Sometimes a race intended mainly as a bridge to another more important race can turn trickier than expected. But for the great Enable, even a potential trap like the Yorkshire Oaks in England might not prove especially tricky. Enable’s goal is now and has been all year the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp in October. The Arc was in fact the primary reason for her returning to training this season at age 5. Enable won it as a 3-year-old in 2017, won it again last fall, and her campaign has revolved around an attempt to become the first three-time Arc winner. So it was that John Gosden, who trains Enable for owner-breeder Khalid Abudllah, decided to use the Group 1 Yorkshire Oaks as a stepping-stone between the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes on July 29 at Ascot and the Oct. 6 Arc. The gap between those races was too great, Gosden believed, and Enable’s trainer was disinclined to cut her back to 1 1/4 miles this week in the Group 1 Juddmonte International after Enable won the King George over 1 1/2 miles, which is her ideal trip and the Arc distance. Enable won the 2017 Yorkshire Oaks by a startling five lengths (over stablemate Coronet, a Group 1 winner herself just last weekend) en route to her first Arc success – but then Enable wins all the time. Since finishing third in the second start of her career, she has won 11 straight, including nine at the highest level. At age 5 she is a stouter version of her younger self, but her champion’s heart beats strong as ever as she showed winning the King George by a neck after a stretch-long brawl with the excellent Crystal Ocean. Another strong opponent, Magical, awaits Thursday after recently being supplemented to this race by her connections. Magical came within three-quarters of a length of beating Enable in the Breeders’ Cup Turf last fall and in the Eclipse Stakes this past spring. The two race at level weights Thursday, and the only horses to beat Magical her last seven starts are Enable and Crystal Ocean. “We did not expect Magical to be supplemented, so it’s not going to be easy and it’s a worry,” said Frankie Dettori, Enable’s jockey. “There isn’t much between the two fillies, and my horse will have to bring her ‘A’ game.” Also expected among the race’s final entries Tuesday is the Gosden-trained Annapurna, who won the Oaks at Epsom this year and gets nine pounds from Enable on Thursday. It probably won’t be enough.