Treve serves notice with Vermeille rout

Pretenders to the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (G1) throne have been warned: the reigning queen isn't prepared to brook any opposition. That's the only conclusion one can draw from Treve's annihilation of Sunday's Prix Vermeille (G1), her course-and-distance prep for the October 4 Arc. If the Criquette Head-Maarek mare shows up anywhere near this level, she'll win the Arc for an unprecedented third time.

Competitors have to hope that Treve simply ran too well in her prep, and will come back to earth in three weeks' time. Or they'll hope that Sunday's very soft ground played a big factor in her 4 1/2-length margin of victory, and that the course will be quicker than usual come the Arc. Otherwise, they've got to head to Longchamp knowing that a daunting task awaits.

Unlike last year's Vermeille, when Treve's body language still revealed that she was physically out of sorts, her rude health was in evidence at every stage. The daughter of Motivator was always traveling with gusto, taking a strong hold early, and Thierry Jarnet did well to restrain her for as long as he did. Treve soon dismissed a high-quality field. What's even scarier, she did so seemingly unextended. This isn't just the invincible Treve from 2013 -- this is perhaps an even more formidable model.

Consider the collateral formlines in play here. Runner-up Candarliya was a half-length ahead of Sea Calisi, who was coming off a close third in the Yorkshire Oaks (G1) to Pleascach (fourth to Golden Horn in Saturday's Irish Champion [G1]). Up the track were Arabian Queen (sixth), who had stunned Golden Horn in the Juddmonte International (G1), and Diamondsandrubies (eighth), who had upset Legatissimo in the Pretty Polly (G1) two back. To be sure, both ran far below that level of form, but the point remains that this was no soft field. And Treve not only wiped the floor with them; she did so while conceding them nine pounds. Off this evidence, Treve would have had to carry steeplechase amounts of weight to make it competitive, and even that might not have been enough to stop her.

Watch how Treve dismantles them:

 

As far as the other two Arc trials on the card went, French Derby (G1) winner New Bay easily passed his 1 1/2-mile test in the Prix Niel (G2) for three-year-olds. I thought that Grand Prix de Paris (G1) winner Erupt would put up more of a fight, but he faded right out of it after possibly seeing a little too much daylight early. That said, New Bay was thoroughly authoritative, and even if Erupt had run right up to his best, he would probably have been no match for the winner.

New Bay's only blip this season was a second in the French 2000 Guineas (G1), where his win chance was virtually eliminated by a horrible post, and he did well to rattle late for second. The Juddmonte homebred comfortably handled Highland Reel in the French Derby, and again looked a class above when adding the Prix Guillaume d'Ornano (G2) last out.

The best news about his Arc hopes is that he's in the hands of the master, Andre Fabre. Any Fabre three-year-old coming off a Niel win must be respected in the Arc, but especially one with this exceptionally good profile.

The Prix Niel: