Group 1 winner Al Riffa (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) will race for the Al Riffa Syndicate and Masaaki Matsushima beginning in Sunday's G1 Grosser Preis von Berlin. The Joseph O'Brien trainee's long-term goal remains the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.
Matsushima has already enjoyed some success in Europe as the part-owner of G1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud winner Broome (Ire) (Australia {GB}).
The 4-year-old won the G1 National Stakes at two, and added runner-up finishes in both the G3 International S. and G2 Prix Guillaume d'Ornano. Fourth in the G1 Prix Ganay this April, he was sixth in the GI Manhattan Stakes in America in June. In his latest appearance, he was an encouraging second in the G1 Coral-Eclipse Stakes at Sandown behind City Of Troy (Justify) in early July.
“Obviously, it was a fantastic run at Sandown,” O'Brien told the Nick Luck Daily. “The Arc is a big target for him in the autumn. It would be great if we could have a good run in Germany at the weekend on the way there.
“I think we always had it in our minds that he would stay a mile-and-a-half. His dam is a sister to a horse that was placed in the Ascot Gold Cup, so there's plenty of stamina in his family. And she's obviously by Galileo (Ire). He's a Group 1 winner at seven furlongs and it was a big run in the Eclipse last time at 10 [furlongs] last time in the Eclipse. We have always expected that the best of him would be seen when he gets to go 12 furlongs.
“He's a very big horse. He was a big yearling and was a high class 2-year-old. That was why we decided not to run him again after the National Stakes. He had a good 3-year-old year. He had a little setback on the eve of the Champion Stakes, and he's come back on the back of a career best at Sandown. This looks like an open Group 1 and it's a logical spot for him.”
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
