WALK into Longchamp and the first horse to catch the eye does not move.

The life-size statue of Gladiteur, the horse who won the British Triple Crown in 1865, dominates the scene where Treve will attempt to win the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe for a record third time.

Should Treve win, there will be many who believe the mare should be immortalised with such a monument, although she might still fall short of the greatest Arc winner.

That accolade falls to Sea-Bird who was imperious through the 1965 season, winning a vintage Arc by six lengths to earn a Timeform rating of 145. That was the best performance their form experts had ever rated and it was not surpassed until Frankel reached 147 in 2012.

Great sporting performances often require the convergence of various factors, most notably the calibre of opposition.

Treve, who has been trained so astutely for the past three seasons by Criquette Head-Maarek, looked to be reaching her peak when she won the Prix Vermeille over the Arc course and distance last month but she may need to be as good as she was that day and maybe even more.

Among her 17 rivals are Golden Horn, who delivered a performance of similarly genuine class when he won the Derby at Epsom in June, and then there is New Bay. On Timeform’s adjusted ratings – which factor in weight-for-age and the fillies mares’ allowance – Treve is 4lbs clear of Golden Horn, which translates to three lengths, with New Bay another 5lbs below.

However New Bay’s trainer, André Fabre, has won the Arc a record seven times and he is quietly bullish about adding an eighth. Timeform’s world tends to revolve around the facts on the track and Jamie Lynch, their chief correspondent, said: “Treve is rated on 134, and she ran to that figure when she first won the Arc. She hasn’t run to that figure since, she ran to 129 to win last year, but you’d think she’d have to hit those heights given that Golden Horn and New Bay are 130 horses themselves.

“There aren’t many fault lines with Treve and she has a level of ability and depth of talent that no other horse in the field can match. But she is going up against better three-year-olds than she has before, but both Golden Horn and New Bay have got to improve to meet her exalted standards if she’s at her best.”

Treve was far from at her best on her only start in Britain when she finished third in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot last year. It was after that race that Frankie Dettori, retained jockey to Treve’s owner Sheikh Joaan Al Thani, was dropped at the behest of the trainer.

He was replaced by the French jockey Thierry Jarnet who had already profited from Dettori’s misfortune when he missed Treve’s first Arc win due to injury. Any insult to Dettori has been soothed by his association with Golden Horn, who underlined his quality when he won the Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown three weeks ago and he can earn both a record-equalling fourth Arc victory and a measure of quiet revenge.

Dettori will have grounds for hope with the going turning in Golden Horn’s favour. Longchamp in early October can often resemble a ploughed field but a largely dry week and the moisture has been drawn from the ground; many punters believe the conditions could mitigate against Treve.

However, Lynch offered a powerful argument against such desertion when he said: “It was very fast ground fast Ascot which, judging by her action, probably doesn’t suit her. But we described her first Arc win as good to firm ground based on the time.”

In the last 25 years only five horses – led by Frankel - have run to a rating 130 or more in three consecutive seasons. “That says something about the challenge she faces,” Lynch said. “And that’s what makes her special.”

Special yes, but to match the performance of the mighty Sea-Bird? Now that would take something monumental.