Time opts for Champion Stakes over Breeders' Cup

Connections of Passage Of Time have decided to send the filly to Newmarket for the Emirates Airline Champion Stakes on October 20 rather than go to America for the Breeders’ Cup.

Trainer Henry Cecil nominated the Filly & Mare Turf as an end-of-season target for the Musidora winner some time ago but that now looks to be off the agenda.

“We thought that she had had quite a disjointed year and it might be too much to ask of her to go to America,” said owner Khalid Abdullah’s racing manager, Teddy Grimthorpe.

“She is going to be kept in training next year and even though the Breeders’ Cup is very close to our hearts, we think we have a very good chance of winning the Champion.”

The Dansili filly was sent off favourite for the Oaks in June, won by her stablemate Light Shift, but was treated for a throat abscess following that reverse.

Passage Of Time made her long-awaited comeback in the Prix Vermeille at Longchamp, where she finished an encouraging third.

Grimthorpe added: “The Breeders’ Cup will no doubt be a target for next year and if there was a hiccup, there is still a chance that she could go this year.”