s runner has had her problems with injuries over the last couple of years which has prevented her from featuring in many of the major Group One middle distances races over Europe.
Enable is back and ready to go! ?pic.twitter.com/zXHLC1bgQL
— World Horse Racing (@WHR) July 6, 2019
Enable first established herself as one of the leading fillies of her age group when she scored in the Oaks at Epsom. With Frankie Dettori on board, the pair broke away from her rivals inside the final couple of furlongs on the Downs.
The daughter of Nathaniel proved her success in the British Classic was no fluke as she followed it up with success in the Irish Oaks and then the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes where she met her elders for the first time in her career at Ascot.
The biggest prize of Enable’s career came later that year in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, which was held at Chantilly in 2017. She went off as the odds-on favourite at 10/11, and she justified those odds to score by just over two lengths.
Her return to action in 2018 was delayed all the way into September due to setbacks off the course. She had one preparation run on the All-Weather surface at Kempton before her bid to defend her crown at Longchamp. The lack of activity did not stop the mare as she held off the challenge of Sea of Class late on to prevail by a neck.
Gosden’s stable star had another international adventure after her visit to Paris as she travelled across to the United States to feature in the Breeders’ Cup Turf where she came out on top against a usual rival in Magical. The pair were a long way clear of the rest of the pack which included the leading turf horses in North America who proved no match for the Arc winner.
It was Enable and Magical who once again were fighting it out at the finish at Sandown in the Eclipse. After her success in the race, Enable is now one of the leading horse racing tips for the 2019 Arc where the bookmakers have cut her odds into 6/4 in the betting for the 1m4f contest.
Where does Enable rank amongst the all-time greatest flat horses? @WillHillRacing #Ad pic.twitter.com/EyxZ2Tk998
— ITV Racing (@itvracing) July 6, 2019
Eight horses in the history of the Arc have been successful twice in Europe’s leading middle-distance turf race. Treve managed the feat with victories in 2013 and 2014 but failed in her hat-trick attempt when Golden Horn landed the 2015 renewal.
Challengers to Enable’s third Arc bid include French Derby winner Sottsass, Prince of Wales’s Stakes victor Crystal Ocean and Japan, who was third in the Epsom Derby this year but then went on to score in impressive fashion in the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot.
Whatever happens in the Arc at Longchamp, it could be the last time we see Enable on the racecourse in what will bring the curtain down on a fantastic career from the mare.