Ageless Treve takes aim at a third Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe victory in Paris

Twelve months ago, Treve was considered by many in racing a horse fit only for retirement, but the French filly will cap a remarkable comeback on Sunday in Paris, writes Geoffrey Riddle.

French thoroughbred racehorse Treve and rider Pascal Galoche train in Gouvieux, north of Paris. AFP PHOTO / JACQUES DEMARTHON

A “super moon” was visible across Europe this week, which is said by some astrologers to herald a momentous event.

Twelve months ago, Treve was considered by many in racing a horse fit only for retirement, but the French filly will cap a remarkable comeback on Sunday in Paris should she become the first horse to win the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe for a third time.

It is a difficult task to paint Treve as a plucky outsider, given her connections.

Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad of Qatar owns her. Treve’s trainer, Criquette Head-Maarek, is a member of France’s premier racing dynasty, who have trained or ridden 10 winners of the race since it was first run in 1920.

Bred in the purple with English Derby winner Motivator as her sire, the mare has the lineage, too.

And yet, dig a little deeper and the journey of Treve and her connections has hardly been straightforward.

In 2005, Head-Maarek was diagnosed with cancer, from which the 66-year-old has made a full recovery. Before Treve’s first victory, in the French Oaks in 2013 she had not had a Group 1 winner for three years. And she was not the only one who Treve dragged out of the doldrums.

Jockey Thierry Jarnet was champion rider in France four times in succession in the early 1990s. It was a time during which he also rode Subotica to win the Arc in 1992, and Carnegie, whom he partnered to Arc victory in 1994 for Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

But by the time the new millennium arrived, Jarnet’s regular success at the top table, and his association with Andre Fabre, appeared over.

It was Head-Maarek’s insistence before last season’s Prix Vermeille that Jarnet be reunited with Treve at the expense of Frankie Dettori, Sheikh Joaan’s retained rider.

It was a decision that was bold, as it was correct.

“I thought Jarnet was better to ride her than Frankie, even if I think Frankie is the best jockey you can find,” Head-Maarek said on the gallops in Chantilly this week.

“That filly can pull a lot and Jarnet rides her with longer reins. Dettori rides horses with more grip. It’s a different style of riding, that’s all.”

By then, Head-Maarek had worked hard at a complete overhaul of her stable star. Treve’s back problems were massaged away, she was shod with different shoes and even her work saddled was changed.

Treve finished fourth in the Prix Vermeille last season before her second win in the Arc, whereas last month she won the traditional prep race for fillies and mares with the authority of a champion.

Her time was a second quicker than that of the Prix Niel won by New Bay, the French Derby winner who, alongside English Derby winner Golden Horn, will provide Treve with her sternest opposition.

With the sun riding high in Paris, on drying ground, Treve could be vulnerable, too. Golden Horn, ridden by Dettori, was drawn wide in Stall 16 yesterday but should Golden Horn secure an early position behind Treve’s pacemaker, Shahah, John Gosden’s raider could well be the biggest danger to Treve’s customary flourish out of Longchamp’s famous false straight.

Then there is Free Eagle, the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes winner who was third to Golden Horn in Ireland last month. Flintshire was second last year and warmed up with a win in the Group 1 Sword Dancer Stakes.

Dolniya, the Dubai Sheema Classic winner, has been overlooked, while Grand Prix de Paris winner Erupt and Aidan O’Brien’s Found make for a deep field.

Treve is one of just seven dual winners of the Arc. During an era when the best colts are packed off to stud, horses who have won several major international races tend to be mares.

Goldikova was the first horse to win a Breeders’ Cup race three times when she won the Mile consecutively from 2008.

Makaybe Diva’s impressive effort of three successive wins in the Melbourne Cup – a handicap no less – compares favourably.

Treve has won the Arc drawn wide when she was a five-length winner from Orfevre in 2013, and from the inside in Stall 3 last season.

She now bids to win from the middle having been drawn in Stall 8 at yesterday.

With the super moon now waning, Europe awaits a landmark event. It remains to be seen whether the white star on Treve’s forehead passing the post in front is it.

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