Her stable-mate Ylang Ylang (GB) (Frankel {GB}) is also among the 13 fillies to have been entered from Ballydoyle. Irish trainers Noel Meade, Jim Bolger and Dermot Weld have one entry apiece while Paddy Twomey has entered Purple Lily (Ire) (Calyx {GB}) and One Look (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}).

Ralph Beckett has the strongest representation among the British-based trainers with nine fillies engaged at this stage. These include the maiden winner Treasure (GB) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}), owned by the King and Queen. 

Britain's champion training partnership of John and Thady Gosden, which won last year's Oaks with Lady Bamford's Soul Sister (Ire), has five entries, including Cheveley Park Stud's Regal Jubilee (GB) (Frankel {GB}), who is currently third-favourite for the fillies' Classic. 

Making Dreams (GB) (Make Believe {GB}), the winner of Monday's G3 Prix Penelope at Saint-Cloud, is one of four entries for Karl Burke. She races in the colours of Nick Bradley Racing, the syndicate which fielded the 2021 Oaks runner-up Mystery Angel (Ire).

The sole French entry for the race is the Group 3-placed Dare To Dream (Fr) (Camelot {GB}), who is trained by Chantilly-based Irishman Gavin Hernon. 

Friday's card for the Betfred Derby meeting includes the G1 Coronation Cup, which could see a rematch between the first two home in last year's Derby, Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and King Of Steel (Wootton Bassett {GB}).

The reigning Coronation Cup champion Emily Upjohn (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) is also among the 23 entries, which include the St Leger winner Continuous (Ire) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}) and German Horse of the Year Fantastic Moon (Ger) (Sea The Moon {Ger}).

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Primarily there's the scintillating prospect of a rematch between the first two home in the Derby, Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and King Of Steel (Wootton Bassett {GB}), who between them have picked off the Irish Derby, Irish Champion S., King Edward VII S., and Champion S. since Epsom. 

To that duo we can add the top-rated horse still in training in Europe, Mostahdaf (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), whose victories in the Prince of Wales's S. and Juddmonte International have made a significant contribution towards Sheikha Hissa's Shadwell operation being named champion owner in Britain in 2023. 

Then, for France, there's Onesto (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), who featured in these pages on Tuesday, plus the Japanese Derby winner of 2021, Shahryar (Jpn), another son of Deep Impact who added victory in the Dubai Sheema Classic to his travelling portfolio and has looked picture of poise and contentment these last few mornings during trackwork. 

If he handles the step up to a mile and a half for the first time, the hugely consistent Up To The Mark (Not This Time) shouldn't be overlooked as the best of the home-based challengers either, coming into the race off three straight Grade I wins for Todd Pletcher.

Of these leading contenders, arguably the horse who brings the biggest buzz with him is King Of Steel, who left the United States as a yearling but appears to be enjoying his homecoming of sorts as he strolls and struts about Santa Anita Park in the morning. The man who helped create the buzz on Champions Day, Frankie Dettori, has not been allowed back aboard him yet: that pleasure belongs to Robson Aguiar, who oversaw King Of Steel's early days of pre-training and has been in the saddle the last two mornings since the horse was released from quarantine. 

King Of Steel's trainer Roger Varian and his wife Hanako arrived in California on Tuesday evening and were out at the track early on Wednesday to watch him exercise just 11 days on from his epic mud-spattered victory at Ascot.

Varian, cautious by nature, said that his stable star gave him no reason not to travel to the Breeders' Cup for one last spin this year ahead of a winter break.

“He's really well,” the trainer confirmed. “We'll probably have to wait for the gates to open on Saturday to see for sure, but he's just had the five races this year, nicely spaced out, and he came out of Ascot so well it was hard not to bring him. 

“Obviously you have to listen to the horse but he was giving off very positive signals at home after Ascot and from what I've seen this morning he looks fantastic. He hasn't left an oat since Ascot, he hasn't left an oat since he arrived, he's drinking well and he looks a picture. He looks like he wants to race and it's a long winter so why not have another go?”

Why not indeed. While his Epsom conqueror Auguste Rodin is nestled in among his nine stable-mates out on the track each morning, King Of Steel has been going out solo and is certainly a quieter fellow than Mostahdaf, who left the quarantine barn moments before him on Wednesday and is clearly rehearsing for his future career in the stallion barn. 

Varian said, “He's got a great constitution and he takes it all well. It was his second morning out on the track and he didn't turn a hair.

“It's a good race with some good horses, but it's a $4 million race so it should be a strong contest. These are the races we want to be involved in, and in every run this year he's never run a bad race and he's looked a Group 1 horse. It's fair to say that he's still improving. A return to a mile and a half will suit him and I think a return to better ground will suit him.”

King Of Steel initially had two Breeders' Cup entries, with the Classic having been ruled out last week in favour of the Turf option, which will be a much firmer surface than he encountered at Ascot.

Varian continued, “He probably doesn't have the gate speed to consider the dirt at the moment but he might have the constitution for it, so I wouldn't rule it out one day. 

“He found a way to win at Ascot but I'm not sure he enjoyed the conditions. He never looked that happy from when the gates opened but Frankie was so good on him and left him alone. On a day of racing when pace was favoured throughout he was brave enough to leave the horse alone and let him find his feet and find a way to win. I think he's a better horse on better ground. He's a beautiful-moving horse, very well balanced, and he handled the undulations of Epsom on fast ground on Derby day. He shouldn't mind the ground here and he should improve for going around here.”

King Of Steel's owner Kia Joorabchian had signalled his keenness to bring the horse to California but Varian said that the decision was ultimately left to him.

