DECLARATION OF WAR carries the Ballydoyle colours into battle in the hope of ending Aidan O’Brien’s long wait for the Breeders Cup Classic.
The world-famous festival, which got underway in Santa Anita on Friday, has been a happy hunting ground for O’Brien since he saddled Johannesburg to a famous Juvenile victory 12 years ago.
Six more winners and millions of dollars in prize money have followed but the Classic, the $5 million highlight which goes to post at 12.35am Sunday, has remained tantalisingly out of reach.
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Galileo, Henrythenavigator and So You Think are among the Ballydoyle stable superstars to have tried and failed while George Washington’s bid ended tragically with a broken leg in 2007.
O’Brien has never been closer than in 2000 when Giant’s Causeway was second by a neck to Tiznow, the US dirt star who went on to retain the title as a four-year-old the following season.
Tonight he sends in Declaration of War as a 7/1 shot in a high-class field led again by Game On Dude, last year’s ante-post favourite before finishing seventh, and runner-up Mucho Macho Man.
No foreign-trained horse has won since Raven’s Pass in 2008 but the four-year-old’s US breeding (sired by dirt winner War Front) has given punters cause for optimism.
To feature he will have to improve on his three Grade 1 defeats this summer where Al Kazeem, Toronado and Dawn Approach all got the better of him. If he does win, tonight is widely expected to be his career curtain call before retiring to stud.
Elsewhere on the 12-race card, The Fugue appears to be the best chance of international success. John Gosden’s four-year-old was beaten in the Fillies and Mares’ Turf last year but this time is a well-backed 2/1 favourite to take her chance against the boys, including O’Brien’s Magician, in the Turf (10.22pm).
And the Breeders Cup Filly (7.43pm) looks set to be an all-European affair with Andre Fabre’s Romantica poised as the main opposition to Michael Stoute’s Dank.
Declaration of War: the horse carrying Irish hopes in $5m Breeders Cup Classic
DECLARATION OF WAR carries the Ballydoyle colours into battle in the hope of ending Aidan O’Brien’s long wait for the Breeders Cup Classic.
The world-famous festival, which got underway in Santa Anita on Friday, has been a happy hunting ground for O’Brien since he saddled Johannesburg to a famous Juvenile victory 12 years ago.
Six more winners and millions of dollars in prize money have followed but the Classic, the $5 million highlight which goes to post at 12.35am Sunday, has remained tantalisingly out of reach.
Galileo, Henrythenavigator and So You Think are among the Ballydoyle stable superstars to have tried and failed while George Washington’s bid ended tragically with a broken leg in 2007.
O’Brien has never been closer than in 2000 when Giant’s Causeway was second by a neck to Tiznow, the US dirt star who went on to retain the title as a four-year-old the following season.
YouTube Credit: BCWorldChampionships
Tonight he sends in Declaration of War as a 7/1 shot in a high-class field led again by Game On Dude, last year’s ante-post favourite before finishing seventh, and runner-up Mucho Macho Man.
No foreign-trained horse has won since Raven’s Pass in 2008 but the four-year-old’s US breeding (sired by dirt winner War Front) has given punters cause for optimism.
To feature he will have to improve on his three Grade 1 defeats this summer where Al Kazeem, Toronado and Dawn Approach all got the better of him. If he does win, tonight is widely expected to be his career curtain call before retiring to stud.
Elsewhere on the 12-race card, The Fugue appears to be the best chance of international success. John Gosden’s four-year-old was beaten in the Fillies and Mares’ Turf last year but this time is a well-backed 2/1 favourite to take her chance against the boys, including O’Brien’s Magician, in the Turf (10.22pm).
And the Breeders Cup Filly (7.43pm) looks set to be an all-European affair with Andre Fabre’s Romantica poised as the main opposition to Michael Stoute’s Dank.
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Aidan O'Brien Breeders' Cup Declaration of War Santa Anita