Magician’s Turf assignment
Ryan Moore was in the saddle when Magician defeated The Fugue at Santa Anita last year but O’Brien’s son, Joseph, is set to be in the plate on Saturday week.
Connections have had this race in mind for Magician following his second place behind Hardest Core in the Arlington Million in August.
“He’s in good form. He ran well in Arlington and after that we decided to keep him for this. It’s so far so good,” said O’Brien.
Magician could be joined in the Turf by Chicquita, who threw away her chance of winning the Qipco British Champions Fillies & Mares at Ascot on Saturday when veering to the left and ended up finishing third to Madame Chiang.
“She ran well at Ascot and is in the mile-and-a-quarter race, but we might have the Turf as her first choice,” said the Ballydoyle trainer.
O’Brien is to represented in three of the races for two-year-olds, with Qualify going for the Juvenile Fillies’ Turf, The Great War for the Juvenile and War Envoy in the Juvenile Turf.
“Qualify’s a very nice filly who will love the fast ground and will love the mile,” he said.
“We’re really looking forward to her. She’s a big, rangy filly, so we weren’t going to risk her on the soft ground.
“The Great War needs a good pace and hopefully he’ll act on the dirt. He’s in good form. Not all War Fronts go on the dirt but hopefully he will. War Envoy ran well at Doncaster and ran well in the Champagne. Ryan (Moore) thinks he’s progressing as time goes on.”
