O’brien in hunt for seventh Turf triumph with Magical and Mogul
Magical and Mogul give Aidan O'brien a formidable hand as he goes in search of a seventh victory in the Longines Breeders' Cup Turf.
It is 18 years since High Chaparral provided the Ballydoyle handler with his first triumph in the mile- and- a- half contest. Twelve months later, the same horse dead- heated with Johar in an epic finish.
O' Bri e n has s i nce added to his tally with St Nicholas Abbey ( 2011), Magician ( 2013), Found ( 2015) and Highland Reel ( 2016) and appears to have an excellent chance of adding to his tally at Keeneland today.
Magical has previous at the Breeders' Cup, having pushed t he great Enable t o t hree - quarters of a length in this race two years ago.
She was set to be retired after winning last year's Champion Stakes at Ascot, but returned f or another campaign and has won another three Group Ones to take her top- level total to seven. She finished third when defending her Champion Stakes crown three weeks ago.
"Magical was going to go to No Nay Never ( stallion), but at the start of the year the lads had a chat. We said how well she had done over the winter - physically she really changed - and we felt it was worth letting her have another year," said O'brien.
"We're delighted we made that decision. We felt it was right as she was sound and her mind was very good.
"We started to race early in the year and she went from race to race. She's an amazing filly and we're lucky to have her."
S t a b l e ma t e Mo g u l h a s not been seen i n competitive action since running out an impressive winner of the Grand Prix de Paris in September, having since missed an intended outing in the Prix de l'arc de Triomphe due to a well documented issue with contaminated feed.
"He's in good form. Obviously, he's had a busy year. I suppose his last run was his most i mpressive when he won the Grand Prix de Paris o n a b i t o f n i c e g r o u n d ," O'brien added.
"He t r ave l l e d ve r y wel l , quickened well and we were pleased with how he came out of the race."
Dual Group One- winning filly Tarnawa bids to provide Dermot Weld with his ver y first Breeders' Cup success.
The Prix Vermeille and Prix de l'opera heroine also had the option of running in the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf, but instead takes on the boys in the longer of the two races.
She will be ridden by Colin Keane, because intended partner Christophe Soumillon was ruled out yesterday after testing positive for Covid- 19.
Weld said: "She's equally as effective over 10 furlongs and a mile and a half.
"I t hink she's ver y
t ough,
sound and genuine, so is well suited to the Breeders' Cup. Most importantly, she's a stayer with speed.
"I think in this difficult year, great credit must be given to the Breeders' Cup for their organisation and help and their ability to put on the fixture. They really need great credit for what they're achieving."
Enable's trainer John Gosden is this year represented by Lord North and Mehdaayih.