 The son of owner Daniel Wildenstein's 1984 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Sagace, he was given the name of the village of Arcangues in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques departement of the Aquitaine region.Arcangues had raced only on grass in Europe before being sent to California to compete on the dirt track at Santa Anita Park in the 1993 Breeders' Cup Classic.Bettors sent the horse off at odds of 133-1 in the richest of the Breeders' Cup races.