“Kia wants to be here, yes, there is no hiding that fact,” he said. “But, equally, he was saying that unless I was 100 per cent happy with the horse then we shouldn't come. In a conservative way, I suppose I was looking for a reason not to come. Was he flat? Was there any reason? We could have finished on a high, waited for next year. But the horse has ticked every box since Ascot. We talked about it every day, myself and Kia. We could have easily said 'let's not go'. But he just got better and better through the week.

“We could have waited for next year but this is horse racing and next year doesn't always come. They can stand on a stone, they can get hurt in their stable, they can not be in as good form. But, in my opinion, he looked like he could run again, and that's why we are here. We won't be proven right or wrong until the day.”

Despite the build-up to what was in theory Dettori's final ride in Britain aboard King Of Steel in the Champion S., Varian admits that he was caught off guard by the rousing reception given to horse and rider as they returned to the winner's enclosure.

“Of course I knew it was his last ride but I hadn't prepared myself for what it would be like on the day. Maybe nobody had,” he said. “Who knew it would build into that final crescendo? I was caught out in the paddock. I didn't speak to Frankie. Of course I had spoken to him on the day but in the paddock I was 10 deep behind everyone else. I was just worried that the noise in the paddock would set the horse off. There were camera guys running up alongside him, I was trying to keep people quiet. Really, everything I did was on instinct as it could have unraveled. 

“The horse kept himself under control, the jockey kept himself under control – just about! Thankfully it all ended well and the aftermath was something I will never forget. Nobody will. It was incredible.”

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This fatality, coming on the back of Saturday's serious injury to supposed Classic runner Geaux Rocket Ride (Candy Ride {Arg}) and the withdrawal on Tuesday morning from that same race of Arcangelo (Arrogate), one of this season's feel-good stories, means that the 40th running of the Breeders' Cup will take place in less than auspicious circumstances.

Work continued on the track after a pause. It had to, of course. This was the morning when the international shippers were released from quarantine and into the big wide open expanse of the Santa Anita dirt, wrapped around the turf. Take your pick.

John Gosden, striding down the track alongside his long-term lieutenant Tony Proctor, chose the green grass of home for the first spin of Mostahdaf (Ire) and Inspiral (GB). It made perfect sense, as the son and daughter of Frankel (GB) are the leading lights in their respective targets, both on that surface. Gosden is of course more familiar with Santa Anita than his fellow travellers, having been based here for a time during the 1980s and among the winners of the inaugural Breeders' Cup at Hollywood Park in 1984, when Royal Heroine (Ire) landed the Mile for Robert Sangster. 

With the post-work debrief drifting from his own horses to the outstanding performance of Equinox (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}) at the weekend, Gosden cast his mind back to that champion's great grandsire. 

“He is an absolute freak, isn't he, an extraordinary horse,” he said of Sunday's GI Tenno Sho winner. “When you look at him, he looks almost like a Stubbs painting, or a JF Herring Sr painting. He's not what we are used to. He's just one of those extraordinary athletes who can go at an incredibly strong pace and maintain and maintain it.

“The Japanese breed for this. Deep Impact went two miles, and what a star he was. Sunday Silence, such a great horse, trained by Charlie [Whittingham] right over there,” he added, gesturing across to the barns beyond the quarantine facility. “This aversion to horses who can win over a mile and a half, a mile six, we've gone too far the other way, and we have to be careful. Suddenly a mile and a half becomes a marathon.”

Of his own pair, Gosden added, “They're very happy, they were pleased to get out. They've been behind those screens [of the quarantine area] and they were thrilled to get out and have some fresh air. They flew on Saturday and they cleared quarantine at six o'clock last night.”

Frankie Dettori was aboard Inspiral for her morning exertions, ponied on and off the track by a companion, while Mostahdaf followed at a distance on his own, each of them having an easy stretch of a canter on the turf before taking several turns of the paddock. 

Once they and the trio of Japanese turf workers, Win Marilyn (Jpn) (Screen Hero {Jpn}), Shahryar (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and Jaspar Crone (Frosted), had made their way back to the barns, another wave of Europeans took to the track. The O'Brien clan was out in force. Led by Joseph and Lumiere Rock (Ire) (Saxon Warrior {Jpn}), Donnacha took to the saddle of a quarter horse to accompany Porta Fortuna (Ire) (Caravaggio) and the Juvenile Turf Sprint reserve Asean (Ire) (Ten Sovereigns). Finally Aidan, along with a group including his wife Annemarie, owner Paul Smith and vet John Halley, made his way along the apron close to the winning post to watch his team of ten trot the reverse way round the track before turning and hack-cantering back. The dual Derby winner Auguste Rodin (Ire), himself from the final crop of the aforementioned Deep Impact, took in his surroundings with a keen eye, with the sturdy juvenile Mountain Bear (Ire) (No Nay Never) a little on his toes some way behind him, and the neat and composed Warm Heart (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) further back still and looking every bit as delightful as her name suggests. 

Ralph Beckett, who has enjoyed a tremendous season back home and notched another stakes win only a day earlier at Saint-Cloud, was on foot between his duo of State Occasion (GB) (Iffraaj {GB}) and the youngster Starlust (GB) (Zoustar {Aus}) as they proceeded to the main track for an easy exercise. 

The riding skills of Robson Aguiar were on show aboard the Norfolk S. winner Valiant Force (Malibu Moon), a horse plucked from the Keeneland September Yearling Sale by him and Roger O'Callaghan and now trained by Adrian Murray for a partnership involving their two wives and Amo Racing. Aguiar has also been associated with Champion S. winner and Breeders' Cup Turf runner King Of Steel (Wootton Bassett {GB}) since his early days, having broken him in for the Amo team, of which he is a key part. He was back on board the giant grey on Tuesday morning and reported that he felt in good order after the exertions of Ascot less than a fortnight ago. “It is a short straight though,” he cautioned of the Santa Anita turf track.

