Perfections will have to overcome wide draw
Having had to come from stall 12 last year, big-race jockey Jerry Bailey will have to produce similar wizardry to land the spoils again this year on a filly that would want to be neither too near to nor too far from the pace in the early stages.
“It’s better than 14,” shrugged Alan Cooper, the racing manager to the Niarchos family. “It’s not too bad and now we are just looking forward to the race.”
Fellow French contestant Whipper came out on the wrong side of the draw for the opposite reason in stall one with the general consensus being that numbers towards the middle of the range are best-positioned.
Coral cut Antonius Pius from 14-1 to 12-1 after Aidan O’Brien’s charge drew seven.
“I don’t think we would have wanted to be on the outside as it could have made it hard to drop him in,” said O’Brien.
Stablemate Powerscourt drew stall one in the Turf which should enable him to get the prominent early pitch connections will be looking for.
Coral cut his price from 7-2 to 5-2 while pushing out Kittens Joy to even-money. William Hill, on the other hand cut the price of the favourite from evens to 4-5.
Principal British hope Ouija Board got exactly the draw that connections were looking for when ending up with stall five for the Filly & Mare Turf.
The Ed Dunlop-trained filly, who took her first steps out on to the course this morning under work rider Chris Hinson, was installed as the 8-5 morning-line favourite for the race by local odds compilers.
“We were looking for something between four and six,” smiled Hinson. “If she runs like she did in the Arc then they won’t beat her.”
Although the draw might not usually seem of much significance in an 11-furlong race, with the stalls placed only yards from the first bend, being drawn on the outside could have been a serious disadvantage to Ouija Board’s prospects.
William Hill cut Ouija Board from 2-1 to 7-4 with Coral going 6-4 from 7-4. Dunlop will arrive in Texas with owner Lord Derby today.
But in the meantime the filly is doing well in her new surroundings, according to travelling head lad Robin Trevor-Jones.
“She’s doing well, eating and drinking well, and seems very happy,” he said.
“We had a walk on the course yesterday and I just wish I’d brought my stick with me.
“It seems pretty squishy on top but I’m not sure how wet it is underneath. I’m pretty sure they’ll kick the top layer off.
“We’ll have another look on Friday and see where we stand and what Kieren thinks.”
Fallon, along with Frankie Dettori and Jamie Spencer will take part in tomorrow’s International Jockeys’ Challenge at Lone Star Park as all three get to know the layout of the track. But with none of the Challenge events taking place on the turf course, all three will have to do some reconnaissance of their own before Saturday.
Despite temperatures remaining high, there now seems little realistic chance of the turf course riding anything other than on the slow side of good with further rain arriving overnight and showers forecast for the rest of the week.
Indeed, the prevailing conditions have given further hope to D Wayne Lukas, the trainer of surprise Breeders’ Cup Classic contender Azeri.
The six-year-old mare, only the third female to try and take the feature event in the race’s 21-year history, picked up a nice pitch in stall three given her usual stalking tactics.
“Her work rider told me this morning that she was really loving the sloppy track out there and she really does float over it,” said Lukas. “If it stays this way for the weekend then it will increase my hope in her running a very big race.
“I’m sure wherever we finish everyone will have an opinion about whether we did the right thing running in the Classic rather than the Distaff.
“What you’ve got to remember is that this isn’t about money, we haven’t just decided to go for a US 4million race than a US 2million one.
“We’re trying to do something that’s never been done before, something unique, and it is that sort of challenge that sport should be all about.”
Classic favourite Pleasantly Perfect picked up a wide draw in stall 12, but his trainer Richard Mandella was not overly concerned.
“There’s a good run to the first bend and hopefully there will be enough time for everyone to sort themselves out and we will be able to slot in just behind the pace,” said Mandella.
“I just hope that my good luck with the horse doesn’t run out. All we want is a fair chance to do our best.
“We’ll just slide in off the first turn and hopefully get a nice quiet trip.”
