O'Brien to pit Rip against Zenyatta
Jockey Mike Smith rides Zenyatta en route to winning the Breeders' Cup Ladies Classic during the Breeders' Cup World Championships at Santa Anita Park October 24. Photo: Harry How, Getty Images
BALLYDOYLE confirmed their plans for the upcoming Breeders Cup in California next month with Rip Van Winkle set to go head-to-head with the unbeaten Zenyatta in the eagerly anticipated Classic.
The Aidan O'Brien-trained colt has been tipped to end the 13-race unbeaten run of filly Zenyatta -- which is also entered in the Ladies' Classic -- when he returns to 10 furlongs for the first time since chasing home the all-conquering Sea The Stars in the Eclipse at Sandown in July.
A decision about whether the filly will take on males for the first time will be made after she works on Saturday. And O'Brien is looking forward to saddling the colt, which is on a hat-trick after wins in the Sussex Stakes and the QEII.
"Rip is a great horse and has been swimming against the tide all season," O'Brien said. "If people knew half of what he has gone through this season. Most other horses would have fallen away. He is only a three-year-old and has had a long season but we are looking forward to it."
Mastercraftsman is also entered in the Classic but is more likely to run in the Dirt Mile after proving he handles a synthetic surface with victory in the Group Three Diamond Stakes at Dundalk on October 2.
"Even though he coasted home and won very easy at Dundalk, Johnny (Murtagh) wouldn't have been sure that he stayed the trip because he was just coasting the last furlong," O'Brien revealed.
"It's not definite that he goes for the Dirt Mile but we had to make a preference for him and we chose the Mile as first preference, so if all is well with Rip then there is a big chance that he will run in the shorter race."
Ballydoyle will face some stiff competition, with Henry Cecil looking to secure the one victory lacking from his glittering CV. It should be pointed out that, in 25 years of the hugely valuable meeting, Britain's 10-time champion trainer has fielded only six runners, half of which won prize money.
The first to blaze a trail from Warren Place was Indian Skimmer, which finished third in the Turf in 1988, the most recent Passage Of Time, third in the Filly & Mare Turf two years ago.
This time around, Cecil is playing what is by his standards a numbers game, California dreaming with a team of three. Twice Over is bound for the fixture's richest prize, the $5m Classic, Midday for the Filly & Mare Turf and Father Time for the Marathon. All three carry the silks of Khaled Abdullah.
Cecil is as partial to fat purses as any trainer -- this year's 14 races over two days are worth $25.5m (€17.3m) -- but practical considerations have also restricted his raiding parties in the past.
"I've always found it difficult as it's so late in the year," he said. "By now horses have had a long season and the travelling doesn't make it easy. In the past, I've only taken one horse at a time, this time I'm taking three.
"Hopefully the three of them will run really well. I'd like to think they'll all be in the first three. Whether they win or not, though, is another matter."
The market gives the best chance to Midday, third-favourite for her 10-furlong contest, and so does her trainer. Since winning the Nassau Stakes at Goodwood at the start of August, the daughter of Oasis Dream has had Santa Anita on Saturday week as her target, though Cecil admits he left her slightly undercooked for her warm-up in the Prix de L'Opera on Arc day.
"She's still growing and getting much stronger and I gave her a break with the Breeders' Cup in mind," he said. "I gave her six easy weeks and I mis-timed it. I was a week behind with her and in the Opera she came there to win but got tired in the last furlong. At home she was doing things so easily, she was only just doing enough. She needed that race."
Twice Over, which proved himself a real top-level performer in the Champion Stakes and has thrived mentally and physically since, faces a stiff task against Rip van Winkle and Zenyatta.
Twice Over, like Rip van Winkle, is set for his first start on an artificial track, but most European horses now train regularly on such surfaces and 12 months ago, at the same venue, Raven's Pass memorably notched only the second European victory in the Classic, after Arcangues 16 years ago.
"I expect he'll like it," said Cecil of his charge. "He likes a bit of give in the ground. It was lovely to win the Champion Stakes, seeing him run like that on that faster ground. I'd like to think he'd be even better on the surface in America." (© Independent News Service)
- Sue Montgomery
Irish Independent