When the sun has risen fully over Santa Anita, defining the contours of the San Gabriel mountains that set the stage for the unmistakable “Great Race Place”, the visual assault is so striking that it is hard to feel that there is much wrong with the world. Young Thoroughbreds appear from every which way, the equine players adorned here and there with colour-coded Breeders' Cup saddle cloths to identify the 'special ones'. But anyone involved closely with horses should know that they are all special, whether they make it to this exalted level, or perhaps just run with great heart in a bog at Catterick, as this correspondent's shared horse was doing, watched from a small screen in the palm of a hand, with the almost bizarre juxtaposition of Auguste Rodin striding alongside in the Californian sun. 

Even with such brilliant beauty close at hand, it was hard to revel in what should have been a joyful morning as the image of the prone Practical Move lingered on in the mind's eye.

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According to Amo's Kia Joorabchian, the massive grey is likely for the GI Breeders' Cup Turf, of which the Champion S. was a “Win and You're In” on QIPCO British Champions Day.

“We've been monitoring him all week, I've spoken to Roger [Varian] almost every day and I went to see him this week,” Joorabchian told Nick Luck's Daily Podcast on Friday.

“To be honest Roger has said the same thing every day, he can't fault him and he's in great shape. He's come out of the race really well.

“Roger would always err on the side of caution, but he's very happy with him so he's going to travel today to Santa Anita so fingers crossed he should be running in, I'd say, most probably the Turf, but we haven't completely ruled anything out yet.”

The Varian trainee caused a stir when a game second in the G1 Derby behind fellow Turf aspirant Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) earlier this year, and he went on to prevail at Royal Ascot in the G2 King Edward VII S. Later in the summer, the colt was third in the G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S. prior to a fourth in the G1 Irish Champion S. in mid-September.

He added, “The reality is, Roger and his team probably feel much more comfortable on the turf, as a 3-year-old I think we would edge towards the Turf. He's never run on dirt and the only factor is if he gets out of the gates a little bit slower he'd get a lot of dirt in his face. That is edging us more towards the Turf.

“The jockey [Frankie Dettori] arrived there yesterday, he sent me a video of himself working out.”

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How, for instance, do we account for the sheer size of King Of Steel (Wootton Bassett {GB}), who sealed his place among the elite sophomores of Europe with his Group 1 success at Ascot last Saturday? You don't particularly see that bulk in the sire; and, tragically, it wasn't in the dam either. In her case, the disparity proved fatal.

“She was a good, medium-sized mare but he was so big it caused her to hemorrhage when foaling,” explains Figueiredo, CEO of Bonne Chance Farm. “That's how we lost her. We understand, that's part of the game. We deal with live animals and, unfortunately, something like will happen from time to time. He was well raised by a foster mare. But when you look at him, and then look at his parents–well, the gene is not obvious, it's not right there. You might have to go back to the fourth, fifth generation. And that's the chess.”

Figueiredo is duly impatient with any attempt to reduce breeding to a simple formula, as though everything comes down to slapping this bloodline over that one. He remembers how one of the best judges of horseflesh he ever saw, in his native Brazil, never even brought a catalogue to the sales. Long experience in different hemispheres tells Figueiredo that such horsemanship transcends cultures, languages, racing environments. We should all be able to learn something, then, from an astounding year for this small but most cosmopolitan of farms.

King of Steel | Megan Ridgwell

Figueiredo modestly protests that there's nothing so extraordinary about the program he operates for Brazilian entrepreneur Gilberto Sayão Da Silva.

“I don't think we have a very unusual program,” he says amiably. “I would not put that way. I think we do the same kind of thing that you normally have to do with horses.”

But nor can we merely say that it's all in the name: French for “good luck”. Something, surely, merits attention when a crop of just 14 Bonne Chance graduates, in the sophomore class of 2023, should include not just King Of Steel but also GI Woody Stephens S. winner Arabian Lion (Justify). On the one hand, a colt that briefly burst clear in the ultimate test of the Classic Thoroughbred, over 12 furlongs at Epsom, until collared late on his first run of the season, and just the third of his life; and, on the other, a top-class dirt sprinter.

The fact is that Bonne Chance, for a boutique operation, has quite exceptional geographical reach: both in blood and schools of horsemanship. King Of Steel himself–conceived in France, foaled in Kentucky, trained in Newmarket–is an apt symbol of internationalism. For Bonne Chance has evolved as an offshoot of the leading South American program Stud RDI, which was launched in 2008 by Sayão in partnership with Paulo Fernando de Oliveira. In 2013, after a tentative experiment at Tattersalls the previous year, Figueiredo (along with colleagues Philippe Jousset and Fernando Garcia) picked out three yearling fillies at Arqana and sent them to Mikel Delzangles. Each has since become a black-type producer.

At €95,000, the least expensive was Eldacar (GB) (Verglas {Ire}), who proved a modest but sound staying handicapper. “She had a good pedigree,” Figueiredo recalls. “Not a fashionable one, perhaps, but she was a beautiful mare and at that time our program was all breed-to-race.”

Eldacar started her breeding career in Normandy, but was soon transferred to the 300-odd acres previously known as Regis Farms on the Pisgah Pike, acquired in 2015. “There was no reason to have 10 mares here, and five over there,” Figueiredo explains. “Having bought this land, we said we'd concentrate them all in one place.”

Bonne Chance had started out with yearling fillies, rather than broodmare prospects, so that the team could get to know them inside out. That way, a complementary influence might be sought from matings.

