Roaring Lion on the drift after landing inside draw in Breeders’ Cup Classic
John Gosden’s brilliant pair Roaring Lion and Enable have both been drawn in stall two ahead of their respective tilts at Stateside glory at the 35th Breeders’ Cup on Saturday.
In the $6 million Classic at Churchill Downs, Roaring Lion, Gosden’s exceptional Eclipse, International, Irish Champion Stakes and QEII winner, will be situated alongside Saeed Bin Suroor’s Thunder Snow, who will break from the inside berth on his return to the Louisville track for the first time since his dramatic antics after emerging from the stalls in the 2017 Kentucky Derby saw him pulled up early.
The Aidan O’Brien-trained Mendelssohn will break from stall nine when he attempts to atone for his own Churchill Downs flop on a miserably wet night there in this year’s Derby.
With the horses drawn on the inside often having to go forward early rather than get covered up and face bad kickback, Mendelssohn’s draw might allow for more tactical versatility.
The John Sadler-trained favourite Accelerate landed the widest draw in stall 14, while Jonathon Thomas’s Catholic Boy, last seen beating Mendelssohn in the Travers Stakes at Saratoga, will be in stall three.
Coral reacted to the draw, which took place in the International Convention Centre in Louisville, by trimming Mendelssohn into 8-1 from 10-1 and easing Accelerate (4-1 from 7-2), Roaring Lion (8-1 from 7-1) and Thunder Snow (16-1 from (14-1).
“Of those, it looks like Mendelssohn has fared best,” said the firm’s spokesperson Simon Clare of the horse charged with delivering a first Classic success for O’Brien.
“He has a nice draw in the middle but Roaring Lion and Thunder Snow might not have the same options from the inside and Accelerate has a lot to do from stall 14.”
In the Breeders’ Cup Turf, Gosden’s dual Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner Enable, who will be vying to become the first horse to follow up at the Breeders’ Cup in the same year as winning an Arc, will also break from stall two, where she will be alongside Andre Fabre’s defending champion Talismanic in stall one.
Fabre’s Waldgeist will be in stall 12 while O’Brien’s Magical, so impressive in the Fillies and Mares’ Group 1 on Champions Day at Ascot, has landed stall five. Her stablemate Hunting Horn will be in stall in 13.
In the Mile, William Haggas’s One Master drew stall one. O’Brien’s I Can Fly will break from stall eight, with Happily in three and Gustav Klimt in 13. Expert Eye landed stall seven for Michael Stoute, whose Mustashry will be in 14. David Simcock’s Lightning Spear will break from stall 11.
In the Filly & Mare Turf, Gavin Cromwell’s Longchamp Group 2 winner Princess Yaiza will break from stall five. O’Brien’s Magic Wand will be in ten, Athena in 13 and Dermot Weld’s Eziyra will have to break from the widest stall 14 in her quest to give the Curragh handler a first Breeders’ Cup winner. Charlie Appleby’s Wild Illusion will break from stall three.
In the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint, O’Brien’s Lost Treasure has drawn stall seven while Karl Burke’s Flying Five Stakes hero Havana Grey has landed stall ten.
In the first ever Juvenile Turf Sprint that gets proceedings underway at Churchill Downs on Friday, Wesley Ward’s Norfolk Stakes winner Shang Shang Shang will break from stall seven. O’Brien’s Sergei Prokoviev will be in stall eight while So Perfect will be two wider in stall ten.
Queen of Bermuda will break from 11 for William Haggas and Richard Hannon’s Well Done Fox from three, while Archie Watson’s first Breeders’ Cup runner Soldier’s Call will break from stall two.
In the Juvenile Fillies’ Turf, Brian Ellison’s The Mackem Bullet drew stall two. Aidan O’Brien’s Just Wonderful will be in stall six, Kevin Ryan’s East in 14 & Charlie Appleby’s La Pelosa in five.
O’Brien’s Broome was formally ruled out of the Juvenile Turf, in which Anthony Van Dyck was drawn widest of 14. On the inside in stall one will be Tom Dascombe’s Chesham Stakes winner Arthur Kitt. Mark Johnston’s Marie’s Diamond will break from 13 and Charlie Appleby’s Line Of Duty drew stall five. (fonte : RacingPost)
november 2nd
november 3rd
Deluge to hit Churchill Downs – but sodden Kentucky Derby repeat looks unlikely
A repeat of the deluge that led to the Kentucky Derby being run in apocalyptic conditions is unlikely but Churchill Downs could be set to suffer a similar drenching before the Breeders’ Cup kicks off on Friday.
