John Gosden has said he is full of hope for Enable in her bid for her third win in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe on Sunday, after being superb on the gallops at home.
Enable is the headline entry with the six year old looking for her third win in the race after being narrowly defeated in her third consecutive bid by Waldgeist.
The six year old this season has been as consistent as ever, starting her campaign in the Coral Eclipse just being denied by the Godolphin star Ghaiyyath but it acted as a perfect prep run for the Group One King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, which she landed for the third time in her career.
She headed to Kempton last time out where she was a strong winner of the Group Three September Stakes and she used that contest as a prep race when landing her second Arc in 2018.
The mare will be taking on arguably her toughest field to date at the weekend with her currently sharing favouritism with the Aidan O'Brien trained Love and her also taking on stablemate Stradivarius.
Gosden has said all the way through the season that it has been more difficult to get her where she needs to be for this race but now only a few days away, he could not be happier.
(Credit ATR) The trainer said: “I think she’s found it more difficult – she’s older and bigger and heavier, and getting to race fitness.
“I went gently at it – it was a struggle, though, and when I ran her in the Eclipse, I was very clear with everyone beforehand that the race would put her right.
“She went there at 80 per cent, and the race did put her right – she went and won the King George.
“She’s been in good form since – she had a nice breeze round in the September Stakes, nothing too taxing for her because the Arc has been the target all year.”
Gosden added: “She’s happy and well in herself – Frankie breezed her on the round gallop on the Limekilns on Saturday and he was very pleased with her.
“It’s still a few days to go – and she’s ready to put in a big, bold effort.
“We’re perfectly aware how tough the race is, and we’re perfectly aware how tough the opposition is.”
Although Gosden is happy with his mare, he understands how hard the task she has got in the race, now a six year old and not as spright as she once was when winning this race as a three and four year old.
“I think she was overwhelmingly the best as a three-year-old, getting the weight in her first Arc,” he said.
“The second Arc, she struggled, had an injury, came back (and) won in the September Stakes, then got sick and then went to the Arc.
“She’d missed some work but she hung in there – and last year she ran a blinder.
“I think we all went a stride (too) quick and all moved a little bit soon for the conditions – let’s hope we can go one better this year.
“But we’re totally aware that (with) the favourite (Love, who has drifted to second-favourite behind Enable) getting all the weight, it’s a mighty task giving that weight.
“Having said that, we benefited from it when we were a three-year-old winning the Arc, so we can’t exactly complain now!”