Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe Tips 2024: Another red-letter day for Rouget?

Declarations are in - click here for a runner-by-runner guide - and the draw has been decided ahead of the 103rd Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp on Sunday (15:20).

I'm putting all my eggs into one basket with my Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe tips for the 2024 renewal.

French trainer Jean-Claude Rouget has won two of the last four renewals of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - courtesy of Sottsass in 2020 and Ace Impact last year - and in DELIUS I believe he's got a good chance of making it three from five.

Owned by Magnier, Smith, Tabor & Westerberg of Ballydoyle - 'the lads' as Aidan O'Brien would say - and fetching 675k guineas as a foal, the three-year-old son of Frankel was always expected to be great.

His promise was instantly confirmed when he bolted up on his debut at Longchamp in April, before extending his unbeaten record to 2-2 with a battling triumph at Chantilly in May.

He returned to that venue a month later for the G3 Prix du Lys Longines and he obliged with the minimum fuss, earning him a shot at the G1 Grand Prix de Paris over the Arc's course and distance.

Despite being sent off 21/10f, he could 'only' manage third, beaten around two lengths by Sosie (who currently tops the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe Odds) and Aidan O'Brien's Illinois, who finished a narrow runner-up to stablemate Jan Brueghel in the Betfred St Leger at Doncaster last month.

I thought the selection looked an awkward ride that day, racing keenly in rear and showing greenness when push came to shove. He finished his race very strongly, though, under hands and heels.

A well-deserved break of just over two months followed, before renewing rivalries with the aforementioned Sosie and French Derby hero Look De Vega, who also appears prominently in the Arc betting, in the G2 Prix Niel.

Delius finished about a length closer to Sosie this time, once again doing his best work at the finish. Look De Vega was a couple of lengths before the Frankel colt.

Much has been made about Look De Vega needing the run after over 100 days off the track. Fair enough. However, he was sent off the odds-on favourite while Delius, who himself was returning from a layoff, drifted out to an SP of 67/10.

I'm suggesting that was very much a prep for the big day and that there's improvement to come - and he doesn't have much to find anyway.

Likely conditions are hard to predict with the ground continuing to dry out, but Delius is pretty versatile in that regard so I'm not concerned. He's also been blessed by the draw gods, emerging from stall 7.

He's the selection at 10s, while I'm already involved in Al Riffa at 12/1 antepost.

I'm not going to double down on Joseph O'Brien's four-year-old, but he remains of interest at current prices if you fancy a second dart.

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