Montjeu looking for Arc encore

Montjeu on his way to victory at Ascot

Montjeu will face nine rivals when he attempts to win his second Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe-Lucien Barriere at Longchamp on Sunday.

As expected, all 10 horses stood their ground at Friday's final declaration stage for the Group One contest, the smallest field for the race since 1946.

Montjeu is attempting to become only the seventh repeat winner of the Arc, following in the footsteps of Alleged, Ribot, Tantieme, Corrida, Motrico and Ksar, but faces stiff opposition from Sinndar.

The Vodafone Derby hero, who went on to win the Budweiser Irish Derby and Prix Niel for trainer John Oxx, will have the assistance of stablemate and pacemaker Raypour.

The third foreign raider is Samum, trained in Germany by Andreas Schutz.

Unbeaten

The German Derby winner is unbeaten in six starts and landed the Grosser Preis von Baden last time.

"The prospect of taking on Montjeu in Paris quite frankly scares me," said Schutz. "However, anything can happen in a horse race."

Montjeu proved the only mount capable of catching El Condor Pasa in testing conditions last year - and the French colt has improved since then.

His high cruising speed allied to a destructive turn of foot means he has not been properly extended in his four outings this term and he has been installed as 1-2 favourite.

Two top class fillies, Volvoreta and Egyptband, will also be vying for an upset.

Interrupted preparation

Volvoreta returned to her best in the Prix Vermeille (Group one), having come off second best in the French Oaks when she suffered an interrupted preparation.

The last filly to do the Vermeille-Arc double was Three Troikas in 1979.

Furthermore, no horse from Maisons-Laffitte has won the Arc since Soltikoff triumphed back in 1962.

Three Troikas' trainer, Criquette Head, saddles the French Oaks-winning Egyptband. The filly is coming off a third to Volvoreta in the Vermeille.

Clearly not fully wound up that day, and having tightened up since, Egyptband has pleased connections by working well during the week.

There will be no British winner this year - John Gosden's Commander Collins was the last British runner in the field and he was withdrawn on Thursday.

Colours:

Russian Hope (IRE): Yellow, Royal Blue cap.
Montjeu (IRE): Royal Blue, Orange disc, Orange and Royal Blue striped sleeves and cap.
Daring Miss: Green, pink sash and cap, white sleeves.
Raypour (IRE): Green, red epaulets, red cap.
Sinndar (IRE): Green, red epaulets.
Hightori (FR): Blue, White spots, Blue sleeves and cap.
Samum (GER): White, Blue sash, White sleeves, Green armlets, Blue cap.
Hesiode (FR): Emerald Green, White sash, Emerald Green and Yellow check sleeves, White cap, Yellow button.
Volvoreta: Yellow, Green epaulets.
Egyptband (USA): Royal Blue, White seams, sleeves and cap.

Prix de L'Arc de Triomphe (1m 4f), Longchamp, Sunday, 1520 BST. Live coverage in Sunday Grandstand, BBC2, and on BBC Radio Five Live.