22:22 Santa Anita - Telescope
"And he showed what he is capable of over this trip on fast ground when beating Hillstar by seven lengths at Royal Ascot. He comes here in really good nick, and is poised to run a big race."
Ryan Moore has four rides on the second night of the Breeders' Cup including two for his boss Sir Michael Stoute, and here you can read the Betfair Ambassador's exclusive thoughts on his own chances plus those of his main rivals...
To be honest, I'd be lying if I said I've had a good look at the races that I am not riding in. I concentrate on my job, not those of others. Toronado is the form horse in the Mile but it is a very competitive race and he will need luck in running with 14 in the field.
And while Shared Belief is the most likely winner of the Classic, the vibes that I have been hearing have not been overly-positive and he did have a hard race last time.
Here are my views on my mounts and the races I ride in:
19:43 Santa Anita - Dank
This looks a pretty competitive Filly & Mare Turf, with a fair bit of depth to it, so I am pretty surprised to see that Dank is only about a 2-1 chance to win this. Don't get me wrong, I think she is the one to beat on form but the fact is that she came back wrong after finishing well beaten in the Prince Of Wales's Stakes at Ascot, and she has needed time to get her back on song.
But this is where the boss comes into his own. And when he readies a horse for an international prize from a long way out, then it takes a brave man to bet against him, as we saw again with Hillstar in Canada recently. And he would have had this race in mind for this filly ever since he started nursing her back to health and form, and she certainly appears in real good order at the moment.
She obviously won this race last season but to a large extent I think that we got away with it there, as it was coming to the end of a long campaign, and she had been on the go since May. But we can at least be sure that she comes here a fresh horse, and she felt a very good filly indeed when winning the Beverly D last year. She has a nice stall and has a class edge on these.
But there are no end of serious rivals as Flower Bowl winner Stephanie's Kitten and the progressive Dayatthespa look to pose a decent home challenge, and Just The Judge, Secret Gesture and Fiesolana have chances, too. Just The Judge needs to step up again on her EP Taylor win but clearly has to be respected, while Fiesolona could be troublesome if returning to the form of her Matron Stakes win and lasting home over this longer trip. But I am pretty happy with my filly, and she'd be my best chance of a winner.
21:05 Santa Anita - Dimension
I don't know too much about him to be honest, as he has clearly come a very long way since I rode him to win a Kempton maiden three years ago. But he has obviously developed into a pretty classy sprinter in the States, running well from a wide draw when fifth in this race last year and tuning up for this with a win in Kentucky last time. It looks as if he can be slowly away, which won't be ideal round here, but he appears to have an outside place chance, though he does have a lot to find on form I must admit.
Others look to have more obvious chances, including last year's Morny winner No Nay Never, Reneesgotzip and Undrafted, who ran a great race when fourth in the July Cup. But, in truth, you can give most of these a chance - as is the case in most sprints, I find - and Caspar Netscher looked pretty decent when winning the Nearctic last time and this 6 1/2f could be his trip. But no firm opinions here.
21:43 Santa Anita - The Great War
Given this is on dirt, the Europeans don't have that bad a record in this race, with three winners in the last 12 years or so, but it is obviously a guessing game as to how horses will act on the surface.
I think it is probably fair to say that The Great War hasn't fulfilled early expectations just yet, but he looked good when winning over 6f at the Curragh last time and being a War Front gives you hope that he will handle the surface. But as well as the dirt he has to prove that he stays this trip, as he certainly has a lot of pace. But his pedigree does give you some hope on that score. It's clearly a big ask though, and that is why he is the only European horse in here.
And the home team do look exceptionally strong this year. American Pharoah may be out of the race but the likes of Daredevil and Carpe Diem look above-average juveniles coming into this, as does Upstart, so I'd probably be delighted with a place. Of the two favourites, I would favour Carpe Diem, and he could well be favourite for the Kentucky Derby after this.
22:22 Santa Anita - Telescope
This is one race that the Europeans have tended to dominate, but I'll be honest and say that I think Flintshire is the one to beat. I think 1m4f on fast ground is what he needs, he probably ran a career best in the Arc last time, and he is trained by a genius in Andre Fabre.
Luckily, so is Telescope, and the boss produced Conduit for back-to-back wins in this race, and he resisted the temptation to take this horse to the Arc, so he has been tuning him up for this ever since.
To be straight up, I was a little disappointed by his third in the Juddmonte at the time, but on reflection it probably was a pretty decent run against faster horses over a trip short of his best at York. And he showed what he is capable of over this trip on fast ground when beating Hillstar by seven lengths at Royal Ascot. He comes here in really good nick, and is poised to run a big race.
Aidan has suffered a blow with last year's winner Magician ruled out of this race but the rest of the field should be relieved; he possessed brilliance on his day, and I'd go as far to say that if he had run up to his best in this race, he would have won.
I travelled over to the Woodbine International with Michael Owen, and I felt for him when Brown Panther had to be withdrawn there. That experience wasn't great and, more importantly, these conditions won't ideally play to the horse's strengths and bigger dangers could be Main Sequence, Hardest Core and maybe even Chicquita if they can harness her undoubted, if wayward, talent.
But for me I think Flintshire is the one to beat - he does have the best recent form, for all that he seemingly finds it hard to win - and Fabre successfully trod the same path with Arc fourth and Turf winner Shirocco at Belmont in 2005. I hope that I am wrong though. But whatever way you look at it, it is a pretty competitive race even without Magician, and one likely to be truly-run, too.
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