Simca Mille, named by his trainer and part owner Stephane Wattel after the Simca 1000, is a live contender for the £4.5 million Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe
A racehorse named after an old French banger from the 1970s will put his horsepower to the test in Europe’s richest race on Sunday.
Simca Mille takes his name from the Simca 1000, a small rear-engined car produced between 1961 and 1978 of which more than 2 million were sold.
Despite his unusual moniker, his career has not stalled as he has registered six victories, including a first at Group 1 level in Germany in August, and earnings of more than £500,000.
He has won three of his four starts this year to earn his place in the £4.5million Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
Explaining the origins of the name, trainer Stephane Wattel, who also owns 30 percent of the horse, said: ‘I wanted his name to start with an ‘S’ after his dam.
“I was thinking about this car which at my young age seemed to be designed by a three-year-old, a not very nice looking car.
“I quite like to give horses names that are a bit left-field, out of the box, and very often these names produce good horses.
“I thought it would be funny to name a racehorse that carries all our dreams to give it a name that was given to a car that made more noise than produced anything good.”
Simca Mille is a 20-1 chance with William Hill for the Arc in which he will ridden by young French jockey Alexis Pouchin.
Wattel added: “We have seen in the history of the Arc that there are always surprises. He is not one of the favourites but you cannot knock what he has done this year.
“He comes into the race in the best condition and he arrives fresh. It is quite late in the year there will be other horses that have run quite a bit more than him.”