Ruby Walsh: Arc is as close as we have to a Grand Prix, so why the gridlock?

With 43 races at 6 venues today, was the plan to fill every minute of the day with a race so people  forgot Longchamp is on?

PARIS CALLING: Watching the Prix de l'Arc always makes me wish I was there in Longchamp. Pic: Lo Chun Kit /Getty Images)

In the space of just four hours and 17 minutes this afternoon, Britain and Ireland will run 43 races at six venues.

Call it two separate countries, but the crossover of punters is huge. Newmarket’s Royal Bahrain Sun Chariot Stakes is the highlight of the 43, and Dermot Weld’s Homeless Songs will bid to turn the tables on Saffron Beach whilst trying to bag her second Group 1 of the season. Outside of that, Newmarket only has a big-field two-year-old sales race to support its feature, and the rest of the card is run-of-the-mill stuff.