Found is being aimed at the Breeders’ Cup Classic in preference to the Turf, which she won last year, ahead of the prestigious race-meeting in California at the end of next week. The Arc de Triomphe winner had the Classic as her first preference when entries were published on Wednesday and her trainer, Aidan O’Brien, pointed in that direction as he discussed his team for Santa Anita.
“Obviously it’s an unknown, she hasn’t raced on the dirt before,” said the Irishman. “But it’s very possible that the lads will let her take her chance.”
O’Brien has yet to score in the Classic but has done some damage to the crossbar, notably with Giant’s Causeway, who came up short by only a neck in 2000. Asked what it would mean to finally win the race, the Ballydoyle trainer said: “We would be over the moon, delighted, it’s a very difficult race to win and we’ll do our best, as always.”
He pointed also to Found’s “tactical speed” as an asset that might help her cope with the Classic, as well as her versatility as to ground conditions. But running her in that race amounts to a free shot at a major prize because Found will not be judged harshly if she fails to cope with such unfamiliar conditions and her reputation for excellence on grass will not be tarnished.
There would have been more pressure had connections aimed her at a repeat success in the Turf. For similar reasons, O’Brien and his employers at Coolmore ran her sire, Galileo, in the Classic in 2001. He could finish only sixth in a slightly disappointing effort that has been almost forgotten, thanks in large part to his subsequent achievements as a stallion.
Found heads a planned team of 11 runners at the Breeders’ Cup for O’Brien, who has Highland Reel in the Turf as well as Alice Springs and Cougar Mountain in the Mile. Seventh Heaven will tackle the Filly & Mare Turf after a Champions Day defeat that the trainer dismissed as “just a bit of a mess, really”, in reference to her repeated trouble finding a clear run.
A shake-up in the betting on the Juvenile Fillies Turf seems likely, in light of O’Brien’s comment that Ryan Moore is likely to partner Roly Poly, a 10-1 shot for the race. The betting market would have expected him to be aboard Hydrangea, the 4-1 favourite, though the trainer was careful to say that he had not discussed any such questions with the jockey himself.
Henry Candy, whose Limato will be a first runner in the US for the Lambourn trainer, sounded bullish as he discussed the prospect of opposing the mighty mare Tepin, who made a successful transatlantic raid herself when scoring at Royal Ascot in the summer. “I’m just looking forward to taking her on, quite honestly,” he said.
“I know it sounds a bit daft because she’s absolutely brilliant, but I think our horse is out of the ordinary. So I’m all for the big match.”
Limato, a 3-1 shot for the Mile, is generally regarded as a sprinter but Candy explained the thinking behind running him in the longer race at Santa Anita. “My preference was always for the mile, quite honestly, because I think that sprint track, down the hill and round the bend … if the horse had one of his dozy moments in the stalls, which he sometimes has, it would be game over very rapidly. But I think the constantly turning, flat mile, I’m sure he’ll get it OK.”
Candy can at least be assured of the fast ground which is Limato’s preference but is keenly aware that a poor stalls position could kill off his chance. “I don’t know whether it’s madness but I’d sooner be drawn a little bit wide and take it easy and slot in. If you’re drawn on the rail, then you’ve got to have an awful lot of luck if you take back from there, because you’re probably going to be last.”
The trainer is keeping his options open as to whether he will take advantage of local rules allowing runners to be treated with anti-bleeding medication on raceday. “It’s possibly slightly overbold to say we’re going to run clean because you just never, never know with the atmosphere over there and one thing and another,” he said. “But it’ll be a late decision.”
