AIDAN O’BRIEN CAN land an audacious $3m raid by pocketing two of the top prizes at the Breeders’ Cup in California tonight.

America’s famous two-day festival was a happy hunting ground for the Ballydoyle maestro last year and O’Brien will hope that history repeats itself and leaves him with more than a postcard to take back to Ireland.

Stable star St Nicholas Abbey stormed home to take the Breeders’ Cup Turf last season, making O’Brien and jockey Joseph the first father/son double-act to win at the Cup in 28 years.

The prize five-year-old can now follow Michael Stoute’s Conduit into the record books when he bids to become only the second horse to successfully defend the Turf title tonight.

To do that he will have to break local hearts at Santa Anita by slaying Point of Entry, the fancied home hope who came out on top against the yard’s other challenger, Treasure Beach, when the two met in Belmont in September.

O’Brien will hardly have time to draw breath before the second part of his daring double when Queen Elizabeth II Stakes winner Excelebration goes in the Mile.

So often the bridesmaid in his personal duel with Henry Cecil’s wonderhorse Frankel, Excelebration now has a chance to become a global superstar by following up Grade 1 wins in France and Ascot with a big win stateside.

He comes up against 2011 Kentucky Derby champion Animal Kingdom, who will try to become the first Derby winner since Unbridled in 1990 to claim a Breeders’ Cup trophy, and a Horse of the Year contender in Wise Dan.

With age, he appears to have become stronger and faster, O’Brien said of the four-year-old colt. “When he won at Ascot, the ground was obviously a lot softer than he’ll meet on Saturday, but hopefully he’ll handle that OK.

It was always the plan to come on to the Breeders’ Cup after Ascot, and I suppose there is always the chance that two Group One races in two weeks is asking too much of the horse, but he seems in very good form.

O’Brien is double-handed in the Juvenile Turf with George Vancouver, son of Henrythenavigator, tipped for a strong showing alongside stablemate Lines of Battle while Starspangledbanner will need to end a two-year drought if he is to spring a shock in the 6f Sprint.

Game On Dude, co-owned by former Major League Baseball manager Joe Torre and unbeaten in five career starts at Santa Anita’s main horse track, is the bookies’ choice to win the Classic feature showdown, North America’s most lucrative race with a $5 million purse up for grabs.

– Additional reporting by AFP