Zambezi set to keep prize at home

Longchamp Preview:Kieren Fallon and John Murtagh both know the emotional highs and lows of winning and losing the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe but if the Irish jockeys lose out to Zambezi Sun in tomorrow's renewal of Europe's most valuable all-aged race at Longchamp then it might just sting that extra little bit.

Zambezi Sun's jockey, Stephane Pasquier, burst on to the international scene when winning last year's Arc on Rail Link, a victory that secured him the post as Khalid Abdullah's retained rider and has propelled him to the top of the jockey's championship in France.

In the process, however, the 29-year-old Parisian has exhibited diplomatic skills that are more Khrushchev than Kennedy.

Last July, on board Zambezi Sun in the Grand Prix de Paris, Pasquier made a manoeuvre in the early stages of the race that was widely blamed for putting Fallon on the floor. Then last weekend the Frenchman blamed Murtagh for getting beaten in the Fillies Mile race and labelled him a "connard," a greeting that back home would have resulted in a swift end to any entente cordiale.

Winning friends and influencing people is clearly not on top of Monsieur Pasquier's list of things to do but his handling of the champion Manduro this season indicates he is not exactly short of confidence either.

That might not make him the most attractive of personalities but on the big occasion, it could be exactly what Zambezi Sun needs to win against a fine Arc field that includes the Derby winner Authorized and a quartet from Aidan O'Brien's yard that represent the champion trainer's best chance of winning an Arc.

In contrast to Pasquier, Fallon's confidence on the back of a disrupted season, and the beginning in earnest of the corruption case at the Old Bailey in London can hardly be at the levels it was when Hurricane Run won in 2005. What the controversial former champion jockey does have, however, is confidence in Dylan Thomas, the five-time Group One winner, he labelled the best he has ever ridden after an Irish Champion Stakes success last month.

On fast ground, this would look the ideal race for last year's Irish Derby hero but although the ground is drying out on the Bois de Boulogne, it is still being forecast as being no better than good to soft for Sunday.

That brings his stable companion, and this year's Curragh Derby winner, Soldier Of Fortune firmly into the frame. Murtagh rode him to a smooth trial win in the Pria Niel on faster going but a dig will be no problem to the Galileo colt.

Behind him in third in the Niel was Zambezi Sun who was far from knocked about and whose trainer Pascal Bary is convinced he will reverse form with Soldier Of Fortune.

Authorized will be the one they all have to beat if he shows the same level of form as he showed when winning the Juddmonte.

A superb piece of work earlier this week boosted confidence in the chances of Frankie Dettori winning a fourth Arc.

However, lurking in the background is the fear that such workouts at this time of year can often indicate a horse going over the top.

Zambezi Sun, however, has had the classic French Arc prep' and has followed the same route as Rail Link last year and Bago in 2004. Providing his jockey can stay out of trouble, and that's hardly a given, then the prize can remain in France for the fifth successive year.

There are Irish-trained horses in all six Group One races on the Longchamp card and the champion stayer Yeats is likely to be a heavy odds-on favourite to secure another top-flight prize in the two and a half mile Prix Du Cadran.

There could also be an Irish victory in the Prix Marcel Boussac, the race that kick-started Finsceal Beo's career last year, as Dermot Weld's Mad About You looks to have a first-rate chance of winning and at a decent price too.

Finsceal Beo herself has something to prove in the Prix de l'Opera after a dreadful run in the Irish Champion while Rio De La Plata is a clear form stand out in the Prix Jean Luc Lagadere on his National Stakes second to New Approach.