GI Breeders' Cup Classic

They bet him like he couldn't lose, and multiple Grade I winner White Abarrio (Race Day) justified the confidence with a tour de force as the 1-5 favorite in the seventh race at Gulfstream Park. Asked to settle behind a line of the eager in third after breaking sluggishly, the grey tracked an opening pace of :22.77, :45.98, and 1:11.43 from three off the rail. When he launched a rally at the quarter pole which saw him swiftly take command, it was 21-1 longshot Flying Liam (Liam's Map) who tried...

Aidan O'Brien was at pains on Tuesday to spell out Team Coolmore's uncertainty as to the prospects of City Of Troy (Justify) mastering the task of Saturday's GI Breeders' Cup Classic. "We think we have him prepared to go forward. Whether he is quick enough to go forward from that slot, in this type of race -- I'm not sure," he said. And therein lies the big question mark regarding how this particular turf impresario transitions to dirt racing first time on the biggest stage. In many ways, the decision...

Marathon specialist Next (Not This Time) worked five furlongs in 1:00.60 Wednesday morning at Turfway Park and, as long as things stay on track, he will start in a Breeders' Cup race, reports trainer Doug Cowans. It was Next's first work since his 10-length romp in the Sept. 21 Greenwood Cup at Parx. "The update is that he breezed well this morning," Cowans said. "We'll see how he comes out of the work and if all goes well he'll be nominated to both the [GI Longines Breeders' Cup] Turf and...

Aidan O'Brien provided a positive bulletin on Ballydoyle star City Of Troy (Justify) after he galloped at Southwell last month. The Coolmore partners' talented son of Together Forever (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) is gearing up for start in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic in November. "He's very good. We were delighted with him at Southwell and everything has gone very well with him since," O'Brien told Sky Sports Racing. "He's started his build up now and so far everything seems good." The bay is riding a three-race winning streak, having claimed...

Dual Grade I-winner Dornoch (Good Magic) has been on downtime at Saratoga in the weeks after finishing fourth in the GI DraftKings Travers Aug. 24. Trained by Danny Gargan, the colt is gearing up for what is expected to be his final career start in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar Nov. 2 before retiring to stud at Spendthrift Farm. "He's doing good, and we gave him some time off and are just starting back," Gargan said. "He'll work three times before the Classic. He's not a horse...

Aidan O'Brien has never won the GI Breeders' Cup Classic. But it hasn't been from a lack of effort. He's had 13 starters in the race and has run some very good horses, including Galileo (Ire) (Sadler's Wells) and Giant's Causeway (Storm Cat). But his luck could very well change this year as he will take aim at the Classic with one of the best horses of this generation. The O'Brien trained City of Troy (Justify) has had an outstanding campaign in Europe, winning six of seven starts, including four...

City Of Troy (Justify), a winner of the G1 Derby, G1 Eclipse Stakes, and G1 International Stakes this spring and summer, is still on target for a Sept. 20 Southwell gallop, trainer Aidan O'Brien revealed during the Irish Champions Festival media event at Ballydoyle on Monday. The colt is aiming for a start in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar on Nov. 2. O'Brien said, "He can go a mile, probably with four or five other horses and we'll go a good, strong pace and see what will...

Godolphin's Highland Falls (Curlin) outdueled favored Arthur's Ride (Tapit) and strode home an easy winner of the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup Sunday at Saratoga. The 4-year-old earned his first top-level victory, as well as an automatic berth in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic, and gave jockey Flavien Prat his record-setting 13 graded win of the meeting. Arthur's Ride, coming off a win in the GI Whitney Stakes, rushed up and over from his outside post and had a clear advantage heading into the first turn through an opening quarter...

Stronach Stables's Macho Uno, Eclipse Award-winning champion juvenile and whose progeny include GI Breeders' Cup Classic winner Mucho Macho Man, was euthanized at the age of 26 due to liver complications at his home at Adena South Aug. 30, according to a Friday press release from 1/ST Racing. A son of Horse of the Year Holy Bull bred by Adena and a half-brother to Breeders' Cup Classic winner Awesome Again, Macho Uno won on debut at Saratoga for trainer Joe Orseno in July 2000. After he was third in the...

Mentee (City of Light), the two-year-old full-brother to GI Travers Stakes winner Fierceness (City of Light), came down with laminitis after his winning debut on June 15 at Aqueduct. According to owner Mike Repole, who revealed the news on the TDN Writers' Room Podcast presented by Keeneland, the situation was so severe that the colt is "lucky to be alive." However, Mentee recovered so well and so quickly that he is set to start in Monday's GI Hopeful S. at Saratoga. Mentee broke his maiden by a nose, defeating another...

The GI Breeders' Cup Classic has been confirmed as the next port of call for City Of Troy following his dominant win in Wednesday's G1 Juddmonte International at York. Trainer Aidan O'Brien said, "It looks like City Of Troy is going to go straight to the Classic, I think, listening to everybody. I think he's going to go to one of your tracks [for a racecourse gallop], either Southwell or Ryan [Moore, jockey] mentioned Wolverhampton. "We just want to get him on a different surface, so that's where he could...

For a horse that has won the richest race in the world, Saturday's $250,000 GII Pat O'Brien S. at Del Mar might not seem like an overly difficult spot. But when Senor Buscador (Mineshaft) heads to the post for Saturday's race, he probably won't be the favorite and there will no doubt be some wiseguys who throw him out altogether. The problems are threefold: He's not a seven-furlong horse; he will not have run for 147 days; he'll be facing the best sprinter on the West Coast in the California-bred...