The Qatar Prix de l`Arc de Triomphe, the glittering jewel of European racing, returns this Sunday at ParisLongchamp, bringing with it the drama, glamour, and global spotlight that no other race can quite match. Worth £5 million and steeped in prestige, the Arc is more than just a contest—it is the crowning of a champion, a theatre of speed and stamina where the best from around the world converge on racing`s grandest stage.

Imagine horseracing round Dalhousie Square or Connaught Place. Racing round the Place de La Concorde, Paris`s equivalent of those famous Delhi and Kolkata landmarks was just one of the spectacular, if unlikely, publicity events France-Galop staged in the lead up to the 105th Qatar Prix l`Arc de Triomphe – the world`s most important race.

Yes, the Arc, even with its prize money of £5million eclipsed by Arabia`s Saudi Cup of $20million, is where the elite of the racing world gather on the first Sunday in October. It is the climax to the European season and elevates, instantly, the winner to the top of the thoroughbred family tree. There is the Breeders` Cup in America to come but it does not have a pinnacle to match the Arc, jewel in the crown of a weekend of championship Group races.

First run in 1920, for three-year-olds and above, excluding geldings, the Arc has been in existence for 140 years less than the Epsom Derby but whereas crowds on the Downs have declined to less than 25,000 from ten times that number in the Derby`s heyday, the Arc will expect to host twice that number next Sunday. And ParisLongchamp`s (to give the course its full title) sense of theatre which the Derby has lost, hopefully temporarily, will draw and captivate a truly international gathering.

There hasn`t been an Epsom Derby winner who went on to win the Arc since Golden Horn in 2015. This year`s winner at Epsom, Lambourn, hasn`t even made the Coolmore cut for Paris. Three-year-old filly Minnie Hauk, winner of three successive Oaks – Epsom, Irish and Yorkshire - and four-year-old colt Los Angeles, third to stable companion City of Troy in last year`s Derby, will represent the world`s commanding racing force.

There is no standout challenger from the UK. The year after Bluestocking`s climactic victory for Ralph Beckett, his near neighbour in southern England, Andrew Balding, fields one-time favourite Kalpana, like Bluestocking a four-year-old filly. But her defeat at odds on in her prep race – by an admittedly underestimated rival – has dented confidence in Kalpana. More hope than expectation then in the UK camp.

Australia, France, Great Britain, Ireland, the USA have all snatched the Japan Cup from under the noses of the racing mad fans in Tokyo – and that fact alone has spurred the Japanese into a perpetual challenge for the Arc. They have come over to Paris in their thousands since Speed Symboli`s vain effort in 1969 – and always left their yen in the coffers of the Pari-Mutuel. Speed Symboli was an over-ambitious 99-1 shot but in 2006 their confidence in Deep Impact was such that at one stage the Pari-Mutuel threatened to burst its banks – Deep Impact exploded in the market - odds on, 23-1 bar the Japanese champion! The betting market went crazy – 55 per cent up on the previous year when there was no Japanese contender!

This then has been a perpetual theme to the modern Arc – the unavailing Japanese challenge. Saying which the last foreign-trained winner of the Japan Cup, inaugurated in 1981, was Newmarket handler Luca Cumani`s Alkaased ridden by Frankie Dettori back in 2005.

Total prize money for Japan`s biggest contest has grown exponentially since then, to over $8million. Tokyo`s Fuchu racecourse can accommodate over 200,000 spectators for their main race in November – and many of that number descended on Paris to support Deep Impact whose trainer did not give him a prep race in Europe: “I don`t need to sharpen the sword” being his unwise retort. And after Deep Impact finished third the Japanese champion was even disqualified from that ignominious (to his bereft backers) position due to the wrong medication being given.

The Japanese have since come oh so close: Orfevre twice (2012-13) finished runner-up, as did El Condor Pasa (1999) and Nakayama Festa (2010). In the other direction Singspiel, Pilsudski as well as Alkaased have all brought the Japan Cup back to the UK.

The mythical Sisyphus cheated death but the Greek Gods punished him by condemning him to eternally pushing a huge rock up a mountain only for it to roll back, forcing him to start all over again. That`s how the Japanese racing world must view their task at the Arc – an uphill struggle to reach their Holy Grail, and if one of their three representatives next Sunday were to scale the mountain they would instantly achieve legendary status. The race is reality; hope is eternal.

