Duke and Henry lead O’Brien’s Breeders’ Cup charge
The Ballydoyle master has a crack team of 10 possibles to run at the two-day Californian meeting as he chases his first Breeders’ Cup win since High Chaparral scored in 2003.
Leading the charge are King George VI winner Duke Of Marmalade and dual Classic hero Henrythenavigator, who will be attempting a mile and a quarter and – like his stablemate – racing on the new Pro-Ride surface for the first time on October 25.
O’Brien said: “The Duke and Henry are two exceptional horses. It has been a long, hard season for both but they seem in good form at the moment.
“For the Classic you need a horse who definitely gets a mile and a quarter. It is a race where you have to be tough and hard.
“The Duke is an unbelievably tough horse, with a great will to win, and if any horse can cope it will be him.
“We can’t be sure that Henry will get a mile and a quarter, and at the moment Johnny is favouring riding Duke Of Marmalade over Henrythenavigator.
Assessing their chances, O’Brien said of The Duke: “We hoped he would make it this far, and if he did then the Classic would be the race for him. He loves a fast pace and fast ground. We don’t know about the surface for him but we are looking forward to it.”
Henrythenavigator has been beaten on his two most recent outings, but O’Brien believes the way he stayed on in those two races suggests he is ready for a step up in distance.
He added: “Fast ground is important to Henry and he loves to get up on his toe. He has shown a lot of speed but he has looked like he will get further.
“We trained him hard for the Classics and for the summer when he showed a lot of speed. Since then he has perhaps gone a little bit lazy, which he would be entitled to do.
“We know, and he has shown, what he can do over a mile and as the season goes on some horses like to go a bit further.”
O’Brien has horses entered right across the two-day fixture and taking high order among them is Irish Guineas, Nassau and Sun Chariot winner Halfway to Heaven.
O’Brien will step US Ranger back up to a mile for the first time since May 2007 after his luckless spell in sprint races.
Others to make the trip to America include Champagne Stakes winner Westphalia who goes for the new juvenile turf race, although Psalm and King Of Rome are not certain to travel.
