This stuttering Flat season was in search of a big moment and it finally got it today thanks to Ace Impact in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. The three-year-old colt lived up to the hype and won very impressively on quicker ground than normal for Europe’s premier middle-distance horserace. But no sooner than Turfistes were hailing a champion than we were fearing it might be the end of a lightning career on the racecourse at least.

Ace Impact only made his racing debut in January and is still unbeaten after six trips to the track but his trainer Jean-Claude Rouget said afterwartds that he may now be retired to stud. No doubt the horse’s tendency to get worked up in the preliminaries doesn’t help and it must be difficult keeping the lid on him but it is going to be a crying shame if this comet of a colt is only going to blaze through the racing world for just one year.

Frankie Dettori may have failed to ride a winner on his final day riding in France but British racegoers do get one more chance to see him at least as he will be riding for the final time in the UK on Champions Day at Ascot on October 21st. We’ll be back with a live blog then and I hope that many of you can join us then. Au revoir for now.

Frankie Dettori has objected to the winner in the last. It seems a desperate final throw of the dice as most commentators think he’ll be lucky to get the race in the stewards’ room but he’s got nothing to lose. Dettori might get the verdict on winning rider Maxime Guyon making a big deal of it as he would have annoyed Frankie no end with that celebration after the line!

1 Kelina 22-1
2 Kinross Evens fav
3 Shouldvebeenaring 20-1

And they’re off … Pogo bounces out of the stalls (sorry but it’s true) and leads … into the straight they go … Pogo leads but there comes Kelina to spoil the Frankie party with Dettori and Kinross finishing fast into second place.

• Kinross Evens

• Sauterne 9/2

• King Gold 12/1

• Cachet 16/1

• Shoudvebeenaring 16/1

• Kelina 18/1

• Breizh Sky 20/1

• Fang 22/1

• Topgear 40/1

• Happy Romance 40/1

• 66/1 BAR - 14 Runners
  Live betting at Oddschecker

Frankie Dettori’s last hurrah at Longchamp aboard Kinross, last year’s winner of this race and, quite possibly, the last horse he will ever ride in public, if he heads to the big international meeting in Hong Kong in December as planned. Dettori could hardly wish for a more reliable partner as he waves goodbye to the Bois de Boulogne than the gelding he describes as his “cash machine”, such is his push-button predictability at seven furlongs and a mile. It may not be quite as straightforward as the betting suggests, however, as the three-year-old Sauterne, who took the Group One Prix du Moulin over a mile at this track last time out, is an interesting new rival for Ralph Beckett’s runner.

Patrice Cottier’s filly has been thriving on racing and improving with every run, and actually comes into this race rated 1lb in front of Kinross by Timeform when her sex allowance is taken into account. She hit a bit of a flat spot last time and might just prefer this race to be at a mile, but at the odds on offer with the bookmakers, she looks quite interesting at around 9-2. Other interesting contenders include King Gold, the Group One Prix Maurice Du Gheest winner, and Cachet, who is without a win in three starts since taking the 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket last year but had spent more than a year on the sidelines before running fourth in a Group Three at Doncaster last month.

SELECTION: Sauterne

1 Highfield Princess 2-1 fav
2 Perdika 28-1
3 Aesop’s Fables 66-1

This will be over so quickly … bear with me … and they’re off … Asymmetric leads early … Perdika goes for home … Ponntos tries to close … but Highfield Princess gets up late in the day to land the prize.

• Highfield Princess 7/2

• White Lavender 15/2

• Kerdos 8/1

• Moss Tucker 17/2

• Get Ahead 11/1

• Equality 14/1

• Ponntos 14/1

• Art Power 16/1

• Rogue Lightning 16/1

• Dramatised 20/1
  22-1 BAR – 18 runners

The day’s big sprint, and a chance for the hugely popular Highfield Princess to get another Group One on the board before she hopefully sets sail towards the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Santa Anita. She has been hitting the bar at Group One level so far this year and has only one win, in a Group Two at Glorious Goodwood, to her name in 2023, but she is the clear pick on form at the weights. A high draw in stall 14 is something of a concern, however, as the low numbers generally hold sway over this trip here, and Kerdos, from four, is an interesting alternative from the Clive Cox yard, along with Karl Burke’s White Lavender, in six. The latter was three lengths behind Highfield Princess at Goodwood but the draw could well even things out quite a bit.

SELECTION: Kerdos

1 Blue Rose Cen 2-1 fav
2 Jackie Oh 9-1
3 Lumiere Rock 13-2

And they’re off … Blue Rose Cen shoots off fast and races prominently with Jackie Oh and now Lumiere Rock takes up the running … Al Husn is in third spot as they turn for home … Blue Rose Cen challenges and it’s a close finish with Blue Rose Cen just holding on from Jackie Oh.

