O’Brien horses clear quarantine, visit track

Aidan O’Brien’s eight-horse string of Ballydoyle runners cleared quarantine
on Wednesday morning and visited the Pro-Ride track at Santa Anita in
preparation for their respective engagements in the two-day Breeders’ Cup
program.

“They all traveled well,” the Irish-based trainer explained. “Everything went
according to plan so far. They trotted (on Wednesday) and they seemed to be
lovely on it. They will canter tomorrow (Thursday) and will canter the next day
(Friday).”

Coronation Cup S. (Eng-G1) winner SOLDIER OF FORTUNE (Ire) (Galileo [Ire]),
the 7-2 favorite on the $3 million Turf (G1) morning line, was able to trot
around the Santa Anita main track at about 8:30 a.m. (PDT). The four-year-old
colt exits a dead-heat third in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (Fr-G1) and will
be reunited with jockey Johnny Murtagh, who was last aboard for Soldier of
Fortune’s win in the Coronation Cup in June.

“We think he’s a very good horse,” said O’Brien, who will also be represented
by 30-1 outsider RED ROCK CANYON (Ire) (Rock of Gibraltar [Ire]) in the Turf.
“(Soldier of Fortune) gets a mile and a half well. He’s a very good-moving
horse. He handles fast ground and soft ground. He’s fresh and we’re happy with
him.”

Soldier of Fortune will make his fourth start of the season on Saturday.

Duke of Marmalade will try to get back on the winning track in the Classic (Frank Sorge/Horsephotos.com) DUKE OF MARMALADE (Ire) (Danehill) and HENRYTHENAVIGATOR (Kingmambo), multiple Group 1 winners on the grass this year for O’Brien, will each try a synthetic track for the first time in the $5 million Classic (G1). Both are 10-1 on the morning line, and Duke of Marmalade will keep Murtagh in the saddle while Henrythenavigator picks up the services of John Velazquez. “We were always going to let them have a shot at the Classic,” said O’Brien when asked why the Classic was selected for both colts. “Obviously, they’ve had both very long, busy seasons, but they seem to be fine.” Duke of Marmalade reeled off five consecutive Group 1 victories before finishing seventh in the October 5 Arc over the soft ground at Longchamp. “The Arc was a mile-and-a-half and it was slow in the middle of the race,” O’Brien said. “Duke of Marmalade is one of those horses who likes a strong tempo through the race. He’s another horse that likes fast ground. He’s very dour and very tough, a good cruiser with a great constitution. If he gets a good break and gets a good position, he’ll be tough.”

O’Brien and the colt’s owners, Mrs. John Magnier and Michael Tabor, had been
considering running Duke of Marmalade on a synthetic track prior to the Classic
before settling on running in the Arc.

“A lot of the thinking was the Arc is such a prestigious race worth so much
money and it was a shame to have a horse like Duke to be giving it a miss,”
O’Brien said. “We were kind of preparing him for a run on the dirt or the
Polytrack as a prep for the Classic, rather than preparing him for the Arc, as
if the Arc was the end of the road. His Arc run was a grand run, but he was kind
of having that run in between on the way to here. It will be interesting. But he
certainly came out of the Arc well and John (Murtagh) was very happy with him,
the way he pulled up.”

Henrythenavigator was but one of O’Brien’s charges to visit the Pro-Ride (Harold Roth/Horsephotos.com) Henrythenavigator has been competing in the top mile races in Europe this season and had a four-race winning streak in Group 1 races from early May through late July. Over softer ground, he was fifth in the Prix du Mouilin de Longchamp (Fr-G1) on September 7 and second to Classic entrant Raven’s Pass (Elusive Quality) in the Queen Elizabeth II S. (Eng-G1) on September 27.” O’Brien said that Henrythenavigator’s running style may help him handle the stretch out to the Classic distance. “He has loads of speed,” O’Brien said. “One thing that is very important is that Henry is one of those horses who likes to get up on his toe when he gallops. When people or horses are like that they are very nimble and very quick. When the ground is slow, they’re inclined to be down flat. He likes to be on his toe and on a fast, level surface if the season hasn’t been too long, he would be able to do that. “When you watch him racing in Europe on slow ground, he’s much more sluggish and he’s more dour than quick,” the conditioner added. “Usually, on fast ground he’s quick rather than dour. O’Brien nodded when asked whether he hoped the colt will be able to skip over the Pro-Ride synthetic surface and get the mile and a quarter.

“We think that,” O’Brien said. “When you go past a mile, he’s never been
there before, so we have to take a lot of that on trust and hope.”

O’Brien will saddle Irish One Thousand Guineas (Ire-G1), Nassau S. (Eng-G1)
and Sun Chariot S. (Eng-G1) heroine HALFWAY TO HEAVEN (Ire) (Pivotal) in the
Filly & Mare Turf (G1). The sophomore filly has captured three of her last four
starts, all Group 1 races, and has been installed as the 4-1 second choice on
the morning line for the 1 1/4-mile affair.

Casino Drive will attempt to have the last laugh in the Classic (Joseph DiOrio/Horsephotos.com) He’ll also be represented by U S RANGER (Danzig) in the Mile (G1), WESTPHALIA (Ire) (Danehill Dancer) in the Juvenile Turf and HEART SHAPED (Storm Cat) in Juvenile Fillies Turf. In other Breeders’ Cup news: Unbeaten CASINO DRIVE (Mineshaft) breezed an easy five furlongs in 1:10 over the Cushion Track at Hollywood Park on Wednesday under assistant trainer Naruhito Kasai. The time was not fast enough to make the Hollywood Park work tab. “He went too slow, like an open gallop,” track clocker Russell Hudak explained. “He was going a two-minute clip.” “It was perfect,” said Nobutaka Tada, racing manager for owner Hidetoshi Yamamoto. “It was just what (trainer) Mr. (Kazuo) Fujisawa wanted. We wanted to let him feel well. He’s fit enough.” Three for three in his brief racing career, Casino Drive exits a facile allowance score over Santa Anita’s Pro-Ride on October 12. The sophomore colt captured the Peter Pan S. (G2) by 5 3/4 lengths in May two starts back.

ATKA (Swiss Yodeler), who was listed as the second also-eligible for the
Juvenile Fillies Turf, has been removed from consideration after being cast in
her stall at Hollywood Park on Tuesday night. Trainer Mike Harrington said the
filly injured herself in the incident. The California-bred miss finished second
in the Cinderella S. and third in the Black Swan S., and was exiting a fourth in
the California Cup Juvenile Fillies.

First Lady S. (G1) and Diana S. (G1) winner FOREVER TOGETHER (Belong to Me)
was on the last flight to California for Breeders’ Cup runners, boarding a
flight Wednesday morning in Kentucky. Trained by Jonathan Sheppard, the
four-year-old filly worked four furlongs in a bullet :47 over the Polytrack at
Keeneland on Tuesday, and she’s 6-1 on the morning line in the Filly & Mare
Turf.

Multiple Group 3 English winner VISIT (GB) (Oasis Dream [GB]), who will start
in the Filly & Mare Turf for trainer Sir Michael Stoute, will remain in America
to race with Bobby Frankel as her trainer following the Breeders’ Cup. Listed at
15-1 on the morning line, the sophomore will make her first start past
eight furlongs in Friday’s 1 1/4-mile affair. Stoute is expected to arrive
at Santa Anita later this week to supervise the filly’s final preparations.