Aidan O'Brien is hoping that his late-season revival in form can be carried across the Atlantic when he saddles five runners in Saturday's Breeders' Cup meeting at Lone Star Park.
The 35-year-old handler endured a tough time during the first eight months of this year with fancied and well-touted runners failing to come up to scratch in the big races.
But two Group One successes in the space of three days four weeks ago with Ad Valorem (Middle Park Stakes) and Oratorio (Grand Criterium/Prix Lagadere) marked a noticeable turnaround in fortunes for the stable.
And so O'Brien arrives in Texas with realistic hopes that he might be able to improve upon his tally of three Breeders' Cup successes.
Chief among his prospects is Powerscourt, who along with jockey Jamie Spencer will bid to put the nightmare of his last American experience behind him when he lines up in the Turf.
First past the post in the Arlington Million in August, the four-year-old was demoted to fourth place for causing interference when Spencer's mount drifted across rivals.
"Obviously he is a very good horse who handles fast ground but being by Sadler's Wells, he should be adaptable to softer ground," said O'Brien.
"I always felt that maybe we haven't got the best out of him. He's always a horse who has been very highly thought of, he's just little bit tricky to have spot-on as he can come and go very quickly.
"The step up to a mile and a half should suit him well and in an ideal world you would like see him sitting in the first five or six. His last piece of work before he came was exceptional and hopefully the injury he picked up in his last race at Leopardstown hasn't taken too much out of him."
Yesterday returns to the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf having finished third to Islington in last year's renewal.
"I think she has come forward since France," reported O'Brien. "She is a very intelligent filly and although she handles fast ground I feel that sometimes she is a bit careful on it.
"Sometimes she can take a couple of strides to quicken up so hopefully the softer surface will help her. She is very lucky to be here at all really, having nearly died of colitis during the summer. We're not even sure if she's fully recovered, but if she has then she is capable of running very well."
Antonius Pius has been another member of O'Brien's string on whom Spencer has not always excelled this year. But the unique conditions of the Mile could just suit Antonius Pius, about whom O'Brien said: "He's probably a horse that you haven't seen the best of yet."
The O'Brien contingent is completed by his two two-year-olds, Mona Lisa (Juvenile Fillies) and Scandinavia (Juvenile).
"We are taking a bit of a chance with them both but they are bred to handle the dirt and they both have enough tactical speed to make sure they don't get behind," said O'Brien.
PA