Arc de Triomphe bosses defy calls to break 29-year-old rule amid threat of huge fallout from eliminating top horses

FRENCH racing chiefs have defied calls to rip up a 29-year-old rule that will stop some of the world's best horses getting a run in Sunday's Arc de Triomphe.

The £4.2million race has a field size limit of 20 - but there are still 27 horses entered.

And that doesn't even include the Australian wonder mare Verry Elleegant - whose owners are set to cough up £107,000 to add her to the field tomorrow.

But on official ratings, if the current limit remains in place she will NOT get a run, as there are 20 horses rated higher than her.

French racing rules state that those rated lowest will be scratched from the final line-up if a race is over subscribed.

If she were to miss the cut it would cause a huge amount of controversy, as her wealthy owners sent the Melbourne Cup winner to be trained in France specifically for a crack at the historic Longchamp race.

And it would be a PR disaster for the Arc and cause untold damage to French racing's reputation.

There has not been an Arc field with more than 20 runners since 1993 - when 23 horses contested the race.

So in order to avoid the huge fallout of denying the likes of Verry Elleegant a run, Arc bosses were rumoured to be planning to scrap the decades-old rule.

But a statement released on Tuesday afternoon confirmed the 20-runner limit will remain in place.

The statement read: "France Galop has been asked several times about the maximum number of runners that will go to the start of the Qatar Prix de L'Arc de Triomphe on Sunday October 2, 2022.

"The 2022 racing code and the specific race conditions limit the number of runners to 20 and this is the number that will be retained"

A gigantic field of up to 28 runners could have had huge knock-on effects for punters.

The field isn't restricted to 20 for safety reasons - but because of a popular bet called a 'Quinte' in which French punters try to pick the first five home.

That bet is said to account for 20 per cent of all the betting turnover in France on a given day.

The last time the Arc field reached maximum capacity was in 2014, when Treve won the race for a second time.

The decision could be taken out of France Galop's hands, though, if at least eight runners are not declared at the final stage on Thursday.

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