George Waud’s Maltese Cross draws gate 11 for Sunday’s Arc de Triomphe

George Waud’s Maltese Cross has drawn gate 11 in the 16-runner Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, scheduled for Sunday, 4 October, at ParisLongchamp. For Waud, a film producer whose interest in racing began in childhood, the entry brings a colt already placed in the Derby and successful at Group 1 level to one of the sport’s major races.

The official draw lists Tom Marquand as Maltese Cross’s jockey, William Haggas as his trainer and Waud as his owner. The colt’s place in the field gives Waud a rare meeting between two long strands of his life: a career in entertainment and a sustained involvement in horse racing. Speaking to the Guardian before the race, he acknowledged that he was an unusual owner for a leading Arc contender and said he was making the most of the occasion.

How George Waud’s film career led to racing ownership

Waud told the Guardian that he first went racing with his mother when he was about six or seven. Her husband made trophies and had clients in racing, so trips to the course were part of family life. Waud said there was something about the sport that appealed to him from the start. That early interest continued as his working life took him far from British racecourses.

In his mid-20s, Waud moved to California to pursue film work. He told the Guardian that he had been working for a television production company in London but saw limited prospects there for the movie career he wanted. In Los Angeles he began as a reader, assessing scripts, and gradually took on more senior work. The Guardian reports that he spent 23 years in Los Angeles before returning to Britain in 2014.

At Paramount, Waud said, he worked on the remake of The Italian Job. Later, at New Line Cinema, he was drawn to the script for Snakes on a Plane by its title. He told the Guardian that the film’s online following, including merchandise made by fans, became part of a different approach to marketing. The Guardian also reports that he later co-produced the West End revival of Cabaret.

Around the release of Snakes on a Plane, Waud took a share in a two-year-old horse called Society’s Chairman, according to the Guardian. The horse did not race at two, three or four, but later produced performances at Group level and ran in the 2010 Breeders’ Cup Mile. That experience places Maltese Cross in a longer ownership history, although the Arc will be a new stage for Waud and this colt.

What Maltese Cross has achieved before the Arc

Maltese Cross is a three-year-old bred in Normandy, according to France Galop. The race organiser says he was bought for 350,000 guineas at Tattersalls as a yearling. Before his victory at ParisLongchamp in July, he had finished second in the Epsom Derby. Those results explain why his Arc entry carries significance beyond the owner’s unusual professional background.

In the Group 1 Grand Prix de Paris on 14 July, Maltese Cross caught Ancient Egypt in the final strides and won by a head. France Galop recorded a time of 2:24.79, with a neck and a head separating the next finishers. The win came at ParisLongchamp, the course where the Arc is scheduled, and showed the colt could succeed there over 2,400 metres. It does not establish how he will perform against Sunday’s field.

Marquand’s account of that July race shows how narrow the margin was. He told France Galop that Maltese Cross travelled well but ended up farther back than expected and needed an opening. The jockey said the colt was initially slow to quicken, then found a route through the middle. He praised the horse’s speed over 2,400 metres; that assessment belongs to the rider who had just won on him.

What William Haggas says about Sunday’s race

Haggas told France Galop that the Grand Prix de Paris was the first time Maltese Cross had really shown him speed. He also pointed to the colt’s performance in the Great Voltigeur Stakes at York, saying it was probably his best by ratings. In the trainer’s view, each race this year has been better than the last. These are his assessments of the horse’s progress, not a guarantee of another step forward.

The trainer said recent work had pleased him, while describing Maltese Cross as a horse whose energy must be managed carefully. He also identified a condition that could matter on race day: very soft or heavy ground would not be ideal in his view. The available accounts do not establish the ground conditions the runners will face on Sunday.

For Haggas, the race also revives a close Arc memory. France Galop reports that his Sea of Class finished second to Enable in 2018. He described that performance as a source of both pride and disappointment. Speaking about Maltese Cross’s chance, he said, ‘Everyone wants to win the Arc.’ The draw confirms a place for Waud’s colt in Sunday’s field; the result remains open.