Breeders' Cup Diary: Magical ruled out but O'Brien still expected to be among winners at Santa Anita

I know it’s wrong to start off on a negative footing, but some things I struggle to truly shake off until I’ve written about them.

The Holmes & Watson film I opted to watch on my flight to Los Angeles must be the most awful adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s works ever produced.

There, we can move on.

Unfortunately, that’s not the only bad news from my early exchanges with Santa Anita here at the 36th Breeders’ Cup following the news that Magical will not be travelling.

She’s spiked a temperature according to Aidan O’Brien and has been retired with immediate effect.

What a final season she’s enjoyed – nine starts, five wins including the Tattersalls Gold Cup, the Irish Champion Stakes and the Champion Stakes.

"The plan is for her to go to No Nay Never. She's been an unbelievable mare, something you'd never dream of," the disappointed trained said.

Along with Enable, Battaash and some of the obvious French-trained stars such as Waldgeist and Sottsass, she will be sorely missed here this weekend and leaves Team Europe in search of a flag-bearer.

Back to the aforementioned flight, which also featured one Hobbit, two ginger ales and three monster American racing podcasts, I deduced something O’Brien-related I’d like to share.

Arizona (which I believe borders California for those of a geography-based-coincidence-betting-angle persuasion) will go off evens or even shorter in the Juvenile Turf on Friday.

There appears to be very little excitement surrounding the home team in this category and this No Nay Never colt’s level of form is about as good as it’s going to get from a European two-year-old perspective heading to this meeting.

He’s experienced, he’s won at Royal Ascot, he likes quick ground and he’s just shown marked improvement to get within two lengths of the freakishly talented Pinatubo in the Dewhurst.

Arizona the boy is now a man.

Rated 108 going into Newmarket by the local assessors, a bit of digging on the BHA website indicates they have him running to 117 in the Dewhurst.

He could genuinely bounce (why would he anyway?) 7lb down and still win this. Take the 9/4 while it lasts.

To the victor goes the spoils, naturally, but look out for an eyecatching also-ran in this spot too. The Juvenile Turf has thrown up the past two Investec Derby winners, no less, in Masar (6th) and Anthony Van Dyck (9th).

And it appears the latter might just have been handed the baton as this year’s Euro poster-boy.

Friday’s rearranged Vertem Futurity Stakes at Newcastle sadly means that newly-crowned British champion jockey Oisin Murphy won't be in attendance here this weekend, having been 'claimed' to ride Kameko for Andrew Balding and Qatar Racing.

One man’s loss, if it can be classed as that, is another man’s gain and young Drayden Van Dyke did appear to be giving off some positive vibes as he sipped his coffee alongside Simon Callaghan in the Breakfast Marquee this morning.

He gave the Qatar-owned and ex-Johnny Murtagh trained True Valour a nice ride to win the Grade Two City Of Hope Mile Stakes here earlier in the month.

It was a second straight success for the five-year-old, who his trainer fancies to run a ‘sneaky big’ race in Saturday’s TVG Mile.

Related Breeders' Cup links

• Sky Bet's Breeders' Cup odds
• Breeders' Cup: Santa Anita pointers
• Breeders' Cup: What makes it great?
• Breeders' Cup: Meet the favourites
• Breeders' Cup memories
• Breeders’ Cup guide
• Breeders' Cup news index
• Free horse racing betting tips
• All today's racecards
• Today's fast results
• Today's full results
• Non-runners
• Today's Goings
• Today's Naps Table