Ribchester might go to Japan

Trainer Richard Fahey has been saying for weeks that it wouldn’t be possible to commit Ribchester to the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Del Mar on Nov. 4 before the horse ran in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes Saturday at Ascot. This week, Fahey opened the door to a fall campaign that could have Ribchester headed to Japan instead of California.

Ribchester, the longtime favorite for the BC Mile, might target the Mile Championship on Nov. 19 at Kyoto Racecourse rather than head to the Breeders’ Cup. The turnaround from the QE II to the Breeders’ Cup is very sharp this year, and Ribchester would have to leave for America just six days after racing this weekend.

“We’ve not drawn a line through the Breeders’ Cup, and we’ll have to see how he takes Saturday,” Fahey said. “He’s been accepted for Japan, and that race gives us a bit longer.”

Ribchester, who campaigns for Godolphin, won the Group 1 J.T. Lockinge and the Group 1 Queen Anne stakes this year and thus would be eligible for a large bonus if he won the Mile Championship. Fahey suggested that a start in Japan could mark the end of Ribchester’s racing career.

Absent Ribchester, World Approval could well be the Mile favorite. The winner of the Grade 1 Fourstardave and the Grade 1 Woodbine Mile in his last two starts, World Approval is working toward the Mile for trainer Mark Casse at Churchill Downs.

England-based Decorated Knight, meanwhile, was mentioned many weeks ago as a likely Mile runner, but trainer Roger Charlton said this week that Decorated Knight also could be entered in the BC Turf. Decorated Knight has two 1 1/4-mile Group 1 wins this year, in the Irish Champion and the Tattersalls Gold Cup.

“We don’t need to decide yet,” Charlton said. “It depends on how a lot of those horses run at Ascot this weekend. He’s happy and well. I guess he would get the trip in the Turf, but he’s not a slow horse, either, and if we wanted to, we could come back to the Mile.”

While the QE II is the last Mile-relevant race before the Breeders’ Cup, there was Mile news from both coasts this week. Bill Mott told Daily Racing Form’s David Grening that Yoshida, who won the Hill Prince Stakes against fellow 3-year-olds last out, was out of Mile consideration. The Mott-trained Ballagh Rocks, who was third last out in the Shadwell Turf Mile at Keeneland, remains a possible Mile runner. The first two home in the Shadwell, Suedois and Heart to Heart, both are being pointed to the Mile.

In California, trainer Richard Mandella told DRF’s Steve Andersen that Bal a Bali was 75 percent likely to run in the Mile. Bal a Bali has not been especially consistent and was sixth in the Aug. 20 Del Mar Mile last out, but he has Grade 1 turf-mile wins this season in the Kilroe Mile and the Shoemaker Mile and, at the top of his game, could be a factor.

Another Californian, Midnight Storm, is expected to be cross-entered in the Mile and the Dirt Mile. Midnight Storm was third in the BC Mile a year ago at Santa Anita. Blackjackcat is the shaky leader of a Southern California turf-mile division and is pointed to the Mile off a prep-race win in the Obviously Stakes at Santa Anita.