Breeders’ Cup: Tonalist and Found may wear down champions

Over the years O’Brien has fired some of Ballydoyle’s finest arrows at the Classic

The Triple Crown winner American Pharoah works on the track at Keeneland this week (Getty)

Golden Horn, the best horse in the world on turf, and American Pharoah, the best on dirt, round off their magnificent racing careers tonight at the Breeders’ Cup, run for the first time at Keeneland, Kentucky.

Having both danced just about every dance on their respective sides of the pond, with Golden Horn’s six victories including the Derby and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and American Pharoah becoming the first horse to win the US Triple Crown for 37 years, it is a pity they are not bowing out in one last waltz together.

But heads ruled hearts and both stick to their preferred surfaces; Golden Horn in the Turf and American Pharoah in the dirt Classic.

But the easier option does not mean easy pickings. They are undisputed champions, but that does not guarantee them sweet swansongs. The big question for both at the end of long and demanding campaigns is: will this be one race too many?

Seven races apiece may not seem a lot, but both were competing seriously back in the spring. Golden Horn has run once every month since April, while though American Pharoah did not appear to be anywhere near the end of his tether when completing the Triple Crown in front of 90,000 screaming New Yorkers at Belmont Park in early June, he was beaten subsequently (albeit with a reasonable excuse) and the best may have already been seen the best of him, even if his trainer, Bob Baffert, won’t hear of it, insisting: “He’s at his peak!”

In the Turf, Aidan O’Brien’s Found, though beaten twice by Golden Horn, in the Irish Champion Stakes and the Arc, has run well enough on both occasions to suggest that she can take his scalp when conditions are in her favour and she gets the rub of the green, which might well be in this contest.

Golden Horn was reportedly unfazed by his long flight and his jockey Frankie Dettori, who rode at his first Breeders’ Cup meeting 25 years ago, is as upbeat as ever. But the weather dramas that have accompanied John Gosden’s colt and Gleneagles, who runs in the Classic, around Britain and Ireland in recent months have followed them over to the Bluegrass state; an inch and a half of rain has turned the Keeneland turf surface softer than ideal.

Over the years O’Brien has fired some of Ballydoyle’s finest arrows at the Classic – Giant’s Causeway, Galileo, Hawk Wing and the ill-fated George Washington – so it would be ironic if Gleneagles, the seldom seen kid, tackling 10 furlongs and encountering dirt for the first time were the one to hit the bullseye. It is, however, “a shot in the dark,” admits Joseph O’Brien, the trainer’s son.

But American Pharoah has first-rate older domestic rivals to repel, too, notably the strong finishers Tonalist and Honor Code, both trained specifically for this one glittering prize.

Tonalist did not do himself justice when fancied for the finale last year but, well drawn and now partnered by John Velazquez, a veteran of 13 Breeders’ Cup triumphs, he has all the makings of a Halloween party-pooper.

However Ryan Moore fares on Gleneagles, Britain’s three-time champion looks good for at least one big win aboard the exceptional Irish three-year-old Legatissimo in the Filly & Mare. A wide draw and soft ground may scupper his chance on Roger Charlton’s Time Test in the Mile, but the Europeans have a tight grip on this; Make Believe spearheads a formidable French challenge.

Back home, the jumpers take centre stage. The Grand National winner Many Clouds returns in a superb renewal of Wetherby’s Charlie Hall Chase, but Dynaste, always close to his best at this time of year, appeals more at the weights.