 The new event would complement the Grand Prix de Paris and serve as a showcase for French thoroughbred breeding.It would have similar characteristics to the Prix du Conseil Municipal, but each horse would compete on equal terms, unpenalised for previous victories.Coming in the wake of World War I, it was decided that the race would be named after the Arc de Triomphe, a famous monument which had been the scene of a victory parade by the Allies in 1919.