The trainer of the big-race winner, Jean-Claude Rouget, has just spoken and said after winning two of the most recent Arcs: “I am like a very backward horse though I hope I have a few good years ahead of me. I know I started with jump horses and poor Flat racers but now we have a very strong stable and a great team. We celebrated and it was decompression afterwards. I don’t know what we will do [with Ace Impact], if he goes straight to stud or races on next year?”

Ace Impact once again displayed his sensational turn of foot as he sprinted to glory in the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at ParisLongchamp. Unbeaten in five previous runs for trainer Jean-Claude Rouget, the Prix du Jockey Clubwinner was trying his hand at 12 furlongs for the first time in the European middle-distance championship.

Employing his usual waiting tactics, Cristian Demurosettled Ace Impact - who got very worked up in the paddock beforehand - at the back of the field before unleashing his electrifying burst in the closing stages to overhaul the gallant Westover and pull away for an impressive triumph.

Rouget said: “I won with Sottsass three years ago, it was incredible because I started in Pau a long time ago. It’s a long way [journey of training career] and two Arcs in four years is fantastic.”

He added: “I am like a very backward horse and I am just maturing now. So I hope I have a few good years again in front of me. I know how I started with jumpers and very bad Flat horses. With Millkom it was the first sign of a Classic career in 1994 and after we won with Le Havreand Stacelita and now we have a very strong stable.

“Thank you to all of my team. I have two teams now, one in Pau and one in Deauville. There is a lot of work always in a serious, serious way. We always say they are the best when they win, I think it is his strong acceleration. It is something I have never seen.

“I don’t know if he will go straight to the stud or run next year. It will be decided between the two owners and me, but I don’t know yet.” PA Media

• Blue Rose Cen 3/1

• Jannah Rose 6/1

• Al Husn 6/1

• Lumiere Rock 6/1

• Rogue Millennium 7/1

• Jackie Oh 15/2

• Stay Alert 18/1

• Musoka 20/1

• Darkaniya 22/1

• State Occasion 28/1

• Excellent Truth 40/1

• Full betting at Oddschecker

Another favourite with a few questions to answer here, as things have not really gone according to expectations for Blue Rose Cen after she stormed through the early part of the season, adding the French equivalent of both the 1,000 Guineas and Oaks to her win in the Marcel Boussac on this day 12 months ago. She looked desperately unlucky behind Al Husn, who re-opposes today, in the Nassau Stakes at Glorious Goodwood, but there were fewer excuses for her fifth-of-eight behind Warm Heart in the Prix Vermeille here three weeks ago. That was, admittedly, her first start at 12 furlongs, and the drop back to 10 here is likely to suit, but she may just not be quite as dominant in her generation as she seemed.

In addition to Al Husn, who might not appreciate the drying ground, other leading contenders include Jannah Rose, who was well beaten by Blue Rose Cen in the Prix de Diane (French Oaks) but has since bounced back in a Deauville Group Two, and Lumiere Rock, from Joseph O’Brien’s yard in Ireland, who put up a new career best to win the Group Two Blandford Stakes in early September. At bigger prices, meanwhile, Hughie Morrison’s Stay Alert could be an each-way option. She is top-rated by Timeform, which is a little unusual for a 16-1 shot, but has been a little unlucky at Group One level on her last two starts, finding trouble in running in both the Pretty Polly Stakes and the Yorkshire Oaks.

SELECTION: Stay Alert (each-way)

1 Ace Impact 5-2 fav
2 Westover 11-2
3 Onesto 50-1

There’s no obvious front-runner in this year’s Arc so this is going to be fascinating tactically. And they’re off … Simca Mille and Place Du Carrousel are out sharpish with Bay Bridge, who is pulling hard … Mr Hollywood now takes up the running … Hukum is right there behind him … Ace Impact is towards the rear … they turn for home … Hukum and Westover are there … Ace Impact bursts through to win … and IMPRESSIVELY!