The weather in Louisville has been sunny but cool and blustery over the past couple of days following rain on Saturday.
Temperatures are expected to rise to around 22C on Tuesday, but on Wednesday morning most weather forecasting websites appear to be predicting conditions taking a marked turn for the worse.
A thunderstorm is forecast to hit the area on Wednesday morning with persistent rainfall expected to continue thereafter. If the predictions are accurate, at least 80 millimetres – more than three inches – of rain could descend on the region through Wednesday and Thursday.
The deluge should then clear and Friday and Saturday are both forecast to be largely dry. Friday looks as though it may be quite cloudy but Saturday promises to be a little better, with sunny spells forecast and temperatures set to be around the mid-teens.
When they raced at Churchill Downs on Sunday, the ground on the turf track was officially good and the horses were making a print in the top of the surface.
After another drying day on Monday and a third coming, the surface should be close to perfect, but that seems certain to change.
Quite how slow underfoot turf conditions will be for an event promoters like to bill as Flat racing’s world championships is impossible to predict, although there is some comfort even at this stage in the expectation that the torrential conditions that marred Derby day in May won’t have to be relived. (fonte : RacingPost)
Maddy Playle and the team look at Winx’s record win & preview the Breeders’ Cup
Maddy Playle, Nick Watts, Tom Collins and Paddy Power’s Paul Binfield look at Winx’s record run in the Cox Plate, review wins for Magna Grecia and Lil Rockerfeller at Doncaster & Cheltenham and look ahead to racing at Wetherby, Ascot and Churchill Downs next weekend.
- On today’s Racing Postcast, we look back at Winx’s record win in Australia’s Cox Plate as the debate continues on her legacy in world racing – is she really as good as Frankel?
- The panel review the weekend action at Doncaster and Cheltenham, as Magna Grecia wins the Vertem Futurity in dramatic circumstances, while Lil Rockerfeller wins his latest trip over fences – where will he run at the Festival?
- The bet365 Charlie Hall Meeting is on next weekend – we look at potential entries at Wetherby, and preview the Sodexo Gold Cup at Ascot.
- Enable has arrived in the US – we take a look at the Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf, and look at British and Irish interest in the other races at Churchill Downs on Saturday.
- Plus, an ante-post look at next week’s Melbourne Cup, and our team bring you their NAPs from midweek racing.
Midweek NAPS:
Tom Collins:
Garrison Commander in the 1.10 at Nottingham on Wednesday
Newspaperofrecord in the 8.00 at Churchill Downs on Friday
Nick Watts:
Colby in the 2.25 at Sedgefield on Thursday
Didtheyleaveuoutto in the 1.00 at Fakenham on Wednesday
Paul Binfield:
Lady Aria in the 1.40 at Newmarket on Friday
fonte : RacingPost
Enable and Roaring Lion both handed stall two in Breeders’ Cup tests
Enable and Roaring Lion will both start from stall two in their respective races on Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup card at Churchill Downs.
The duo are both trained by John Gosden, with dual Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner Enable trying to become the first horse to follow up victory in the French Group One with a win in the Breeders’ Cup Turf.
She is one of 13 contenders for the 12-furlong event with Aidan O’Brien fielding both Magical (five) and Hunting Horn (13) while Andre Fabre has last year’s winner Talismanic in one and Waldgeist in 12.
Roaring Lion is one of 14 in the 10-furlong Classic as he tries to make it five top-level wins on what is due to be his final outing before retirement.
Saeed bin Suroor’s Thunder Snow will start from stall one while O’Brien’s Mendelssohn will be in nine under Ryan Moore.
O’Brien will be triple-handed in the Mile with Gustav Klimt (13), I Can Fly (eight) and Happily (three) while Sir Michael Stoute has both Expert Eye (seven) and Mustashry who is drawn widest of all in 14.
William Haggas’ One Master in lowest in one with Lightning Spear breaking from 11 for David Simcock.
Havana Grey will be in box 10 for the Turf Sprint with Magic Wand (10) and Athena (13) running for O’Brien in the Filly & Mare Turf.
Wild Illusion starts from three for Charlie Appleby with Gavin Cromwell’s Princess Yaiza in five and Dermot Weld’s Eziyra drawn high in 14.
fonte : RacingUK.
http://www.breederscup.com/races
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2018
fonte : Breeder’s
