Aidan O'Brien goes through his team of 10 runners for this weekend's Breeders' Cup at Del Mar.
CITY OF TROY – 21.41 Breeders’ Cup Classic (Saturday)
He was very alert at the track this morning and he’s wanting to go forward. He went in the stalls and he was very good. We think we’ve a nice draw and he seems very well.
I’m looking forward to it, he seems well and everybody seems happy with him. Hopefully he runs a big race. Every time we have a runner we learn from our mistakes, we think, and we keep tweaking a little bit, we work on the stalls and lots of stuff. Each time is an experience and if you can remember your experiences gone by, some time, when you find the right horse and everything goes right you hope that it might happen. We’ve enjoyed the journey, hopefully we’ll enjoy the race and everything will go well.
His movement, ability, cruise, action, determination, makeup, the way he’s put together, a very good-natured horse — a very compact horse who looks much smaller until you stand into him and realize how big he really is — all the things that make him different — his movement is massive with big, long strides; he’s aggressive and he’s hardy and you can see his dad (Justify) and granddad (Galileo) in him, so he’s always been an exciting horse. All the things that make him different, and he has the pedigree to back it all up.
CONTENT – 22.25 Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf (Saturday)
Content has run on ground too soft the last two runs but ran very well in the Breeders’ Cup last year. I’d imagine Ryan will take his time on her and see where he is in the second half of the race. We’re never confident, always hopeful. She ran a very good race that day [at York], she got a mile-and-a-half well that day, she wants a good even pace to run at, she has to relax early. She can be very aggressive. Hopefully she won’t be too aggressive early and hopefully there’s pace in the race, hopefully she comes home well and if that does happen she could run a very big race.
DIEGO VELAZQUEZ – 23.45 Breeders’ Cup Mile (NON RUNNER)
HEAVEN’S GATE – 23.05 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies’ Turf (Friday)
She is getting better, and her last piece of work was very good, and I remember when Ryan won on her first time at Navan, he felt she was a filly who wanted seven furlongs or a mile. She’s a big hardy strong filly and we’re very happy with her. She could run a very big race.
HENRI MATISSE – 00.25 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (Friday)
We think will run very well. The ground at Longchamp was a little soft and I put blinkers on him when I shouldn’t have. He was a little bit immature when he got to the front in the National Stakes and it was a bit of a knee jerk decision to put blinkers on that quick when I should have left him alone. He got tightened in the early stage at Longchamp and it frightened him a little bit, so I think it was more my fault than his. He came out of the race very well and that’s why we decided to come here over a mile on good ground and we feel we’ll learn a lot about him. He’s drawn wide so I imagine Ryan will take his time and see what happens. He’s a horse who doesn’t mind coming from the back and quickens so hopefully he’ll run well.
IDES OF MARCH – 21.45 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (Friday)
He is a fast horse, and we think he’s going to be a sprinter for next year. He probably doesn’t know as much about sprinting as Whistlejacket just yet but he’s going to learn a lot on Friday so we think that will stand him in good stead for next year.
LAKE VICTORIA – 23.05 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies’ Turf (Friday)
She has been exceptional this year. She won her maiden over seven furlongs then the Moyglare over seven furlongs before coming back down to six furlongs at Newmarket. And funnily enough Ryan then said she’d be better over a mile so the team decided if she was to go over a mile this year this race would be lovely for her on a flat track. Stepping up to a mile she’s a filly with a lot of class so we’re looking forward to seeing her run.
LUXEMBOURG – 21.01 Breeders’ Cup Turf (Saturday)
Luxembourg has played second or third string to our horses in other races but he’s here as first. We feel the track and trip will suit him and we look forward to seeing him run. He’s got a nice draw and he’s a very uncomplicated horse. We always thought this race would suit Luxembourg, a mile and a half on fast ground around here. He’s a bit more exposed than Wingspan, but if he brought his best form forward he should run a very big race.
WHISTLEJACKET – 21.45 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (Friday)
He’s good, we’re happy. Obviously it’s quick it’s fast. Ryan thought he should have gone forward more the last day from the stalls early, but he still ran well so we think he’s a quick horse and we think and hope he should run well.
WINGSPAN – 21.01 Breeders’ Cup Turf (Saturday)
She is a very uncomplicated filly and we look forward to seeing her over this trip as she could run a very big race. She’s on the way. She ran very well over a mile and a half on totally different ground the last day [at Ascot] but it looked like she would get an evenly-run mile and a half. She’s obviously exciting and unexposed. If she improves the way that she looks like she could, she could definitely get involved.
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Breeders’ Cup 2024 race times (GMT) and schedule
Friday, November 1
- 9.45pm: Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint
- 10:25pm: Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies
- 11:05pm: Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf
- 11.45pm: Breeders’ Cup Juvenile
- 12:25am: Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf
Saturday, November 2
- 7:00pm: Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint
- 7:41pm: Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint
- 8:21pm: Breeders' Cup Distaff
- 9:01pm: Breeders’ Cup Turf
- 9:41pm: Breeders’ Cup Classic
- 10:25pm: Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf
- 11:05pm: Breeders’ Cup Sprint
- 11:45pm: Breeders’ Cup Mile
- 12:25am: Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile
British and Irish Breeders’ Cup winners in last six years
2023 (Santa Anita): Auguste Rodin, Inspiral, Master Of The Seas, Unquestionable, Big Evs
2022 (Keeneland): Meditate, Mischief Magic, Victoria Road, Tuesday, Modern Games, Rebel’s Romance
2021 (Del Mar): Modern Games, Space Blues, Yibir
2020 (Keeneland): Glass Slippers, Audarya, Order Of Australia, Tarnawa
2019 (Santa Anita): Iridessa
2018 (Churchill Downs): Line Of Duty, Expert Eye, Enable
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