Rain threat to Dylan’s hopes of Classic success
Riding a pony yesterday morning, O'Brien accompanied the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner as he was introduced to the tight oval turf track by work rider Pat Lillis and the Ballydoyle trainer later admitted that if local weather forecasters get it right and there was heavy rain on the Jersey Shore last night, then there could be a less than poetic end to Dylan Thomas’s Breeders’ Cup bid under jockey Johnny Murtagh.
The four-year-old son of Danehill has done enough already this season to warrant a horse of the year award and a victory in the Breeders’ Cup Turf will undoubtedly rubber-stamped the nomination. All week, the expectation has been that he will do just that, with the bookmakers installing him as an odds-on favourite and Todd Pletcher, trainer of second choice English Channel wishing the Irish raider would not turn up.
