Al Riffa will bid to make Joseph O’Brien’s first runner in the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe a memorable one when he tackles Europe’s premier middle-distance prize at Longchamp on Sunday.
A winner of the 2022 National Stakes as a juvenile, the Joseph O'Brien-trained four-year-old doubled his Group 1 tally with a commanding performance in the Grosser Preis von Berlin at Hoppegarten in August, proving his effectiveness over the Arc's mile-and-a-half trip in the process.
"We're very pleased with how his preparation is going," said Joseph O'Brien. "Since Germany, the plan has been to go straight into the Arc. He's had an easy few weeks since then and then the last couple of weeks his work has ramped up - he's taken everything in his stride.
"I think the distance will be fine. He's won on good ground and softer ground so whatever way conditions may come, it should be fine for him."
Having chased home City Of Troy in the Coral-Eclipse over ten furlongs at Sandown in early June, many will argue Al Riffa brings some of the best form to the table and the son of Wootton Bassett is now a general 9/1 chance for Sunday's showpiece.
"He's a horse that performed very well at ten furlongs earlier this season. His pedigree has plenty of stamina in it so we knew twelve (furlongs) would be no issue and he won impressively over that trip Germany.
"It was then we locked in the Arc as the logical next target and we're excited going with a live chance.
"He's come back this year and ran very well in a number of big races around the world. We've been able to campaign him aggressively and he's taken it in his stride - and now there's no bigger race than the Arc."
Having been part-sold to Japanese owner Masaaki Matsushima earlier this season, Al Riffa will be ridden by legendary rider Yutaka Take for the first time this weekend, a prospect Joseph O'Brien is most certainly looking forward to.
On the booking of Yutaka Take, who has ridden in ten previous Arc's, O'Brien added: "He's an absolute legend - one of the greatest jockeys of all time. We'll leave the tactics up to him on the day, but we had a conversation about the horse, and he got a good feel for him this week."
As so often is the case across big meetings these days, it will be a strong family affair at Longchamp on Sunday with both Joseph and his father Aidan saddling live chances.
"We compete against each other pretty much every day of the week in Ireland and win, lose or draw we get on before, during and after the race," said the Carriganog-based trainer.
He continued: "I'll absolutely listen to advice (from Aidan), that's for sure. We discuss lots of things before and after racing and he might point out things we can do better in the future.
"We would always be very keen to listen to advice and we enjoy each other's successes and commiserate when things don't go so well."
On the prospect of son Joseph saddling a lively contender in this year's Arc, father Aidan commented: "We're very proud of him and we always hope he beats us!"