The Oriental visitors have taken repeated defeats stoically. If they do achieve their overriding ambition this time their reaction can only be guessed at; the fervour of Japanese racefans knows no bounds. In Test cricket the England team has a devoted following which travels the world in support - the ‘Barmy Army` - and the fanatical Japanese likewise follow their equine heroes - wherever it takes them. Both sets of followers behave themselves in exemplary fashion – but at least the English touring team do are victorious, occasionally. The Japanese don`t appear to be closing in on their first Arc victory. Though their Seven Seas finished fourth behind Ace Impact in the Arc two years ago, last year`s representative Shin Emperor could manage only 12th behind Bluestocking.

The UK, and Europe too, are lacking in true superstars in the current middle-distance division. Besides the joint-favourite fillies, Aventura for France and the Irish filly Minnie Hauk, the French master trainer Andre Fabre`s colts Cualificar and Sosie are the only ‘native` colts currently quoted at 20-1 or less.

Aventura, second in last year`s Arc to Bluestocking and winner of this year`s Prix Vermeille (Gr1), was also second to Bluestocking in the 2024 Vermeille. Aventura`s form is solid but in this year`s Vermeille renewal she accounted for a filly who is four or five times her odds for the Arc – Gezora. That`s because Gezora`s trainer, the outstanding Francis Graffard, is unsure about his filly`s trip – the Prix Diane (Gr1) that she won was ten furlongs and perhaps the Vermeille, always an informative Arc trial over 2400 metres, stretched her. If the Arc is Graffard`s choice Gezora`s odds will contract.

Aidan O`Brien`s words must always be taken into account. Of Minnie Hauk the master trainer of Ballydoyle, leading the tables yet again, says: “We think she`s getting better and stronger with every race this season, she`s maturing mentally and physically and getting very professional. But don`t disregard our other runner Los Angeles, he is training well.”

Third behind Bluestocking a year ago and an exploratory fourth behind the Japanese Byzantine Dream in the Prix Foy on Arc trials day, at 33-1 Los Angeles might just be the longshot punters are looking for in what appears an open renewal.

O`Brien and Coolmore do not take defeat lying down and the recent death of their star stallion Wootton Bassett will only spur them on – as will the fact that they haven`t landed this great race since Found in 2016.

Numerically Japan fields its strongest squad ever. Shortest priced of the trio is Croix Du Nord. He has two Grade 1 victories to his name, looking a bit special winning the Japanese Derby this summer. He is out of a midget English mare Rising Cross who finished third in the Epsom Oaks. He arrived in Chantilly last month and won his prep race, the ten-furlong Prix du Prince d`Orange Gr2, giving him experience of Longchamp. Croix du Nord has won well over £2million prize money and having proven himself on soft ground is in a position to handle whatever going the weather throws up next Sunday.

It has been accepted in the past that Japanese performers were more at home on fast ground and the forecast for the week in Paris is for dry weather.

Byzantine Dream is Oisin Murphy`s Arc mount and it is arguable that along with Ryan Moore who is injured, and many time French Champion Christophe Soumillon, these three jockeys stand head and shoulders above most of their contemporaries in Europe, if not the world.

Byzantine Dream was prepared for the big race by beating three-time Group 1 winner Sosie, Arc fourth last year, in the Prix Foy: deep form. His ability to handle deep ground is an unknown though he handled the good to soft ground in the Foy despite his big wins back home being on fast ground.

The Japanese contingent will need other factors to fall in their favour. Depending on the size of the field, typically well into double figures, a decent draw is usually reckoned to be among the low numbers – stall three particularly cherished; and luck in running, of course – but the one thing they definitely have in their favour is pedigree. Unlike the norm in Europe, Germany a possible exception along with Coolmore with their vast range of stallions and mares bred in the purple. The Japanese concentrate on staying stock importing fresh blood from around the world.

Three-year-old colt Alohi Alii was an unconsidered 100-1 shot for the Arc before his odds were slashed to 25-1 after his convincing win in the Prix Guillaume d`Ornano (Gr2) at Deauville. The form has since been boosted by the third Cualificar, who went on to victory in the Prix Niel on Arc trials day. Christophe Lemaire`s mount will need to be sharper from the stalls to gain a prominent position in the hustle and bustle of the Arc. The Deauville race was back in August but Alohi Alii had a gap back to his previous race in Japan and obviously is not one who needs hard training.

Concern is regularly expressed that the demands of the market are for speed and more speed to the detriment of staying blood. Top-class middle distance blood is increasingly at a premium and maybe this time, with the swashbuckling Japanese dedicated to the precision-engineering of thoroughbred stamina, that engineering will produce a sword sharp enough to carve up the most celebrated middle distance race in the Western