Tremendous Treve 4/1 For 2014 Arc Following Longchamp Triumph

Treve produced a scintillating display when landing Sunday’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp – as predicted by TV Bet – and the brilliant filly is 4/1 with Paddy Power and Stan James (just 2/1 with William Hill) to repeat the dose in 12 months’ time.

For ante-post punters keen to make a long-term investment by backing the daughter of Motivator for the 2014 renewal of Europe’s richest horse race, part of the guesswork has been taken out of the equation, with connections confirming that she will stay in training next season.

Speaking to the media on Monday, Treve’s trainer Criquette Head-Maarek said: ‘She will stay in training next season and I don’t think we will run her again this year. If she does have one more run, it will be in Hong Kong as the Breeders’ Cup is too close and the ground in Japan is always very hard.

‘Sheikh Joaan (Al Thani, owner) bought her to win the Arc and she did it and now we have to try to win it again next year. She will run in the spring and even though she stays the distance (mile and a half) well, she has so much pace she could easily run over 2,000 metres (mile and a quarter) or even over a mile. She can do everything.’

It’s hard to argue with Head-Maarek’s assessment – Treve looks like a filly that truly can do anything. She’s now unbeaten following five starts and the authority with which she won the Arc was nothing short of extraordinary.

Despite being drawn out wide in stall 15, sweating up somewhat during the preliminaries and not getting any cover during the race itself, the three-year-old travelled supremely well and the writing was on the wall turning into the home straight, with Thierry Jarnet, who was deputising for the injured Frankie Dettori, sitting motionless aboard the filly.

When Jarnet said go around two furlongs out, Treve responded immediately, showcasing tremendous acceleration, just as she did when landing the French Oaks and the Prix Vermeille. She crossed the line with five lengths to spare over favourite Orfevre, who finished runner-up in the Arc for the second successive year.

Admittedly, it wasn’t the most strongly-run Arc in memory, but in terms of quality it was one of the strongest renewals. Indeed, Orfevre is a five-time Group 1 winner, while French Derby hero Intello, Japanese Derby winner Kizuna, the top-class Al Kazeem, Epsom Derby victor Ruler of The World and St Leger scorer Leading Light, among others, were in Treve’s wake.

Leading ratings organisation Timeform have made a provisional assessment that Treve ran to a rating of 134, which puts her above the other three-year-old fillies to win the Arc in modern times, including Zarkava (133) who became the first member of the fairer sex to win the race in 15 years when successful in 2008.

Treve means ‘truce’. And unless trainers of other 2014 Arc hopefuls can agree a truce with Criquette Head-Maarek that Treve doesn’t turn up in Paris for the first weekend in October next year, she may well become the first horse since Alleged in (1997 and ‘98) to win back-to-back renewals of the great race.