Easy win for brilliant Zarkava

Zarkava maintained her superstar status with consummate ease as she successfully stepped up to a mile and a half in the Qatar Prix Vermeille at Longchamp.

The unbeaten filly was having her first start since winning the French Oaks in June but showed no sign of being ring rusty as she swept home under Christophe Soumillon.

Alain de Royer-Dupre’s odds-on favourite was slowly away and settled stone last in the early stages before being asked for an effort entering the home straight.

The three-year-old effortlessly went through the gears and majestically charged down the centre of the track for a hands-and-heels victory.

Owned by the Aga Khan, Zarkava was already favourite for the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe before the key trial and she shortened significantly in the ante-post market after her win.

Coral slashed her to 6-4 favouritism, with William Hill going 7-4 and totesport and Ladbrokes offering 2-1 about her beating the colts in Paris on October 5.

No filly has won the Arc since Urban Sea in 1993, while the last filly to complete the Vermeille-Arc double was Three Troikas 29 years ago.