Breeders Cup Meeting

I think DOM is the better horse. Whether he is in the best condition of the two is a different matter.
 
O'Brien said: "The Duke and Henry are two exceptional horses. It has been a long, hard season for both but they seem in good form at the moment.

"For the Classic you need a horse who definitely gets a mile and a quarter. It is a race where you have to be tough and hard.

"The Duke is an unbelievably tough horse, with a great will to win, and if any horse can cope it will be him.

"We can't be sure that Henry will get a mile and a quarter, and at the moment Johnny is favouring riding Duke Of Marmalade over Henrythenavigator.

"We have booked John Velazquez for whichever one he doesn't ride."
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Surprised there has not been more chat about this.

Delighted to read this morning that Pursuit Of Glory is a confirmed runner in the Juvenile fillys. She has form on the surface (well Dundalk's anyway) and ran with credit over 6 furlongs last time - clearly indicating she needed further than that. Lightly raced to be still improving...I like her alot...certainly more so than Bushranger in the colts equivalent.
 
From the RP:


IRISH trainer David Wachman was dealt a double blow when the first part of the draw was made on Tuesday for the Breeders' Cup this weekend.

His Middle Park Stakes winner Bushranger was drawn 12 of 13 for Saturday's Juvenile and his odds were pushed out to 6-1 from 11-2 by Coral, with William Hill also quoting him at 6-1 (from 5-1).

Stable-companion Pursuit Of Glory is a 10-1 chance (from 8-1) with Coral after being handed stall 11 of13 in Friday's Juvenile Fillies.
But the Aidan O'Brien-trained Westphalia is 5-2 favourite (from 11-4) with William Hill for Saturday's 12-runner Juvenile Turf, which he will start from box three.

Mast Track takes his chance in the Dirt Mile on Saturday, despite the quarter-crack which had been thought likely to rule him out of the meeting.
 
Havn't had a chance to look through the race at all, but I couldn't be having Westphalia as a 5/2 chance for the Juvenile Turf, assuming that they will get fast ground. Then again, I can't even remember the name of the O'Brien horse that went so close to winning it last year (Sligo was it?) before promptly falling off the face of the earth..
 
Westphalia will be so drugged up he won't notice the ground. Weither he is good enough is another matter but it is not the strongest of races.
 
SOF handles fast ground, but 1m4f on fast ground might well be too sharp for him. He needs soft ground to make it a real test. But it looks a poor enough race and you could see him racing handy early on and it is hard to rule him out.

Ladbrokes taking a really interesting stance in the Classic...still have Henry at 5/1 with DOM still out at 12/1.
 
I like Red Rocks in the Turf.

The classic may have a pace problem.

Fairbanks may go on but I doubt it will be a stronly run race which may not suit the Duke. Curlin will be handy and I think he will win it again. He might be close to even money on the track come post time.
 
Galileo said:
SOF handles fast ground, but 1m4f on fast ground might well be too sharp for him. He needs soft ground to make it a real test. But it looks a poor enough race and you could see him racing handy early on and it is hard to rule him out.

Ladbrokes taking a really interesting stance in the Classic...still have Henry at 5/1 with DOM still out at 12/1.
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Hard to rule him out, but at the same time I just feel he was absolutely trained to the second for the Arc and that this is really just an after-thought to be honest. Given the nature of the ground/track isn't likely to place an emphasis on stamina either, I'll steer well clear of him.

I wouldn't touch Duke of Marmalade with a bargepole to be honest. Henrythenavigator I have my doubts about as well, and he looks too short at 5/1 for me.
 
Am I the only who doesn't partiucularly like the format this year BTW, with the fillies races on the Friday?

To be honest it looks a sub-par edition to me on the whole. I'm certainly not half as excited about it as I was for the last few. The Classic is an intruiging contest as always, but outside of that there is relatively little strength in depth IMO.

Halfway to Heaven possibly looks banker material in the F & M Turf, provided she isn't over the top of course. Pure Clan looks overpriced in the same race at 10/1. I half fancy Colonel John in the Classic EW at 12's as well.

If there is to be a star emerging it will probably be Stardom Bound (what a name, eh) I would think..
 
Stardom FOUND is what her name should be TS. She´s the business.

Too much early speed in the FM Sprint so should set it up for a closer, Indian Blessing stalks the pace - possibly too close given how fast they´ll go so should set it up for Ventura or Intangroo - my money´s on the latter and will be trebling her with Stardom Bound and The Z Monster in the Distaff :)
 
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