“People can choose nicks because that's what they think the market wants,” Figueiredo says. “I'm not opposing them, that's okay as a way to conduct their business. Maybe I'm just not smart enough to believe in those scientific equations. But I'm more like, 'Okay, this is a nice filly. She has talent but Mikel has brought us the information that she's more of a galloper, so she needs a little more speed.' And we were lucky enough, at that time, to be part of the Wootton Bassett syndicate. So we could bring in some speed that way.

“Maybe doing something like that won't work immediately. Maybe you need another generation. You can never say we will definitely get this, or that. But that's the same as when we mix blood from South America in the United States or Europe. You might not be able to say why a combination has worked. But when it does, you know that you have only achieved those results from having an open mind.”

Arabian Lion at Spendthrift | Sara Gordon

A perfect example is Ivar (Brz) (Agnes Gold {Jpn}, the program's breakout success in the United States. A domestic Group 1 winner in Argentina as a juvenile, he was sent to Paulo Lobo and won the GI Shadwell Turf Mile before being involved in three consecutive finishes of the GI Breeders' Cup Mile.

“His second dam came to United States from Chile,” says Figueiredo. “She had a Smart Strike filly we sent to Brazil, where she was very smart, a Group 2 winner. And then we brought her to a Japanese stallion, Agnes Gold by Sunday Silence. And then came Ivar. So, you could see how it can work.”

King Of Steel did not have such an exotic background. Nonetheless the market remained too insular to prevent agent Alex Elliott having to pay more than $200,000 on behalf of Amo Racing at the Keeneland September Sale of 2021. A Wootton Basset was challenging enough. One that size, however, was a bridge too far for most.

“We had high expectations,” Figueiredo recalls. “Don't get me wrong, he brought good money. But people kept saying he was too big. What's the problem in being big? If big means slow, well, he's never been that. He was always a straightforward horse, never had any problems. But his size did scare a lot of people.”

Because of his build, and also because his dam improved with maturity, Figueiredo is confident that King Of Steel will keep thriving if kept in training. But first he is set to return to his native soil for the Breeders' Cup.

Happily, despite the loss of his dam, Bonne Chance now finds itself with a valuable breeding prospect in King Of Steel's full sister Macadamia (Fr). Though not to be confused with her GI Gamely S.-winning namesake (as it happens, a Brazilian-bred), the 4-year-old has won a maiden and allowance race at Horseshoe Indianapolis from 13 starts.

“She's likely to be bred in Europe,” Figueiredo says. “She's much smaller than her brother. If you put them together, she'll look like a weanling. They're both gray, so if you stood her behind him you will lose her. That's the chess again!”

There are, of course, ways of securing your queen on the genetic chessboard. One is to borrow the depth offered by Unbound (Distorted Humor) when acquired for $310,000 at the Keeneland November Sale of 2015, her granddam being none other than Personal Ensign.

“I strongly believe in the foundation of family,” Figueiredo says. “Being a 20-mare operation, we don't have the numbers, money or time to try a different way. I have to reduce the probability of mistakes. So I like to go to a farm, a family that you know produces. Of course, you still have to take your chance, even then, but you know that the substance is there.”

Ivar | Coady Photography

Unbound was one that paid off, and quickly: her 2017 foal, a Giant's Causeway colt, made $450,000.

“And a couple of years later we sent Unbound to Justify for a little bit of size, because she is a compact, Distorted Humor type,” Figueiredo explains. “Again, chess! It did not work as we expected. She had a small, late foal. So I said, 'Okay, let's not put him in the yearling sales, he's not ready.' So we gave him time and sent him to the 2-year-old sales. And that worked perfectly.”

Prepared and sold by Hidden Brook, where Figueiredo's cousin Sergio de Sousa is a managing partner, the colt made $600,000 from Zedan Racing Stables at OBS April. As Arabian Lion, he briefly threatened to give Bonne Chance prospects of a double Derby bid, at both Churchill and Epsom, but ultimately confirmed a single turn to be his métier.

Arabian Lion has now retired to Spendthrift as Justify's first Grade I winner. Of course, his sire has also made an immediate and spectacular impact in Europe. And, if weathervane is finally turning back towards genetic transfusion between hemispheres, then no farm of its size can have trimmed its sails better than Bonne Chance.

That's a gratifying state of affairs for a man whose international Turf education began virtually in boyhood. “I started to work in a sales company when I was 14, researching for catalogues,” Figueiredo says. “So, yes, it's been a lifetime's work. One of the partners in the company was a very successful farm vet, Dr. Jose Luiz Pinto Moreira. And he was the best horseman I've ever been with. Just from the way he talked, the way he looks. I've had so many positive as influences on my life but, strictly on horses, this guy was amazing.”

Figueiredo was also fortunate to work with Moreira during around 20 years working for Linneo de Paula Machado at Haras São José & Expedictus from the early 1990s. That post opened up many new horizons, not least through the export of horses like Siphon (Brz) to California.

“That was best life experience ever,” he says gratefully. “To work with such nice people who gave me such good opportunities in life. Because we can all learn from each other. Richard Mandella was able to go to South America and look at how things work there, and the same for me the other way. When we bought the farm in Kentucky, each year I took one of our team there to Brazil. That meant I could say, 'Look, if I ever I say something that seems stupid in Kentucky, please forgive me–because this is how we do things over here, here's how I learned.' So the same thing that we do with the blood, we also do with people.”

But while the whole premise is that horse skills are transferable, there's no denying that a harder road in South America–for horse and horseman alike–fortifies those who travel it far enough to compete on the global stage.

“How can I explain to you?” muses Figueiredo. “I love my country, and I love living there. But you learn a little bit differently. Say you want to buy a mare. In the United States, you go to the bank, you present your business plan, and you get a very good rate. In South America, you would find that impossible. To buy a horse, you have to sell your house. But I think that when you have those challenges, it makes you more aware. If one way doesn't work, you're going to find another way. Because you need to do this. If things happen a little more easily, more predictably, maybe you get into a comfort zone.”

