Workforce cleared for Arc tilt

Investec Derby winner Workforce has been given the go-ahead to run in the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp on Sunday.

Connections made the protracted decision to send him to France following an encouraging piece of routine work on Thursday morning at Newmarket.

Teddy Grimthorpe, racing manager for owner Khalid Abdullah, confirmed: “Workforce will run.”

The Sir Michael Stoute-trained colt has raced just once since his Epsom demolition, when a disappointing fifth behind stablemate Harbinger in the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot.

Recent bulletins from the gallops have been increasingly upbeat, however, and he heads to Paris prominent in the ante-post markets, with Stoute in search of his first Arc winner.

Aidan O'Brien, meanwhile, reiterated his concerns about the likelihood of soft ground at Longchamp.

Fame And Glory and Cape Blanco are Ballydoyle’s main hopes for the 2010 French showpiece.

“Very soft ground wouldn’t be ideal for any of them,” O’Brien told the Irish Times.

“The plan is still that Fame And Glory and Cape Blanco will run, but we’re hoping they don’t get too much rain on Saturday.

Asked if testing conditions might provoke a rethink on Arc running plans, O’Brien added: “We cross these bridges when we come to them.

“Ideally we wouldn’t want bad ground.”