The Arc will be without two superstars due to an outdated ban - racing can ill afford this act of self-harm

When looking at next month's Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, it's hard not to think the sport is shooting itself in the foot.

The Longchamp showpiece will be eagerly awaited and deliver a thrilling spectacle, for it always does, but there will be something missing on the first Sunday of October. To be precise, two superstar horses will be missing. In their absence, the 2024 running must inevitably be significantly weakened.

Forgive me for returning to one of this column's regular topics, but European racing's snootiness towards geldings has never looked so needlessly damaging as it does now. The unbeaten and still seriously unexposed Prix du Jockey Club winner Look De Vega is a worthy Arc favourite, but his position at the head of the market would be under threat if Calandagan and Goliath were allowed to take part. Without the Francis Graffard-trained pair, what might otherwise have been a stunning Arc appears rather substandard.