California may favour Europeans in the Breeders' Cup

San Diego – Sadly no Smart Call – the South African-owned globetrotter missed the cut so is rerouted to next month’s Hong Kong international meeting at Sha Tin.

But the Breeders’ Cup can still boast more superstars than you’ll find on a Hollywood red carpet when it kicks off at Del Mar, San Diego, tonight.

Racing’s equivalent to the World Series is being staged in California for the fifth time in six years and Europeans invariably do well here, having celebrated 11 winners at Santa Anita during that period.

However, apart from John Gosden, who trained out here for 11 years, I’ve barely met a European who has previous experience of Del Mar, which is a much sharper course with a home stretch that is as short as Chester.

The big boys come out to play tomorrow, but Europe has six runners in both the juvenile races on the turf this evening and with 80% of American trainers focussing predominately on dirt racing, it will be disappointing if we don’t win one or possibly both.

A low draw will always be preferable around here, so Aidan O’Brien and Ryan Moore, so often the saviours for European supporters, can get us off to a flyer with HAPPILY in the fillies’ race, while Godolphin’s MASAR has not run a bad race all season and showed at Royal Ascot that lightning-fast ground suits him best, so he’ll relish the underfoot conditions for the colts’ equivalent.

Marsha pipped LADY AURELIA in a thriller in the Nunthorpe at York in August but I doubt she’ll see which way the American filly goes when they cross swords again in tomorrow’s Turf Sprint. Wes Ward’s flyer is the best bet of the weekend extravaganza.

Chad Brown, arguably the No 1 American trainer of grass horses, has denied the Europeans in the Filly & Mare Turf three times in the last five years and LADY ELI, victorious in 10 of her 13 races – she was runner-up in the other three – can enhance her impressive record at the main expense of Rhododendron and last year’s winner Queen’s Trust.

Europeans used to dominate the Mile but they have only managed one win in the last six years and with Ribchester having had a long season and Roly Poly drawn out in the car park, I fear we may again get our butts kicked in this one.

Canadian Mark Casse is another top turf trainer and having triumphed with Royal Ascot winner Tepin two years ago, brings another major player in WORLD APPROVAL, who routed the Europeans with a brilliant start-tofinish success in the Woodbine Mile in Toronto last month. He’ll be hard to catch around here.

Either side of the Mile, the Americans can strike with a couple of “shorties” in DREFONG in the Sprint and BOLT D’ORO in the Juvenile, with O’Brien dipping his toes into the unknown in the latter with US NAVY FLAG. He is a dual winner on turf in Britain, having captured both the Middle Park and Dewhurst Stakes.

Senior UK handicapper Phil Smith thinks Ulysses is “a certainty” for the Turf, but Sir Michael Stoute has concerns about the track, while surely Highland Reel won’t be allowed the luxury of a solo up front as he was last year.