O’BRIEN BIDDING FOR REEL GLORY
Trainer taking Highland road to Stateside win
AIDAN O’BRIEN might have taken a ‘ halfmile walk on the beach’ and rubbed shoulders with the Californian Pacific surfers this week, but he admitted the ubiquitous mobile phone was still glued to his ear.
O’Brien does not seem to do relaxation. His relentless drive for success has carried him to a record 26 Group One wins this year.
Given the old record was held by the late Bobby Frankel, who was based in Southern California for most of his career, it will be appropriate if O’Brien en can stretch his record at a Del Mar venue steeped in old-style Hollywood glamour.
A record 35 runners from Europe have made it to the 34th Breeders’ Cup meeting and O’Brien has 13 of them as he bids to add to his 11 wins in the event.
Wide outside draws will make it tough for his Filly & Mare Turf hope Rhododendron and Roly Poly in the Mile, while Churchill and US Navy Flag face steep tasks running on the dirt.
That leaves reliable Highland Reel as his most likely winner as he attempts to repeat his win in the 2016 Turf. The son of Galileo looks l k relaxed here, not something you could say about Sir Michael Stoute’s hope in the race, Ulysses, even if his team seem unperturbed by his edgy manner.
Ryan Moore knows Highland Reel is a fast-ground lover who comes here fresher than 12 months ago after a warm-up third to Cracksman in the Champion Stakes. O’Brien said: ‘Ryan minded him there. He kept him out on the good ground and could not have given him an easier run.’
They should not be underestimated. But, though Europe are numerically strong, it will probably pay to be realistic. The Bermuda Rye grass is a positive. It is a spongy surface which, despite the firm ground description, proves taxing.
That is probably the reason the track has a reputation as being good for closers from off the pace — suiting Sir Mark Prescott’s Marsha.
Europe has never won the Turf Sprint, but we have never run as good a contender as the Luke Morris-ridden Nunthorpe Stakes winner. Morris will hope trailblazers, her old rival Lady Aurelia and speedball Pure Sensation, burn out and he can pick up the pieces.
Nunthorpe third Cotai Glory will also try to make it tough for Marsha, while Ribchester has Woodbine Mile winner World Approval in his way in the Mile.
O’Brien’s first Breeders’ Cup winner was Johannesburg in the 2001 Juvenile. But Middle Park and Dewhurst Stakes winner US Navy Flag cannot miss the break from stall one in a race where dual Del Mar winner Bolt D’Oro looks hot.
O’Brien’s two Classic runners, dual Guineas winner Churchill and Dundalk winner War Decree, face a mountainous task in the $6m Classic.
They tackle 2016 winner and the world’s highest-rated horse Arrogate, supposedly back to form after a couple of blips.