French Racing / Joe Dyer / 03 October 2008 / Leave a comment

Zarkava remains the rock-solid favourite on Betfair.

Earlier in the week, some bookmakers were quoting Duke Of Marmalade at 3-1 to win Sunday's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.

But when the Betfair ante-post market closed this morning, the last traded price on the horse was [9.4] on the exchange.

And this is a horse that has contested five races this season, all in Group 1 company, including the Ganay on officially soft ground at Longchamp in April, and won them all.

Stablemate Soldier Of Fortune, a nine-length winner of the 2007 Irish Derby on heavy ground, was a [5.5] chance at the same stage of betting.

Last year's Arc fourth Getaway was also very weak in the betting. The last bet struck on him was at [18.0], though on Thursday he was being laid at [21.0] on Betfair, twice the price he was elsewhere in the industry.

In stark contrast, Zarkava, Timeform's joint top-rated with Duke Of Marmalade for the race, was the rock-solid [2.94] favourite at the head of the Betfair market.

Betfair spokesman Tony Calvin says: "Clearly, Aidan O'Brien's comments that the horse may not run if the ground comes up soft resulted in many layers taking Duke Of Marmalade on at some seemingly ridiculous levels.

"But they could rue such ballsy opposition if the rain does stay away, as could the punters who were also out to get Getaway as high as [21.0] yesterday.

"Meanwhile, Papal Bull, perhaps the forgotten horse of this race, continued to come in for support at big prices, as did his stablemate Ask."