having dominated the stayers, ardross was moved down in distance for the geoffrey freer stakes over thirteen furlongs at newbury racecourse in august. despite a slow early pace, he drew away in the straight to win by five lengths from castle keep and cut above. the form of the race was boosted when cut above defeated shergar in the st leger stakes a month later. in october, ardross contested france's most prestigious race, the prix de l'arc de triomphe, over 2400 metres at longchamp. drawn disadvantageously in 24 of 24 on the wide outside he started at odds of 11/2 and proved the best of the british challengers, finishing fifth behind gold river, bikala, april run, and perrault. among the horses finishing behind ardross were argument, akarad, kings lake, blue wind, cut above, detroit, ring the bell, and beldale flutter. three weeks later, ardross faced gold river for the third time in the prix royal oak. he took the lead on the final turn and drew clear of the field to win by four lengths from proustille, with gold river a further two and a half lengths back in third, becoming the first older horse to win the race which had been restricted to three-year-olds until 1979.