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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Chris Corrigan

Aidan O’Brien tempted by Breeders’ Cup pay-dirt for Gleneagles

Sam Twiston-Davies and The New One on their way to winning the williamhill.com Hurdle at Kempton Park
Sam Twiston-Davies and The New One on their way to winning the williamhill.com Hurdle at Kempton Park. Photograph: Alan Crowhurst/Getty Images

The Turf’s big will-he-run-or-won’t-he saga switched to the Bluegrass State on Sunday after the trainer Aidan O’Brien announced that Gleneagles would be entered in the $5m Breeders’ Cup Classic in Kentucky a week on Saturday.

The colt has missed numerous engagements due to soft ground since winning the St James’s Palace Stakes in June. He was aimed at top races, including ones at Goodwood, Deauville and York this summer, but O’Brien withdrew him shortly before each race.

Finally, on Saturday, O’Brien and his Coolmore owners sent Gleneagles to post for Ascot’s Queen Elizabeth II Stakes following a decision taken an hour before. The trainer’s fears were justified, however, when the colt lost for the first time as a three-year-old, trailing in sixth.

The Ballydoyle trainer said on Sunday: “He seems to be fine. The ground has been holding us up all year and I was saying ‘no’ [to him running] all year. We always do what’s right for the horse. He’s a very low moving, very fast miler and I should have said no again yesterday.

“We’ll do a little bit with him in the morning and we’ll also make an entry for the Breeders’ Cup in the morning.”

Gleneagles, the winner of this year’s 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket and The Curragh, is a best-priced 16-1 for the Classic – run on dirt at Keeneland at the end of October – where he could clash with the Triple Crown hero American Pharoah.

A factor that could weigh on O’Brien’s mind is the fact that Gleneagles’ sire, the great Galileo, ran his last race in the 2011 Breeders’ Cup Classic, at Belmont Park on dirt – and finished sixth of 13 runners.

At Kempton Park on Sunday The New One started the long road back to a third tilt at the Champion Hurdle with success in the William Hill Hurdle for the third year in succession.

Nigel Twiston-Davies, the winner’s trainer, said afterwards: “I’m chuffed to bits.” The 2-11 favourite was making his first start since finishing fifth behind Faugheen at the Cheltenham Festival in March.

Although needing to be shaken up by Sam Twiston-Davies, the dual Grade One winner soon asserted on the run-in, seeing off the attentions of Stephanie Frances by two lengths in workmanlike fashion, to complete a double on the day for the father and son team

The New One was nevertheless pushed out to 20-1 from 16-1 for the Champion Hurdle by William Hill.

Twiston-Davies said: “He has not run for a long time and he’s bigger than he has been at this time of the season. The race was run slowly and it was a bit of a dawdle, but he was very quick over the last two, which was lovely to see.”

Also at Kempton, Maputo continued his rise through the ranks since switching from the Flat when outclassing his opponents with consummate ease in a novice hurdle.

Jumping with fluency, the 5-6 favourite, a Group Three winner on the level when trained by Mark Johnston, crossed the line with six lengths in hand under Aidan Coleman. The trainer John Ferguson said: “He has got bags of pace from the Flat and he has taken to hurdling well.

“He was a bit keen on his first run at Perth and the hood has helped him. He is an exciting horse to have in the yard. The Paddy Power meeting is a possibility as that is where we took Sea Lord and Parlour Games after this.”

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