October 2, 2020 
Sunday afternoon in Paris, the world’s current top-rated jockey will pilot the world’s current top-rated Thoroughbred racehorse in their attempt to make racing history for the second time in just over two months.
Enable was guided by regular rider Lanfranco Dettori to a historic third victory in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes July 25 at Ascot.
Dettori will attempt to duplicate that hat trick with the horse he calls “my favorite girl” in what many consider the world’s greatest flat race, the 1 1/2 mile Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe on the turf at a COVID-19 vacant-Longchamp.
The daughter of Nathaniel (out of Concentric by Sadlers Wells) is heading back to Paris at age six, facing 14 rivals after disappointment in last year’s Arc when the great mare yielded a six-length lead on rain-softened inner turf to old rival Waldgeist, a horse she had beaten three times before.
An “absolutely insane” record
Her greatness is undeniable, notwithstanding last year’s disappointment. Of her 15 victories in 18 starts, 12 have been G1, 11 of them consecutive before last year’s Arc loss. She has earned $13,841,238 racing in England, Ireland, France and the U.S.
One analyst has referred to her record as “absolutely insane.”
British turf racehorses tend to run under the radar in America. But Enable became more than a blip across the pond in 2018 at Churchill Downs.
The mare had just won her second Arc Oct. 7. Along with the “Win & You’re In” victory came an automatic ticket into the $4 million Breeder’s Cup Turf.
But that would mean shipping 5,000 miles from her home in England to Churchill Downs in the U.S. to race on Nov. 3—in a country where she had never visited, on a track she had never set hoof on—all after having run and won a 1 1/2 mile race in France less than a month before.
That is absolutely insane. But Juddmonte Farms and Enable breeder/owner Prince Khalid Abdullah is a sportsman and wanted his star to gain the worldwide appreciation she had earned.
An epic Breeders’ Cup Turf
Trainer John Gosden has saddled Enable throughout her career. He consistently underplays expectations before her every race. He had reason to on this occasion. Gosden cautioned Enable might not be in her best form after a difficult race, exhausting travel and a new environment. He urged not to expect too much.
Enable gave more than too much that day.
Guided by Frankie Dettori, Enable and Irish filly Magical, ridden by fellow champion jockey Ryan Moore, separated from the rest of the field around the final turn. The quartet then staged one of the most stirring stretch duels in Breeders’ Cup history:
Enable would prevail by less than a length in perhaps her most courageous victory and perhaps the greatest BC Turf race match ever.
Dettori’s greatness as a jockey is equally undeniable. He is known affectionately as “Frankie” to every racing fan in the world. The Italian rider twice rode Enable to victory in the 2017 and 2018 Arc. He has guided her in every one of her starts. Over a riding career approaching 30 years, Dettori has won over 500 Group races around the world and was British Champion jockey three times. His signature achievement was riding all seven winners on British Champions’ Day at Royal Ascot in 1996.
Off as the prohibitive favorite in last year’s Arc, a victory was expected to be the mare’s final race. Rumor had it the race might have been Dettori’s as well. At age 48, having earned virtually every jockey honor possible after a near 30-year career, both could have retired to a comfortable life and an admirable legacy.
But that final loss would have remained an irksome reminder of what might have been.
Ten days after the Arc, Prince Khalid Abdullah’s racing manager Teddy Grimthorpe issued the owner’s decision: “Prince Khalid has decided to keep Enable in training for 2020. The Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe remains an important target.”
Dettori tweeted his excitement and the racing world was thrilled.
As a six-year old however, Enable was getting a bit long in the tooth for a world-class middle-distance turf horse. So, she was initially installed at 7-1 odds, nowhere near favored status.
Waldgeist was retired to Germany as a stallion to take advantage of his Arc victory. But other, younger competitors approaching their peak abilities began to line up.
Coming back to racing form
In her first return race this season, Enable lost handily to Godolphin’s Ghiyyath in the G1 Coral-Eclipse Stakes at England’s Sandown July 5. Ghiyyath then went on to defeat old Enable foe Magical in the G1 Juddmonte International Stakes at York.
Then the stars began to re-align.
Trainer Gosden made it clear Enable was not in racing shape for that first race in July. Too, the Coral-Eclipse is 3/16 of a mile shorter than the Arc. Ghiyyath already had run a poor 10th to Waldgeist and Enable in the 2019 Arc.
Doubts about Ghiyyath already in hand, Magical turned the tables on Ghiyyath, winning the Irish Champion Stakes Sept. 12 at Leopardstown.
