RACING:SO YOU THINK will be the focus of Aidan O'Brien's attention in Sunday's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe but Ireland's champion trainer will also be in top-flight action across the Atlantic this weekend as Cape Blanco attempts to continue his dominant role in America's most prestigious turf races.
Already winner of the Arlington Million and the Man O’War Stakes this year, Cape Blanco is set to return to the Belmont track in New York this Saturday for the €370,000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic over a mile and a half.
It will be a step up in trip from both the Million and the Man O’War but last year’s Irish Derby hero is proven at the distance and even connections of the main local hopes this weekend acknowledge the major task they face in repelling the Irish star.
The trainer of course specialist, Mission Approved, Naipaul Chatterpaul is nevertheless planning to try and beat the odds with his seven-year-old veteran who could manage only seventh to Cape Blanco in the Million in Chicago last month.
“Running against Cape Blanco, I don’t have a problem. That’s just horse racing – you cannot avoid him. Some people try to avoid him, but I don’t think that’s right. Then you don’t make a proper horse race,” he said yesterday.
“When he went to Arlington, the shipping took a lot out of him, so I couldn’t do much. The shipping took so much that he came up empty in the stretch. He’s doing way better now. I think he’ll be much more comfortable running on home turf. He was second in the Man O’War last year and won the Manhattan. That says it all,” the New York trainer added.
Victory for Cape Blanco this weekend would also put him in line for a coveted Eclipse award at the end of the year in America.
“He’s beaten 2009 and 2010 champion turf horse Gio Ponti in both the Man O’War and the Arlington Million, so we’d like to think he’s in with a good shot at getting an Eclipse Award,” said trainer Aidan O’Brien recently.
“However, there are plenty of races yet to be run, so let’s see what happens. There was no great master plan to win an Eclipse Award, but we’re delighted that he is now in contention for one.”
So You Think was the subject of market support for the Arc yesterday with fast ground conditions being forecast for the centrepiece of Longchamp’s seven Group One races this Sunday. The prospect of fast ground conditions has also provoked support for Snow Fairy, the filly who chased home So You Think in Leopardstown’s Irish Champion Stakes.
Frankie Dettori is hoping to secure a 24th Arc ride in a row aboard Snow Fairy as Godolphin won’t have a runner in the race this year. However, trainer Ed Dunlop is monitoring the Paris weather before making a final decision on Snow Fairy’s participation.
“Obviously Snow Fairy wants the ground to stay fast, and she will work midweek and we’ll take it from there,” Dunlop said yesterday. Dettori’s agent Ray Cochrane added: “I suppose Ed will be keeping a close eye on the ground. Frankie will be hoping she runs, that’s what we’re looking for. You never know this time of year what happens with the weather, but it’s certainly going in her direction at the minute.”
