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The talented Al Hakeem looks bound for the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe once more after returning to winning ways in the Group 3 Prix Gontaut-Biron at Deauville on Sunday.
The Al Shaqab-owned homebred finished fourth behind Alpinista in the 2022 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe but only ran once the next season before 427 days off the track.
Al Hakeem returned from his lengthy layoff with a promising runner-up effort in the Group 3 La Coupe at Longchamp in June, an outing that clearly put him spot-on for his next assignment.
The son of Siyouni travelled kindly in the hands of Cristian Demuro for much of the mile-and-a-quarter contest before quickening up in good style to land the Group 3 prize by a comfortable half-length. Woodchuck ran on well to finish second under Christophe Soumillon.
A trip back to Paris for October's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe now looks on the cards, with Paddy Power cutting the Jean-Claude Rouget -trained five-year-old to 33/1 (from 66s).
"The horse had some problems after his Arc and it took a long time with the valuable assistance of the people at Al Shaqab in England to bring him back," said Mohamed Al Mansour of Al Shaqab on Sky Sports Racing.
"The team at home did a great job getting him back; if it wasn't for them, we wouldn't be here today celebrating his win.
"The aim now is obviously the Arc; it would be lovely to get a homebred to win the Arc – that's the dream.
"It's all systems go. He's an amazing horse, very genuine, he's such a good looker and he just needed time to mature.
"There are a few options, there is the Coupe de Maisons-Laffitte at Longchamp in early September, or we might try the Irish Champion Stakes. There are a few roads leading to the Arc and he might just go straight there.
"We'll see how he recovers from this, he has a few options, and we'll leave it to the team to decide because they've done an amazing job so far."
