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The turf

My first Arc de Triomph was a triumph

No one does style, exuberance and razmatazz like the Parisians (and the Qataris)

18 October 2014

9:00 AM

18 October 2014

9:00 AM

Aboard our coach from Rouen to Paris for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe our lady guide put it succinctly: ‘The only polite Parisians are the ones who are asleep.’ Try out your rusty French anywhere else and the locals award you bonus marks for effort: Parisians sneer and affect the sort of aural incomprehension Lester Piggott displayed when stable lads sought a fiver for leading up his winner.

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