Auguste Rodin | HRI

One way or another, between the horsemanship and the bloodlines, here is a farm exuding the dynamism urgently required in what has become a rather stagnant gene pool either side of the Atlantic. But you can think big and still stay humble. Because it's about resisting complacency, about being receptive to other cultures and methods.

“I guess that all of us, in this way of life, end up meeting and working with many different people, in many different places,” Figueiredo reflects. “And every time someone will say, 'Hey, the other day, I was wondering about this…' And this exchange of experience, added together, can become very important.

“What works in Kentucky isn't necessarily going to work in Europe or South America, and equally the other way round. But you're getting information every day, and it adds up to a wider perspective.”

He returns to the trainer he used to watch going round the sales in Brazil, with no catalogue. “His success was amazing, and it was just his instinct, just feeling,” he says. “He was unbelievable, the way he and horses could 'speak' together. And that, to me, is the fascination. That feeling he had. Because I'm fascinated by people who succeed. What he had, you can't put into words, but it also showed why Michael Jordan is like this, or Roger Federer, or Pele, Maradona, so on–even the good politicos!”

Figueiredo remembers the cycles of regeneration achieved by breeders of the past: the Classic sires imported to South America from Britain at the turn of the last century; similar traffic from Britain to America in mid-century; then the revolution achieved by sons of Northern Dancer in Europe. And let's not forget that the only horse to run down King Of Steel at Epsom, Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), was out of Galileo (Ire) mare outcrossed to the principal heir of Sunday Silence's speed-carrying dirt genes.

Maybe we can't leap to definitive conclusions, even when a farm like Bonne Chance produces two of the best sophomores in the global crop. But it would surely be foolish not to emulate something of the sense of adventure that animates its program.

“It's been a remarkable year,” Figueiredo acknowledges. “And first of all that's about a very good job by our team on the farm. That's for sure. But I really believe that this mix of blood helps a lot. Japan has been showing the world how to conduct things. There are a lot of good things in every country. Go to Argentina, you're going to see nice horses. Brazil, the same. Their best horses can compete around the world. Just look at Book 1 at Keeneland, and see how many trace to good Argentinian mares. So we always start with an open mind, we're always willing to try things. Sometimes, it works. Sometimes, it doesn't. But even then it's a good experience. Because you're not just focused on one thing, and you forget that the world is so big.”

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“He appears to have come out of the race physically in good shape, but he would have had a hard race yesterday and we can't ignore that. We just have to see how he is over the next week,” said the colt's trainer Roger Varian. 

“I know Kia is very keen on the Breeders' Cup anyway, in general, and if he could get a good horse there, then of course he'd want to be there.

“But in fairness to Kia, he's been very good all year and he's always said to me only run the horse when you're 100 per cent happy, and if you're not, we don't go.”

He added, “I'm sure that will be the same regarding California in a couple of weeks' time. We need to give it a few days to see what messages the horse is giving us, so I'm not going to take it off the table and we'll just see how he is.”

King Of Steel, who was runner-up to Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) in the Derby, has raced just seven times in his career, and also triumphed at Royal Ascot in June in the G2 King Edward VII S. 

Mostahdaf (GB) (Frankel {GB}), a late defector from the Champion S. as the ground deteriorated on Saturday, has been confirmed as on course for the Breeders' Cup Turf, which is likely to be the final race of his career.

The winner this season of the Prince of Wales's S. at Royal Ascot and the Juddmonte International at York, the John and Thady Gosden-trained five-year-old was ruled out of action after the stable won the first race of the day at Ascot with Trawlerman (GB) (Golden Horn {GB}).

“John and I had another look at it and spoke to Sheikha Hissa and said, 'look, it's your decision, but the ground isn't going to be in his favour', and John just felt it wasn't fair on the horse ending his career in ground we know he doesn't like – he couldn't hobble on it in the Arc last year,” said Angus Gold, racing manager for Mostahdaf's owner Shadwell.

“With the option of the Breeders' Cup still to come, there didn't seem any point in bowing out on a low note when we can go to California with a chance of running him on fast ground in a couple of weeks' time if he's still well.”

He added: “His best form here recently has been over a mile and a quarter, but over an American mile and a half, going down that hill for the first four furlongs or whatever it is, I think he'll stay it. He's a five-year-old now who has done brilliantly this year and I think if he does go to America that will be his last run.”

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We all know that the imperative glorious farewell victory will come, but from where? Will it be a late gift from King Of Steel (Wootton Bassett {GB}) in the G1 Qipco Champion S., the key race of them all? Dettori will hope that it comes much sooner in the afternoon to release the enormous emotional pressure. There is the 2000 Guineas hero Chaldean (GB) (Frankel {GB}) in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II S., his old friend Kinross (GB) (Kingman {GB}) in the G1 Qipco British Champions Sprint, and the aptly-titled Free Wind (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in the G1 Qipco British Champions Fillies & Mares S. Away you go, Prospero.

Ahead of one of his biggest days in the saddle, the QIPCO British Champions Series Hall of Fame jockey is trying to hold it together. “I'll try to keep my emotions in check until after my last ride, but obviously all my friends and family will be there. I'm sure I'll shed a tear on the day, but at the moment I'm really trying to focus on the races and give my friends and family something to shout about on the day,” he said.
King Of Steel's trainer Roger Varian summed up the general feeling ahead of the rider's tumultuous farewell. “We're happy to have him on our horse on Saturday and on the big day, when the goggles come down, he's one of the very best there has ever been and the season he's had tells everyone he is still riding at the top of his game,” he said.