Trainer Charlie Appleby, aware of Ghiyyath’s inconsistency and Enable’s coming to form, announced his charge would bypass the Arc and run instead in the now-$4 million Breeders’ Cup Turf Nov. 7 at Keeneland. In declining the challenge, Appleby noted the BC Turf is soon after the Arc and that travel provided an additional concern for the five-year-old.
All were obstacles overcome by Enable in 2018.
Too, last year’s Arc loss by Enable was likely a tactical loss. Her usual race is to track the leader off the rail, then take and extend her lead well into the stretch. Last year, she instead took an earlier lead riding inside along the rail. That is the shortest distance, but it is also where the rain-soaked turf was softest.
Waldgiest, in a brilliant riding decision by French Champion jockey Pierre-Charles Boudot, followed the pace on the firmer outside. When Waldgeist took the lead in the final 100 yards, Enable had nothing left to challenge.
Some changes would be made
Gosden, ever attentive to detail, made some changes this year. Enable raced against only two rivals, Japan and Sovereign, to gain her historic third victory in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
In pouring rain, Dettori returned Enable to her usual off-the-rail stalking trip. At one point she trailed Sovereign by several lengths. With plenty left in the stretch and Sovereign worn down by the pace and the rain, Enable easily overtook the leader and won going away by multiple lengths.
Then instead of the Yorkshire Oaks, a race Enable won last year, Gosden opted for the unusual choice of the G3 September Stakes on artificial turf Sept. 5 at Kempton Park. It was an easy victory over a reasonable field in what would be Enable’s last race in her home country. More importantly, the artificial surface is more like rain-softened than firm turf.
The good breeze close to the Arc completed Enable’s preparation.
Lost Love
But even with Ghiyyath gone, Love remained. The horse.
The superb three-year old is the daughter of Galileo, the world’s leading sire. She is trained by Aidan O’Brien, among the world’s finest big-race trainers.
Coming into the Arc, Love owned five consecutive G1 wins among her six graded-stakes victories. They included this year’s 1000 Guineas, Epsom Oaks and, most recently, the Yorkshire Oaks.
Love was installed as the logical favorite.
But the logical favorite is known to like firm turf.
This week, as can happen in Paris in early October, the rains came to the racecourse at Longchamp.
Rain that is expected to continue throughout this weekend into next weekend.
Rain that has resulted in flood warnings for Paris.
So much rain that O’Brien withdrew Love from the Arc Thursday, saying he “didn’t have much choice.”
“I’d imagine Love will now go for the Breeders’ Cup Turf,” O’Brien told Racing Post. “Japan and Hong Kong could be considered after that. We’ll discuss it with the owner, but I’d imagine the Breeders’ Cup will be the priority now. It’s one of the biggest grass races in the world.”
That leaves Enable with shortened odds, currently 7-6, and two serious foes. One is French colt Sottsass. The three-time graded-stakes winner was French Champion last year as a three-year-old and ran an impressive third in the Arc.
The now-second betting choice is Stradivarius. He is best-known as a marathon runner, winning 16 of his 24 starts, all at 16 furlongs (2 miles). He won his fourth consecutive Goodwood Cup Jul. 28.
In one of the great ironies that occur in racing, the six-year-old son of Sea the Stars is trained by? John Gosden of course. His regular rider? Frankie Dettori of course.
Still, there was never any doubt which horse Frankie would choose for the Arc. His “favorite girl” of course.
The greatest racing mare ever?
So here we are on the cusp seeing Enable seal her legacy as perhaps the world’s greatest racing mare ever.
Winx has supporters who claim that honor. The great Australian mare won 40 of her 43 starts. But she left her home Down Under only once to run at Royal Ascot. Critics dismiss her record as having been gained against inferior competition.
America’s Zenyatta and Ruffian both have their champions. But Zenyatta left the comfortable climes of California only twice, her final race a loss to aptly named Blame in the 2010 Breeders’ Cup Classic, a race worthy of its “Classic” designation:
After setting distance and time records in several of her 10 races, Ruffian’s undefeated record—and her life—ended with a fatal breakdown in an ill-fated match race against Kentucky Derby winner Foolish Pleasure in 1975.
The racing world is left with this one rare opportunity to see history writ on turf. The gilded grandstand and the grounds at Longchamp will be largely COVID-19 empty. But millions worldwide will be watching. The weather is likely to be wet and gloomy.
But for three minutes, a deadly virus that has killed over one million people worldwide and has since returned in force to France can be put aside. Any gloomy weather can feel sunny and bright. Millions of horseracing fans can spend at least one entire day smiling and content.
Can one ageing racehorse and one ageing rider make all that possible? Of course.
Live coverage begins at approximately 8 a.m. EDT Sunday morning on some online websites in the U.S. and will be carried by ITV in Britain. Check local listings for precise availability, schedules and times.
