by Desmond Stoneham

Zarkava gave the performance of the century when she rallied from near the back of the field to score an authoritative victory over Youmzain on Sunday in the $5,522,400 Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (Fr-G1) at Longchamp.

The Aga Khan's amazing filly, who was racing against males for the first time, trounced 15 opponents in the world's richest turf race, which was run on a dull, drizzly day.

Zarkava was given a beautiful ride by Christophe Soumillon, and things did not go quite to plan as she hung a bit right after the start and was soon near the back of the field.

Soumillon kept his cool and was still in 12th place when the field of 16 entered the straight. The pair weaved their way through several foes and once in the clear, they surged through the final 200 meters to win by two lengths overGrand Prix de Saint-Cloud (Fr-G1) victor Youmzain, who also finished second in last year’s Arc.

Zarkava covered 2,400 meters (11.93 furlongs) in 2:28.80 on turf rated as good to soft.

Juddmonte Coronation Cup (Eng-G1) winner Solider of Fortune and German Group 2 winner It's Gino finished in a dead heat for third. Prix du Jockey-Club (Fr-G1) (French Derby) winner Vision d'Etat, who entered the race undefeated, was fifth, and five-time Group 1 winner Duke of Marmalade finished seventh.

Zarkava is the first female to win the Arc since Urban Sea in 1993.

She is also the first horse to win from post position one since *Prince Royal II in 1964.

Zarkava made her male opponents look rather ordinary. The Zamindar filly is unbeaten in seven races, and she has never won by less than two lengths.

Once again, Soumillon did not have to use his whip during Zarkava's run to the line. She won her fifth Group 1 race and her fourth this year, including the Prix de Diane (Fr-G1) (French Oaks) and Poule d’Essai des Pouliches (Fr-G1) (French One Thousand Guineas).

"That was really wonderful, and she did it so easily,” trainer Alain de Royer-Dupre said of Zarkava’s Arc victory. “We knew she was well, and she completely outclassed the others. It was really beautiful and a marvelous performance, and I saw that she was on tune in the paddock.

“We had no worries, and she is certainly the best horse I've ever trained."

Royer-Dupre trained his first Arc winner in 2003 when Soumillon and Dalakhani again carried the colors of the Aga Khan, who also took the event in 2000 with John Oxx-trained Sinndar, who is the sire of Youmzain.

"It really doesn't get much better than this, particularly when you are a breeder,” the Aga Khan said. “My family's been breeding Thoroughbreds for the past 90 years and this was the ultimate prize.

“We worried about the draw before the race and didn't give Soumillon any orders. We tried to make sure that she didn't creep out of the stalls like she did in the [Qatar] Prix Vermeille (Fr-G1) [on September 14 at Longchamp in her previous start]. The filly won't run again this season and we don't know for the moment whether she will stay in training next year."

Youmzain and jockey Richard Hills were putting in their best work at the finish.
 
"He had a little trouble finding a split but ran an exceptional race against an exceptional filly,” said owner Jabber Abdullah's racing manager, Bruce Raymond. “He's done everyone proud again."

Irish-bred Zarkava is the first starter out of the unraced Kahyasi mare Zarkasha, a half sister to French Group 3 winner Zarkiya (Ire).

Desmond Stoneham is a France-based Thoroughbred Times correspondent