Adding to the sense of occasion is the fact that Dettori will sport the Godolphin royal blue he is most synonymous with as he partners the G2 Qipco British Champions Long Distance Cup contender Trawlerman (Ire) by his renaissance horse Golden Horn (GB). Hugh Anderson, managing director of Godolphin, is keen to stress the import of the situation. “For Godolphin, Frankie Dettori has been a huge part of our history,” he said. “For my whole adult life–and I'm a little bit older than Frankie–he has been the top jockey or one of the top jockeys in this country and I think his contribution to the sport has been incalculable. I'm very pleased he is going to be wearing Godolphin blue on what is potentially his last Champions Day and we hope he does well.”

Paddington | PA Media

Ballydoyle Big Guns Are Rolled Out…

Despite the feeling of inevitability that things will ultimately fall his way, there are of course 52 reasons why Frankie won't ride a single winner and six of them are from Ballydoyle, with the TDN Rising Star Paddington (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}) having been on the receiving end of Dettori's magic as he suffered a momentum-stopping defeat to Mostahdaf (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) in the G1 Juddmonte International. Prior to that, he had hoarded the Irish 2000 Guineas, St James's Palace, Eclipse and Sussex and his role in a rich renewal of the QEII will tell us where he stands among the season's kingpins. If Paddington isn't a mortal lock, the yard's Kyprios (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) could well be as he continues his improbable comeback from his well-documented strife in the Long Distance Cup.
Aidan O'Brien reflected on his key duo earlier this week. “Paddington loves racing and loves work–when you build up his work, he starts putting on weight and that's just the way he is,” he said. “He's a good strong traveller and quickens very well and handles all types of ground. He goes like a real miler, even though he's won over a mile and a quarter. I couldn't believe Kyprios made it back to any race really–I couldn't believe the day he went out of the parade ring at The Curragh he was actually there. He was just barely ready to run and we think he's made progress since then.”

Allez France?

While the feature Champion has been kind to France since moving to Ascot and the focus is understandably on Horizon Dore (Fr) (Dabirsim {Fr}) to cap a momentous autumn for Gousserie Racing, there is also the prospect of the QEII-bound Big Rock (Fr) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}) to keep Yeguada Centurion and Christopher Head in the big time that they have become accustomed to during the current campaign. Those keen to write off the latter after three excusable defeats will be well served to remember that he dismantled Horizon Dore in Chantilly's nine-furlong G3 Prix de Guiche when the ground was given as officially heavy. Patrice Cottier's emerging star has moved up in trip subsequently while Big Rock has gone the other way, so a sensational double for this Gallic pairing is not a far-fetched scenario.
Pauline Chehboub said of Horizon Dore in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf qualifier, “He is doing well, he is in good form with some freshness. He is stronger than at the start of the season. He needed time this year, so we chose to stay in France for the first part of the season and now it's time to travel and see him at group one level.”

Girl Power…

Nashwa | Scoop Dyga

This day is all about bringing the best together and, luckily, the two power contests boast three power players among the females. It just so happens that Nashwa (GB) (Frankel {GB}) represents double trouble in that regard, with Hollie Doyle combining to make for a potent threat in the QEII that has for so long looked tailor-made for her. More about pure muscular pace than stamina at four, Imad Al Sagar's beloved filly bullied her sex in the G1 Falmouth S. and comes back to that mile trip after two huge efforts attempting to carry her speed over 10 furlongs.

Hollie Doyle, who will have already steered her perennial hero of the hour Trueshan (Fr) (Planteur {Ire}) in the Long Distance Cup, is geared up for her latest dose of the Nashwa treatment. “It really hasn't mattered to me which race they chose,” she said. “Nashwa seems just as good at a mile as a mile and a quarter, so the trip doesn't seem to be an issue and she goes on any ground. The figures say she's improved significantly again, which is mad, so I'm delighted she's staying in training.”

What Nashwa has in brute strength, The Aga Khan's Tahiyra (Ire) (Siyouni {Fr}) possibly makes up for in tactical elan but this potentially horrible going is not what she needs and Dermot Weld will be quick to spare her a gruelling examination in the QEII–a “Win and You're In” for the GI Breeders' Cup Mile–if the expected torrents come this way. Any volume of rain is of no concern to the Champion S. siren Via Sistina (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}), whose performance in Newmarket's G2 Dahlia S. in May still stands as one of the season's major moments. What she achieved subsequently, even when winning at a higher level in The Curragh's Pretty Polly, did not have that same elevated feel but the ground has come right for another tour de force from Rebecca Hillen's star of the George Boughey show.

“She looks amazing for this time of year and her best performances come after a break, which she's had since Deauville two months ago,” Boughey said. “Oisin [Murphy] already knows her well, having ridden her work when she was with Joe [Tuite].”

Not A Bridge Too Far…

Bay Bridge | Megan Ridgwell

When it is on the soft side, it is fair to describe last year's Champion S. hero Bay Bridge (GB) (New Bay {GB}) as one of the best of the middle-distance division. His success over Adayar (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) and My Prospero (Ire) (Iffraaj {GB}) in this 12 months ago, and more importantly his brushing aside of Mostahdaf in the G3 Brigadier Gerard S. last May, mark him as a special talent when conditions are kind. On the Polytrack, James Wigan and Ballylinch Stud's flag-bearer again showed what he is capable of on his penultimate start in the G3 September S. and it is possible to excuse all defeats around those wins mostly on surfaces too quick.

Sir Michael Stoute's sole runner in the card's pattern races is probably still the one to beat in the feature and the master trainer's assistant James Savage is giving out the right vibes. “We've been very pleased with how Bay Bridge came out of the Arc, which was a tough race on ground that dried out throughout the day,” he said. “He ran well at Longchamp and was only beaten about six lengths, having done a little bit too much in Richard's hands in the early and middle parts of the race.”

