Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Ulysses takes on familiar foe
DEL MAR, Calif. – When he wasn’t winning Group 1 races in England earlier this year, Ulysses lost to pretty sexy company.
Ulysses was third behind Highland Reel in the Group 1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot in June, and second and third behind the filly Enable, Europe’s best horse, in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot in July and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe on Oct. 1 at Chantilly.
Enable is finished for the year, but Ulysses will face Highland Reel again in Saturday’s $4 million Breeders’ Cup Turf at 1 1/2 miles at Del Mar, the nation’s richest grass race. Highland Reel won the 2016 BC Turf at Santa Anita.
Highland Reel is trained by Aidan O’Brien, who has won the BC Turf a record six times. Ulysses is trained by Michael Stoute, who has won the BC Turf four times. Understandably, Highland Reel and Ulysses will be prominent in the betting, along with Beach Patrol, the top-rated turf marathoner in the United States.
Saturday’s BC Turf has been a year-end goal for Ulysses, who races for the Niarchos family and was fourth behind Highland Reel in the 2016 BC Turf at Santa Anita as a 3-year-old.
Ulysses has fine credentials this year, having won two Group 1 races at 1 1/4 miles in England – the Coral Eclipse Stakes at Sandown Park in July and the Juddmonte International Stakes at York in August. In the Arc, at 1 1/2 miles, Ulysses was beaten 3 3/4 lengths by Enable.
“His best form is at a mile and a quarter,” Stoute said. “But in the King George and Arc, conditions were quite testing.
“He’s an improved horse. Whether he’s improved enough to beat Highland Reel and one or two others, we’ll see.”
Stoute has given the mount to Frankie Dettori, who has not ridden Ulysses since the 2016 BC Turf.
“He’s a stronger horse this year and his form is better,” Dettori said. “He likes firm ground and he’ll get it here. Highland Reel is the one to beat.”
Highland Reel has won 2 of 5 starts this year. He won the Coronation Cup at 1 1/2 miles at Epsom in early June, but has lost his last two starts, finishing fourth in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and third in the Group 1 Champion Stakes behind Cracksman on Oct. 21 at Ascot.
There was not supposed to be a three-month gap between starts, O’Brien said earlier this week.
“We were hoping to get a good race before Ascot,” he said.
In the Champion Stakes, at 1 1/4 miles, Highland Reel finished 7 1/4 lengths behind Cracksman on soft turf.
“It wasn’t ideal ground,” O’Brien said.
The turf will be firm at Santa Anita on Saturday, and conditions should suit Highland Reel and Beach Patrol, who won consecutive Grade 1 races in the Arlington Million at 1 1/4 miles Aug. 12 and the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic on Sept. 30 at Belmont Park.
In the Joe Hirsch, at 1 1/2 miles, Beach Patrol took command in the final three furlongs and won by five lengths over Fanciful Angel and Oscar Performance, two other runners in the BC Turf.
Beach Patrol was an accomplished 3-year-old in 2016, winning the Grade 1 Secretariat Stakes at Arlington Park, and is in better form this year for trainer Chad Brown.
Brown respects the Europeans, but says Beach Patrol’s tactics of racing near the pace can be effective.
“The biggest obstacle is the competition,” Brown said. “He’ll face much tougher horses than in the Joe Hirsch. He’s got good positional speed to get a jump on the competition behind him. All this adds up to a chance to do well.”
The race drew a field of 14, with seven shippers from Europe and seven Americanbased runners. O’Brien also starts Cliffs of Moher, who was seventh in the Champion Stakes, and Seventh Heaven, a filly who was 14th in the Arc.
The seven American-based
runners have won Grade 1 or Grade 2 races in North America this year. Bullards Alley won the Grade 1 Canadian International on Oct. 15 at Woodbine, while Sadler’s Joy won the Grade 1 Sword Dancer Stakes at Saratoga in August before finishing fourth in the Joe Hirsch.
Bigger Picture was third in the Sword Dancer and won the Grade 1 United Nations Stakes at Monmouth Park in July, a race in which Beach Patrol was third.
Itsinthepost, fifth in the United Nations after setting the pace, won California’s most recent prep, the Grade 2 John Henry Turf Championship on Oct. 1 at Santa Anita.
Itsinthepost closed from fourth to win by a head. Earlier this year, Itsinthepost won two Grade 2 races at 1 1/2 miles on turf.
Trainer Jeff Mullins is confident the 5-year-old gelding is a live longshot Saturday.
Said Mullins, “If he runs his race and doesn’t have any trouble, I have a feeling they’ll have