• Ace Impact 3/1

• Hukum 13/2

• Westover 15/2

• Fantastic Moon 10/1

• Through Seven Seas 10/1

• Continuous 11/1

• Feed The Flame 12/1

• Bay Bridge 16/1

• Free Wind 18/1

• Place Du Carrousel 22/1

• BAR 25/1 – 15 Runners
  Full betting at Oddschecker

A superbly open renewal of Europe’s showpiece middle-distance event, with a field headed by an unbeaten colt who could be anything in Ace Impact, and at least seven or eight leading contenders that could emerge as very worthy winners if the favourite does not quite come up to expectations (and, perhaps, even if he does). All of the runners at 14-1 and below have a very decent case to be made in their favour, and also plenty for a devil’s advocate to work with, not least when it comes to Ace Impact, who is stepping up to a mile-and-a-half for the first time. French Derby winners have a distinctly iffy record in the Arc since the Classic was cut from a mile-and-a-half to 10 furlongs in 2005, with only Sottsass completing the double and he needed to wait until he was a four-year-old. Personally, I’m more than happy to take him on at the likely prices, the only problem being which one of the very plausible alternatives to row in with, given all the ifs and buts. Continuous showed an impressive turn of foot in the Leger last month but no horse has ever completed the Doncaster/Longchamp double in the same year, never mind off just a 15-day break.

Westover is top-rated by Timeform and a better horse than last year, when he was sixth, but the drying ground is against him. Hukum was a brave winner of the King George, but has a very wide draw. The three that, on balance, possibly have fewer buts than ifs are Feed The Flame, who has had a classic French preparation via the 12-furlong Grand Prix de Paris at Longchamp and then the Prix de Niel; Fantastic Moon, the German Derby winner, who was two-and-a-half lengths ahead of Feed The Flame in the Niel; and Through Seven Seas, the big hope of Japan, who ran the brilliant Equinox to a neck in a Grade One race in her native country in June. All in all, and taking the likely odds into account, I’ve come down on the side of Through Seven Seas, who will like the ground, gets the mares’ allowance from the colts, has had a decent break since her last start – which suits her well, according to her trainer – and also has the excellent and hugely experienced Christophe Lemaire holding the reins. The 16-1 that was widely available a few days ago has disappeared, but the 10-1 still on offer in places still looks like a decent each-way price.

SELECTION: Through Seven Seas

1. OPERA SINGER 2-1 jt-fav, 2. Rose Bloom 8-1, 3. Les Pavots 11-2.

1. ROSALLION (Sean Levey) 7.1-1, 2. Unquestionable 8.1-1, 3. Beauvatier 2-1 fav.

Good afternoon from Longchamp in the Bois de Boulogne, where horses, owners, trainers and jockeys from around Europe and indeed the world are converging once again, as they do every autumn, for what is, quality-wise, our continent’s most significant and valuable day at the races.

Converging, what’s more, in distinctly un-autumnal weather, with no rain in the forecast, temperatures heading towards 25C and the officially “good to soft” ground drying all the time. It was probably, by British standards, riding somewhere close to good on Saturday, and by recent Arc standards, it is going to be freakishly quick by the time the field goes to post for the big race at 16.05 local time, and 15.05 in the UK.

And what a fascinating and competitive race we have in prospect. Some years, the Arc revolves around a single horse – Enable, for instance, or Treve, a decade ago – that is some way in front of the rest of them on form. Others are wide-open, with a host of Group One-winning horses that arrive on a similar level form-wise, and often coming face-to-face for the first time. This is very much an Arc in the second category, which, to my mind at least, is the best kind there is.

The Arc, a little oddly, is the third of the six Group One events on today’s schedule, when it feels like it should really be at the climax of the card. I think it’s something to do with the lottery-style “Tierce” race on the PMU being fixed at the same time every weekend, but I stand to be corrected. Regardless, the “second-string” events are very much championship races in their own right, and since it looks as though Europe may wrap up the Ryder Cup in record time this afternoon, bear in mind that there will still be Group One action in France until 17.00 BST.

That is also likely to be the best time to tune in if you are hoping to see Frankie Dettori ride a Group One winner on his final Arc afternoon at Longchamp. The retiring former champion has five rides in all on the card, including Free Wind, at around 16-1, in the big race, but Kinross, the very warm favourite for the Prix de la Foret, is very much the standout.

The early Arc betting with British bookies has Ace Impact, the unbeaten Prix du Jockey Club (French Derby) winner, as clear favourite at around 3-1, with Hukum, the King George winner at Ascot in July, next best at 6-1. Westover, though, who was just a head behind Hukum at Ascot, is a little uneasy in the market, and out to 7-1 joint third-favourite with Continuous, the St Leger winner, perhaps because he is one of the few in the field that might prefer a bit more cut in the ground.

With two juvenile championships and the frantic five-furlong dash that is the Prix de l’Abbaye to look forward to as well, it is a card with something for everyone and you can follow all the news, views and Arc-day dramas right here on our live blog until the sun sets over the Bois de Boulogne.