“We are pretty sure he stayed the mile and a half, as he did at Kempton, but you'd have to say that going back to Ascot in conditions we've been waiting for all year he'd have a great shout,” he added. “I think Mostahdaf is a very, very good horse, and so is Horizon Dore, so in my opinion it's just as strong a race as last year, but conditions will hopefully be very much in our favour once again and he's training very well.”

Time Calls For Charlton…

Another subplot to the fixture is the last Champions Day for Roger Charlton as he nears the handover to son Harry at the end of the season. They saddle the fast-improving Time Lock (GB) (Frankel {GB}) in the Fillies & Mares and her impressive defeat of the re-opposing Sweet Memories (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) in Newmarket's G3 Princess Royal S. last month marks her down as one of the favourites. “She is in great form and is on the right path, growing in confidence with her success. It looks very competitive with a big field but she's in as good form as any of the others at the moment,” Harry said. “It's hard to be too confident, as the conditions aren't ideal. We'd be going with more confidence if they weren't looking at so much rain, as good ground would have been ideal, but she handles soft.”

Inner Track Decision Made…

Ascot announced that the inner flat course will be used for the middle-distance races on Saturday, with the going at soft, heavy in places on Friday. It was good-to-soft, soft in places on the inner track then and soft on the straight course. As a result of the change, the Long Distance Cup will now be run over 82 yards shorter, the Fillies & Mares will be 78 yards less while the Champion Stakes remains at 10 furlongs.

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Cheveley Park Stud's managing director Chris Richardson said of Inspiral on Thursday, “We've obviously been monitoring the weather and the rain that's fallen. I know John Gosden walked the track yesterday, there's been a subsequent 12 millimetres and it looks like there's more to come. As we know, when she ran on soft ground in the Sussex at Goodwood in the summer, Frankie looked after her as it wasn't the sort of performance she was enjoying. The decision now is whether the Breeders' Cup [Filly & Mare Turf] is an option. John is going to speak to Mrs Thompson about it and then we'll know more, but it's very much up to her to decide whether she wants the filly to go to America. They're liaising between them and there's decisions to be made on whether she runs again this year and whether she's kept in training next year. She's a wonderful filly, Mrs Thompson is the owner of the horse and will make the decision.”

In other news, the G1 Commonwealth Cup and G1 July Cup hero Shaquille (GB) (Charm Spirit {Ire}) will not run in the G1 Qipco British Champions Sprint. Steve Brown said of the 3-year-old, who was disappointing in the G1 Haydock Sprint Cup, “He wasn't just tracking through as normal behind with his movement. It looks minimal, but given the ground conditions, which are obviously going to be pretty testing, we're just not prepared to take any chances with him. It's as simple as that really.”

Marc Chan's defending Champions Sprint title-holder Kinross (GB) (Kingman {GB}) will face 14 in the six-furlong bonanza, there are 14 declared for a wide-open G1 Qipco British Champions Fillies & Mares S., and Ballydoyle's star stayer Kyprios (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) faces seven in the G2 Qipco British Champions Long Distance Cup. The storm has resulted in 13mm of rain falling, with further rain forecast on Friday.

Ascot's clerk of the course Chris Stickels is ready to switch the Long Distance Cup, Filly & Mares and Champion S. to the drier inner hurdles track for the first time since 2019. “If we have heavy ground on any part of the round course, we can move the round course races to the inner track and we have to decide that before 8 a.m. on Saturday,” he explained. “Looking at the forecast for Friday, I would say that is quite likely. I think the rain we will get overnight will turn us back to soft on the round course and maybe even if we get the top end, some heavy places on the round course. It's a shame we are a week later in the calendar this year and even today, John Gosden said if we were racing today the ground would have been perfect.”

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Also a winner of the G1 Derby and G1 Irish Derby, the son of Deep Impact (Jpn) defeated Aidan O'Brien stablemate Luxembourg (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) (123), fellow list newcomer and G1 Falmouth S. heroine Nashwa (GB) (Frankel {GB}) (121) and group winner King Of Steel (Wootton Bassett {GB}) (121) in fourth.

Arcangelo (Arrogate), who won the GI Belmont S. in June, returned to take the GI Travers S. at Saratoga and is now ranked 121, also good for the top 10 spots. For the full list of ranked horses, please visit the IFHA website.

The post Auguste Rodin Joins Longines WBRR Top 10 After Irish Champion Win appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Subduing Luxembourg a furlong from home, the third TDN Rising Star winner on the card, who is possibly the most ground-dependant elite performer that Aidan O'Brien has trained, was reportedly idling late as he led home a one-two for the yard by half a length in this “Win and You're In” qualifier for the GI Breeders' Cup Turf. Luxembourg, who was back to his determined best, grimly hung on to the runner's-up spot by a short head from the strong-finishing Nashwa (GB) (Frankel {GB}), as King Of Steel (Wootton Bassett {GB}) finished on their heels a further half a length behind in fourth.

“We knew that Luxembourg was in a great place and Auguste Rodin is a magical horse really–a great horse, bottom line,” O'Brien said. “The little thing is he wants to get there late, as he parks in front and we always knew that. He's a beautiful mover and an easy cruiser and Ryan was delighted that he had the horse in front who was going to get him there. He has an unbelievable capacity to go a very high tempo from very early and quicken off it, but when he gets there he waits.”

