French master trainer Andre Fabre has won a record seven Prix de l’Arc de Triomphes but he believes the “Lionel Messi” of racing Frankie Dettori could deny him an eighth on Sunday.
Fabre saddles three in Sunday’s latest edition of Europe’s most prestigious race — returning to its home of the refurbished Longchamp after a hiatus in 2016 and 2017 when it was at Chantilly — but fears Dettori’s mount, last year’s winner Enable, could prove too good. Indeed 72-year-old Fabre said that while he is pleased with the most favoured of his three runners Waldegeist, the Enable team are a formidable outfit, comparing them to two football powerhouses.
“I don’t think the ground is a problem, it was quick when he (Waldegeist) won the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud — he acts on any sort of ground,” said Fabre this week.
“He won a Group One at two and now he’s back to his best. “However, it is like playing Barcelona, taking on Enable. Barcelona do get beaten, but it’s like combining them with Manchester City having to take on Enable, Prince Khalid Abdullah (Enable’s owner), (trainer) John Gosden and the Messi — Frankie Dettori.”
Dettori is the most successful jockey in the race with five victories, who believes Enable, despite being restricted to just the one outing this season with victory in The September Stakes, is capable of emulating another filly Treve (2013 and 2014) in a repeat success.
