French favourite Daryz became the first colt in close to half a century to win the €5 million Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe back-to-back at Paris-Longchamp on Sunday.
Bred by the late Aga Khan, and carrying his famed green and red silks, Daryz pounced from the pack to beat the English outsider Bay City Roller, with Aidan O’Brien’s Diamond Necklace best of the Irish in third.
A surprise winner in 2025 when running down Minnie Hauk, Daryz emulated the Vincent O’Brien-trained Alleged, who won Europe’s richest race in 1977-78.
Since then, the fillies Treve (2013-14) and Enable (2017-18) have doubled up in the Arc, and Daryz is the just the ninth horse in all in the 105-year history of France’s greatest race to win twice.
The commercial breeding imperative of cashing in on an Arc winner at stud has meant most winning colts don’t get a shot at repeating but the Aga Khan organisation’s pluck was rewarded.
The confidence of French racing’s new dominant trainer, Francis Graffard, also got vindicated in style as jockey Mickael Barzalona delivered Daryz with another withering run up the Longchamp straight.
Irish jockey Oisín Murphy’s hopes he might hold on aboard Bay City Roller flickered only briefly as the winner won with more authority than the length and a quarter margin might suggest.
“He’s a champion. I said that before. It’s rare I’m confident before a race as it is so hard in a race like this, but I knew things were going right and he’d be very hard to beat,” said Graffard.
“I was confident, but I was putting so much pressure on myself before the race, and you can make yourself look a fool, so it is easier not to speak and not say anything. But I think for the sport we have to be transparent, and I was confident and his rider was confident, so we had to say it.
“Mickael rode a beautiful race again. It’s so beautiful for the sport, I’m lucky to have horses like that,” added Graffard.
Having announced his arrival at elite level as a 19-year-old when celebrating his narrow 2011 Epsom Derby success on Pour Moi well before the line, Barzalona’s big-race nerve has never been in doubt, although it got tested here.
“To win this kind of race twice proves that Daryz is an exceptional horse,” he said.
“It didn’t go as we expected but he showed his talent and that made the difference in the end. The pace was not strong, it was a rough race and nothing went to plan, but the horse deserved to win again, and he’s proved all season he is the best one,” the rider added.
Diamond Necklace did best of the Irish quartet with her Ballydoyle stable companions Benvenuto Cellini and Minnie Hauk finishing ninth and 10th respectively.
Christophe Soumillon made light of Diamond Necklace’s wide draw and briefly looked a threat before finishing a neck behind Bay City Roller for second. Joseph O’Brien’s Oaks winner Thundering One was eighth.
Both Treve and Enable failed in their attempts at a historic third Arc and it doesn’t look like Daryz will get a shot at it. The Aga Khan’s daughter, Princess Zahra, who now oversees the famed bloodstock empire, suggested a new stud career beckons for the son of 2009 Arc hero Sea The Stars.
It was another landmark for Graffard however. He set a new French record of 14 Group One victories in 2025 and is currently on nine for the year. Earlier on the Arc undercard, his supplemented filly Amusingly beat the colts in the Prix Jean Luc Lagadere.
“It is different when you are favourite and you are the one to beat. There was pressure, you can’t deny it, but it’s good and it’s why I show emotion. It’s great for the owners, it’s such a wonderful breeding operation.
“We kept losing position early, we were too far back, but we were lucky Daryz has good acceleration. Without any trouble I knew he’d run a big race” he commented.
There was Group One success for both Aidan and Joseph O’Brien on the Arc undercard. O’Brien Jnr landed the Prix Marcel Boussac with Green Empress. His father won the Prix de la Forêt for the first time through True Love.