Flying in the face of convention has been Auguste Rodin's hallmark from a relatively early point. First, there was the G1 Futurity Trophy success after a painful wait from connections to see whether he would be allowed to take part after Doncaster was hit by heavy rain. If he managed to navigate soft there, he was completely unable to deal with it underfoot in Newmarket's 2000 Guineas and at Ascot where he was gone long before the home turn. Even the Irish Derby was visually unexciting and so had he not delivered a masterclass at Epsom in between, he probably wouldn't have been here at all.

Whereas in the King George he couldn't lay up from the outset, this time Auguste Rodin looked for a brief spell as if he might land in front but Seamie Heffernan was intent on taking up the mantle with Point Lonsdale (Ire) (Australia {GB}) acting as wing-man. While the Irish Derby happened in what O'Brien classes as “second gear the whole way”, this was as truly-run as any Group 1 race of recent times with Luxembourg back on-song and crunching away at the numbers in front.

Any weakness in the eventual winner would have been exposed by the time they passed the two pole, but instead of curling up Auguste Rodin continued to tick off relentless fast fractions. Understandably, Luxembourg buckled slightly though not enough to suggest his performance was anything other than a top-class one and probably a career-best but his year-younger stablemate occupies marginally higher territory.

“He is so slick, he's all action,” O'Brien added. “Soft ground has to hinder him and we were lucky Ryan was on him at Ascot so that no physical damage was done. “He is so important to the breed and you know how quickly they can be destroyed, so all credit to the lads who knew Ascot was not his run at all. I have to thank Michael [Tabor] for having the confidence in everybody to relax and calm down and come back.”

“A couple of times this year it all went totally wrong,” he continued. “He's very tough, very hardy, but a little bit peculiar. Annemarie was watching him in the stable. If things happen around his environment he stays awake all night. He doesn't sleep. He's probably just a very sensitive horse. He takes in everything.”

Moore was in no doubt cantering to post that his mount was back in the groove. “I knew he was in a real good place and he floated around there–it never really felt in any doubt and he was just waiting a bit in the last 100 yards,” Moore said. “It is very satisfying for him to come back and prove how good he is again. Aidan's done a fantastic job and I always felt this was his ideal trip–his dam didn't stay a mile and a half and won a Lockinge. It was an evenly-run race and they all had their chance.”

O'Brien is thinking of swerving ParisLongchamp and the habitual slog through the mud next month. “He probably wouldn't go to the Arc, as the ground is usually soft and the lads love the Breeders' Cup,” he said. “He'd love Santa Anita, as you know you're going to get fast ground so we'll see how he is after a week or 10 days. That's a strong possibility–I'd say the Turf rather than the Classic, and whatever after that. He went by boat to Epsom and that was one of the common denominators that wasn't stacking up, the flying. Maybe if he flies again he needs a little bit of time to get over it.”

Pedigree Notes

Auguste Rodin's record bodes extremely well for his five-times Group 1-winning champion dam Rhododendron, who also had her dips as well as highs but was capable of magic when at her peak. He is her first foal, with her second a colt by Dubawi (Ire) born this year. The second dam is Halfway To Heaven (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}), whose three top-level triumphs included an Irish 1000 Guineas and who also produced Galileo's seven-times Group 1 winner Magical (Ire).

Halfway To Heaven is out of the multiple group-winning sprinter Cassandra Go (Ire) (Indian Ridge {Ire}), who is also responsible for the G3 Abernant S. and G3 Sandown Sprint S. scorer Tickled Pink (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) and the G3 Summer S. winner Theann (GB) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire). Tickled Pink produced the stable's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf winner Victoria Road (Ire) (Saxon Warrior {Jpn}), who was placed later on this card, while Theann has Galileo's GI First Lady S. and GI Rodeo S. heroine Photo Call (Ire) and the G2 Richmond S.-winning first-season sire Land Force (Ire) under her auspices.

Redemption for Auguste Rodin in a thrilling €1.25m Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes! @BahrainTurfClub @LeopardstownRC# | # | # pic.twitter.com/C3Hn7VEuxg

— Racing TV (@RacingTV) September 9, 2023

Saturday, Leopardstown, Ireland
ROYAL BAHRAIN IRISH CHAMPION S.-G1, €1,250,000, Leopardstown, 9-9, 3yo/up, 10fT, 2:02.68, gd.
1–AUGUSTE RODIN (IRE), 129, c, 3, by Deep Impact (Jpn)
1st Dam: Rhododendron (Ire) (MG1SW-Eng, G1SW-Fr, GSW & G1SP-Ire, GISP-US, $1,786,763), by Galileo (Ire)
2nd Dam: Halfway To Heaven (Ire), by Pivotal (GB)
3rd Dam: Cassandra Go (Ire), by Indian Ridge (Ire)
'TDN Rising Star'. O-M Tabor, D Smith, Mrs J Magnier & Westerberg; B-Coolmore (IRE); T-Aidan O'Brien; J-Ryan Moore. €725,000. Lifetime Record: MG1SW-Eng, 9-6-1-0, $2,891,914. Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Luxembourg (Ire), 135, c, 4, Camelot (GB)–Attire (Ire), by Danehill Dancer (Ire). (150,000gns Ylg '20 TATOCT). O-Westerberg, Mrs J Magnier, M Tabor & D Smith; B-B V Sangster (IRE); T-Aidan O'Brien. €250,000.
3–Nashwa (GB), 132, f, 4, Frankel (GB)–Princess Loulou (Ire), by Pivotal (GB). 'TDN Rising Star'. O-Imad Al Sagar; B-Blue Diamond Stud Farm (UK) Ltd (GB); T-John & Thady Gosden. €125,000.
Margins: HF, SHD, HF. Odds: 2.75, 4.00, 4.50.
Also Ran: King Of Steel, Alflaila (GB), Point Lonsdale (Ire), Onesto (Ire), Sprewell (Ire). Scratched: Al Riffa (Fr).

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