Feed The Flame will bid to give veteran trainer Pascal Bary a long-awaited victory in Sunday’s Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at ParisLongchamp.

Bary has handled a host of top-class runners during his lengthy career, sending out Classic winners in France, Britain and Ireland as well as saddling three Breeders’ Cup winners.

However, he has yet to taste success in the crown jewel of French racing, with Sulamani coming closest when finishing a three-quarter-length second to Marienbard in 2002 after Croco Rouge finished third behind Montjeu in 1999.

The Chantilly-based handler has plenty of faith in his challenger this year though, with Feed The Flame having made huge strides since his racecourse bow in April, finishing fourth to the reopposing Ace Impact in the Prix du Jockey Club before going on to land the Grand Prix de Paris over the Arc course and distance in July.

While he had to settle for second place behind Fantastic Moon in his Prix Niel trial earlier this month, Bary believes the Kingman colt might find conditions more to his liking on Sunday.

He said: “He’s a very good horse, he has a very good temperament and he gets the mile and a half really, really well. I think on the day of the Arc, the ground will be slightly different and he will be more comfortable on that ground.

“Anything a bit softer than the ground he encountered in the Jockey Club, Grand Prix de Paris and Prix Niel would be appreciated.”

Feed The Flame was beaten two and a half lengths by Fantastic Moon – who could yet be supplemented for Sunday’s race – and Bary felt the decision to field King Of Records as a pacemaker perhaps played into the winner’s hands.

He explained: “I think I made a mistake by running a pacemaker because he worked much more for the German horse than he did for us. It’s not an easy race to run in because to bring a horse on from July 14 to the beginning of September, there’s not a lot of time.

“Christophe (Soumillon) sort of asked him when he came down into the false straight but at that point on that good ground, the German horse had taken off and Christophe was intelligent enough to just let the horse finish his race because he actually was probably missing a bit of work before he went into the race.

“The aim was not to have a race that was going to be too hard, but at the moment he was so far behind in the final straight, Christophe actually judged it was too late to ask him for a massive effort to bring him closer to the leader.”

Waiting tactics are usually employed on Feed The Flame and Bary does not anticipate any change to the plan in the Arc, even though he is likely to encounter the biggest field of his career to date, with 14 currently in contention after Sprewell dropped out at Tuesday’s second forfeit stage.

Bary said: “He’s a horse that knows how to accelerate and you have to ride him to his strengths. We have to adapt to the horse, he’s not going to adapt to us. In a race with a lot of pace and runners, this should not be an issue.

“If he is to the back of the field, there’s enough time to come forward. When he ran in the Jockey Club, Ace Impact was behind him and came through so he’s obviously the horse to beat. I don’t know much about the opposition but if Ace Impact can come forward, Feed The Flame is capable of accelerating.”

Feed The Flame is owned by Jean-Louis Bouchard and Bary is delighted to have a live contender for a long-standing ally.

He added: “It’s amazing that we have such a good horse towards the end of my career. Jean-Louis is very positive, we go to the race together and it’s a great opportunity.

“If he doesn’t win this year, he will win next year!”

Pascal Bary is dreaming of finally getting his hands on the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe trophy having seen Feed The Flame become a leading contender for Europe’s richest middle-distance contest.

The son of Kingman grabbed plenty of attention when winning ParisLongchamp’s Prix de Ferrieres with real ease earlier in the campaign and as a result was sent off one of the main players for the Prix du Jockey Club last month.

He was only able to finish fourth in the Chantilly Classic as Jean-Claude Rouget’s Ace Impact stole all the headlines.

However, a step up in trip to 12 furlongs saw him back to his imperious best in the Grand Prix de Paris, where he proved he was a proper Group One performer by swooping late to down Irish Derby runner-up Adelaide River and John and Thady Gosden’s Oaks winner Soul Sister.

“He should do well in the autumn and he will stay at a mile and a half now,” said Bary.

“He doesn’t make any effort during the race, he can go very well and then accelerate.

“The reason he finished fourth in the Jockey Club was he had to fight too early, it was too fast for him. When he has time, he has a very good turn of foot.”

Feed The Flame is a best priced 14-1 for the Arc on October 1 and with Bary envisaging typical autumnal ground at ParisLongchamp as a positive for his charge, he will tune up for his date with destiny by running at the track in the Group Two Prix Niel on September 10.

“He will go for the Prix Niel and then the Arc,” continued Bary.

“In the Prix Niel he will have to fight with Ace Impact and he is a very, very nice horse. Hopefully over this distance we can get our revenge.

“Then in the Arc, I don’t know, we will have to take on Ace Impact and some good horses coming from England and Ireland. He should be a bit better in soft ground.

“It will come quick, it is less than two months, it will soon be tomorrow.”

Feed The Flame ran out a stylish last-to-first winner of the Grand Prix de Paris at ParisLongchamp, denying Adelaide River and Soul Sister in a thrilling finish.

Dropped right out by Cristian Demuro, the Pascal Bary-trained Kingman colt had last been seen finishing fourth to Ace Impact in the Prix du Jockey Club over an extended 10 furlongs and was supplemented for this mile-and-a-half feature.

Racing more in mid-division were Aidan O’Brien’s Adelaide River – runner-up to Auguste Rodin in the Irish Derby – and John and Thady Gosden’s Oaks heroine Soul Sister.

When Ryan Moore elected to make his move on Adelaide River it looked like Kieran Shoemark had him covered on Soul Sister, but as the pair locked in battle Feed The Flame was produced to perfection by Demuro to run them both down.

A length was the winning margin from Adelaide River, with Soul Sister just behind in third.