Mick Appleby is confident Big Evs is in the ideal place ahead of his Breeders’ Cup swansong after tightening the screw in a racecourse gallop under big-race jockey Tom Marquand at Southwell on Thursday morning.
There may have been fanfare when Aidan O’Brien visited the Rolleston venue to put City Of Troy through his paces last month, but there were only a handful of witnesses on this occasion as the speedy son of Blue Point continued his Del Mar preparations in the hands of the ever-loyal pilot Marquand.
It is a tried-and-tested path for the undoubted star of Appleby’s string, with Big Evs tuning up for the Hollywood ending of his two-year-old campaign at last year’s Stateside showpiece with a spin on the Southwell Tapeta.
This time he was accompanied by stablemate Blind Beggar as he galloped for five furlongs, spinning the home bend before finishing at the one furlong marker ahead of his 83-raced companion in what is his final appearance on a British racecourse before retiring to stud after his trip to California.
Appleby said: “I think he worked really well. Tom was saying he’s got a bit lazy and he knows he is good so he just does as much as he wants to do.
“Today will be the last time he’s seen on a British racecourse and I’ve been coming to Southwell a long time – they do a great job here and Mark Clayton (executive director) is absolutely brilliant.”
A return to the US has been the ultimate ambition of a profitable three-year-old season, which has so far seen him taste success on both his reappearance at York in May and at Goodwood when gaining revenge on Aussie conqueror Asfoora in the King George Stakes.
Kept fresh for his latest trans-Atlantic mission since failing to sparkle in the Nunthorpe in August, there is only a few weeks to go until Big Evs bids to bring the curtain down on his career in style and Appleby is confident his fleet-footed speedster is ready to make a bold bid.
“He needed that as well because we’ve freshened him up since his last run and it will have blown away the cobwebs,” continued Appleby. “We did exactly the same last year before we went to the Breeders’ Cup.”
“I just think everything went against him at York and we just have to put a line through him, I still have plenty of faith in him. He’s proved he has trained on this year and when you have a good two-year-old there is always a doubt, but he’s shown he is still as good as he was if not better.
“It will be nice to go back America and it would be great if he could win. We’re not going there under any illusions it will be easy, but as long as he runs his race and is thereabouts we’ll be happy. If he doesn’t win, he doesn’t win, but we’re going there with every chance.”
Marquand is no stranger to success on the international stage and has been an ever-present in the saddle aboard Big Evs since joining forces for the first time at Doncaster in September 2023.
He tasted Breeders’ Cup glory for the first time when the duo triumphed in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf at Santa Anita and feels his ace sprinter has lost none of his zip as he prepares to showcase his electric pace once again to an American audience.
Marquand said: “He did well and by the sounds of it he was freshened up following his run at York and feels well for it.
“It seems all systems go for America now and that was probably the first opening piece he’s really had by the sounds of it and there’s a few weeks left to fine tune him now.”
Joining Big Evs in the morning workout was stablemate Big Mojo, who is bidding to follow in Big Evs’ footsteps in the Juvenile Turf Sprint.
Owned similarly by Paul and Rachael Teasdale, the son of Mohaather has already emulated his illustrious stablemate once this year by winning the Molecomb at Goodwood and now has the chance to regain the winning thread in the San Diego suburbs having rattled the crossbar at Doncaster last month.
Appleby added: “He went round the bend really well and that was the main thing to get him going round at speed. He did very well and changed legs at the right time so really good.
“He’s a good horse with a lot of natural speed. I imagine next year he is going to be a six-furlong horse, but I imagine this will be absolutely fine for him.
“He’s got the natural speed that Big Evs has and I think he’s going to be a better three-year-old and I think he will be going out there with a live chance.”
Big Mojo will also be partnered by Marquand at Del Mar, who said: “He went round the bend like a motorbike and it will obviously be pretty different in America, but he’s had that experience now and felt good for it.
“I’ve got two good rides for Mick to look forward to and I’m excited to get out to Del Mar.”
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