Curious may be more appropriate than ‘Gorgeous’ for superstar George

TO Aidan O’Brien and the Coolmore gang he’s ‘Gorgeous George’ but so numerous are the questions facing George Washington’s prospects in tonight’s Breeders’ Cup Classic that ‘Curious George’ may be a more apt nickname.

Having decided to go for the Classic, run over a mile and a quarter on the dirt, rather than the safer option of the Mile on turf, O’Brien will be sending George Washington into a $5 million showdown with Bernardini, Lava Man and Invasor, as well as Brian Meehan’s David Junior.

The first signs that the gamble could pay off were good yesterday, when the 2000 Guineas and Queen Elizabeth II Stakes winner, ridden by groom Pat Lillis, got his first look at a surface he has never raced on.