A Group I winner last season of the Curragh Moyglare Stud Stakes, the Aidan O’Brien trained Love has been in a class of her own this year winning G1 Thousand Guineas and Epsom Oaks before her latest overnight success in the Group I Yorkshire Oaks ( 1m4f).
Ridden by Ryan Moore, Love coasted home to win by five lengths taking her overall record to six wins from 10 starts.
She was made favourite across the board for the Arc following this, with Betfair Sportsbook and Paddy Power going 5-2, and she could be tough to beat at Longchamp.
“She's very special. She's been exceptional this year and has absolutely thrived. She's just got stronger and stronger and has done it very easily today,” said Ryan Moore.
“Realistically it was Love’s easiest task for a while. She was running against some unexposed fillies but they had to step up to run to her level. She's a very straightforward filly and it was business as usual.”
A homebred for Coolmore, Love is a full sister to Group winners Peach Tree and Flattering and half-sister to Group II winner Lucky Kristale being the best of six stakes-winners from Pivotal mare Pikaboo, a three-quarter sister to Group II winner Arabian Gleam and stakes-winner Kimberella.
Pivotal mares have been highly successful when covered by Galileo, that exact cross producing 24 winners from 29 runners highlighted by 12 stakes-winners, six of them Group I winners for an impressive 41% stakes-winners to runners.
One of those Group I winners is The United States, who campaigned successfully in Australia and is very similar in appearance to Love as a bright chestnut with a prominent baldy face.
