Hiruno D'Amour cut for Arc after bullish reports

HIRUNO D'AMOUR, beaten a short neck by Arc favourite Sarafina in the Prix Foy on trials day at Longchamp, was on Wednesday the subject of bullish reports from his trainer and jockey, as the 20-1 on offer for Sunday's Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe vanished.

Bet365, Ladbrokes, Paddy Power and William Hill all cut the four-year-old to 16-1 to become the first Japanese-trained horse to win Europe's most prestigious all-aged race.

The Mitsugu Kon-trained colt was put through his paces on Les Aigles round gallop on Wednesday by big-race rider Shinji Fujita.

Hiruno D'Amour has been stabled just outside Chantilly at the yard of Satoshi Kobayashi since the beginning of August.

"The horse is in very good condition already, so I didn't need to push to hard this morning, it was just a normal gallop," said Fujita, who has ridden Hiruno D'Amour in all ten previous starts, including two Group 1 successes in Japan this spring.

Fujita continued: "The horse is 100 per cent, thanks to the efforts of the stable staff."

The son of 2002 Arc challenger Manhattan Cafe has made a deep impression on local trainers, with Sarafina's trainer Alain de Royer-Dupre saying: "I saw the horse exercise last week on Les Aigles and he impressed me greatly. He did a magnificent piece of work."

But the man who is masterminding Hiruno D'Amour's challenge insisted that he has not altered anything in the build up to the Arc.

"The horse is now in good condition, and he's absolutely primed to run a big race," said Kon.

"We haven't changed his training all that much from when he was in Japan, everything has been normal ahead of the Arc."

Not so normal, for the time of year, is the sultry weather in Paris, though Longchamp clerk of the course Christian Delporte described the turf as "just like velvet" on Wednesday.

Delporte reiterated that the going on Sunday will be good to soft when it is posted in the morning at10am, but will be good by the afternoon.

Delporte said: "We put 10mm of water on the course Monday night and the going is currently good to soft, for there is a lot of dew at this time of year.

"We will water again tomorrow night, but less - something in the region of 5mm; it will depend on the section of the track."

Sarafina remains general favourite at around 3-1, though Coral quoted her and So You Think at 7-2 joint-favourite on Wednesday.

Don't miss Thursday's Racing Post for all the latest Arc meeting news, including a special report on what the Australian racing industry make of So You Think's prospects.

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