Breeders Cup Meeting

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Ladbrokes have made some interesting changes to their betting for the Breeders Cup meeting.

Duke Of Marmalade is now joint 4/1 favourite with Henrythenavigator for the Classic having previously been left off the list.:)

Henrythenavigator has been introduced at 4/1 clear favourite for the Breeders Cup Mile.

Sounds like common sense to me!
 
DUKE POSSIBLE FOR GREAT LEIGHS

By Tom Peacock, PA Sport

Duke Of Marmalade could be a shock competitor at Great Leighs' trials meeting for the Breeders' Cup on September 27, trainer Aidan O'Brien has revealed.
The master of Ballydoyle is keen to get another run into his star performer before Santa Anita in October and while not taking him out of the equation for the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, he is putting a journey to the new Essex venue under consideration.
Duke Of Marmalade has now won five Group Ones in a row but missed out on a sixth when he was not risked on heavy ground in last weekend's Irish Champion Stakes.
O'Brien has identified what has been named the Thoroughbred Open Classic, a £40,000 race for all ages where Duke Of Marmalade would carry a small penalty for his victories.
Experience on the all-weather would put the colt into contention for the Breeders' Cup Classic on a new synthetic surface in California and O'Brien also mentioned Frozen Fire being under consideration for Duke Of Marmalade's other option, the Breeders' Cup Turf.
"I am not ruling him out of the Arc, but we want to run him at the Breeders' Cup with possibly another run in between," said O'Brien.
"There is a possibility he might run at Great Leighs on the evening of the QEII Stakes at Ascot.
"They have a nine-and-a-half-furlong race there on Polytrack. But that is only a possibility at the moment."
Of Frozen Fire, only seventh when favourite for Saturday's Ladbrokes St Leger, O'Brien continued: "Frozen Fire was keen at Doncaster and the ground was wrong for him. We might look at the Breeders' Cup Turf with him over a mile and a half on good ground."
 
Somewhat comforting to hear he would be able to run in a couple of weeks, as there have been some negative reports flying around about him since he was a NR at Leopardstown.
 
Gareth Flynn said:
Dundalk missing a trick, surely?
Click to expand...

There is a suitable race for him...now there is talk of Rip Van Winkle going to Great Leighs as well. O'Brien was not keen on running any of his top horses at Dundalk a few weeks back when a Curragh meeting was due to be rescheduled to it.
 
Great Leighs on 27/09/2008

5:50 Liberty Maiden Stakes (Cl4)
6:20 Midas Claiming Stakes (Cl4)
6:50 Springboard Maiden Stakes (Cl4)
7:20 Providence Handicap (Cl2)
7:50 Thoroughbred Open Juvenile (Conditions Stakes) (Cl2)
8:20 Thoroughbred Open Sprint (Conditions Stakes) (Cl2)
8:50 Thoroughbred Open Marathon (Conditions Stakes) (Cl2)
9:20 Thoroughbred Open Classic (Conditions Stakes) (Cl2)
 
How long until these conditions races are Group contests if the big guns continue use them as steppng stones to the BC?

I`ve noticed Curlin has shortened a tad for the Classic.
 
If it's a conditions race then doesn't that mean that horses rated in the 30s and 40s could run against DOM? That would be absurd, if hilarious.

Some Christine Dunnett runner getting in the way of Red Rock Canyon's pacemaking.

Might give Gio an entry. :D
 
I see Spirit One is going on trial in America on Saturday for the Classic also. Looks sure to be a major European assault on the race.
 
O'Brien mentioned the 2yo race at Great Leighs as an option for Rip Van Winkle (presumably as a prep for the BC Juvenile).
 
I was at the course tonight. I understand Rip Van Winkle is definitely going next week. DOM is still possible and they will know on Monday dv. I understand there are two other Irish horses coming over, at least; one of which is Elletelle.

I don't think Dundalk can stage these races in the same way - Great Leighs was built specifically with such races in mind, and is supposed to be the only polytrack in Europe which conforms to the American standard. No-one expected it all happen quite so soon though!

A couple of crack photographers were there tonight doing 'practice shots' for next week :eek:
 
What's the dimensions of the GL track? How does the surface provide any unique benefit over other polytrack courses in GB & Ireland when Santa Anita is using Pro-Ride?
 
Absolutely gutting news just now that Dundalk has now scheduled a race over 1m2 specially for DOM, on iirc Oct 1st or 2nd - breaking news on atr - after the Gt Ls people have spent the entire week either on the phone with Ballydoyle and other Irish trainers, or dealing with intense media interest etc etc - almost no-one got anything done this last week expect deal with stuff to do with the 27th.

I feel desperately sorry for them. They have also spent an absolute fortune trying to get building and fitting out to get the upstairs of the stand ready for the meeting

The timing of the announcement on Friday at 5pm, when GLs decs need to be made on Monday, is - well, words fail me

Gareth the track details are all on the website
 
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BREEDERS CUP TRIAL RACE ADDED TO DUNDALK CARD
ON OCTOBER 3RD
​
Dundalk Stadium is pleased to announce that, with the co-operation of Horse Racing Ireland, they will be staging a new €30,000 conditions race over 10½ furlongs, to be called The Dundalk Breeders Cup Trial Stakes. This contest will be added as an eighth race to the existing programme at the meeting on Friday evening, October 3rd.

Trainer Aidan O’Brien has indicated that he may use this race as a trial for the Breeders Cup Classic for Duke Of Marmalade should the ground be too soft for him to run in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

Welcoming the announcement of the race, Aidan O’Brien stated: “It is a great initiative on behalf of Dundalk Stadium to put on this additional race and the intention would be for Duke Of Marmalade to run at Dundalk if the ground turns out to be unsuitable at Longchamp.”

Jason Morris, HRI Director of Racing, stated; “HRI is delighted to support the request from Dundalk to add this extra race to their card on Friday evening 3rd October, for which Dundalk Racecourse have provided significant funding.”

Jim Martin, Dundalk Stadium Chief Executive stated: “This is another important milestone for Dundalk Stadium. The fact that Aidan O’Brien has indicated that his five time Group 1 winner Duke of Marmalade will run at Dundalk on Friday 3rd October if the ground at Longchamp is not suitable is an exciting prospect for Dundalk Stadium and Irish racing as a whole.”
 
:eek: Of course they were asleep, just obviously needed someone to wake them up and tell them what a good idea if they copied Great Leighs!
 
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