Racing: Tiger burns bright in O'Brien's Cup team

Hold that Tiger, one of the most exciting of the youngest generation of racehorses at Ballydoyle, will take his talent to the Windy City later this month after blowing away some of the best in Europe at Longchamp last Sunday. His return to form in the Grand Criterium, with that hurricane finish, and his well-being since has convinced trainer Aidan O'Brien and the Coolmore set that a follow-up to the stable's success in last year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile with Johannesburg is on the cards.

The Storm Cat colt was as of yesterday a "definite possibility" for the $1million [£642,000] race at Arlington on 26 October, which is, in Aidanspeak, tantamount to saying that the horse's flight to Chicago is booked. "For that race you need a horse with speed, one who can act on the dirt, and one who will stay the mile and half a furlong," said O'Brien.

"This one has plenty of pace, and he has an American pedigree, and he's a half-brother to a Belmont Stakes winner [Editor's Note], which is an indication that there's the chance he'll stay, even though he has so much speed."

The Breeders' Cup Juvenile, generally run flat out from the gate, is a hard call for a young horse. "It can be demanding," said O'Brien, "but Hold That Tiger is a big hardy colt, a big mature horse. And horses like him, the expensive ones from the sales, they're used to the travelling right from the start, and take it all in their strides."

At Longchamp, it was Hold That Tiger's strides that made him look worth every penny of the $1.1million he cost at auction as a foal. After winning his maiden and a Group Three he had flopped in last place behind stablemate Spartacus in the Phoenix Stakes and had afterwards succumbed to a bout of the illness that has blighted O'Brien's Co Tipperary fastness for much of the summer.

But on Sunday he put his problems behind him as Kieren Fallon, in the Michael Tabor silks, brought him from last to first on the outside to collar Le Vie dei Colori by half a length, going away.

"We honestly didn't think he'd be fit after his lay-off," admitted his trainer, "and the plan was that Kieren would let him do his best while taking as little as possible out of him. He put him to sleep at the back and rode a simply beautiful race."

O'Brien still blames himself for the fact that Johannesburg's career went wrong after his stunning Breeders' Cup triumph.

"It was my fault," he said, "I campaigned him too tough at the start of this year and tried to stretch his stamina for the Kentucky Derby. He'd given the impression he stayed when he won the Juvenile, but in retrospect it was probably his speed that brought him home."

Whether or not Hold That Tiger will prove to be a candidate for the Kentucky Derby, now high on the wish-list of both the Ballydoyle and Godolphin operations, will depend on what happens at Arlington.

"It's the best Kentucky Derby trial for a two-year-old," said O'Brien. "And next year, with the 2,000 Guineas and the Kentucky Derby on the same day, the programme for both would be on the same schedule, so we can make a decision nearer the time."

O'Brien reported High Chaparral in fine form ahead of his Breeders' Cup Turf rematch with Marienbard after his brave third in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, beaten just over a length by the Godolphin winner. "I hold my hands up over that one too," he said. "We couldn't give him a run because of his being ill, but perhaps a day out at the races, like we did with Rock Of Gibraltar at Ascot, might have tightened him up."

The deployment of Rock Of Gibraltar and Hawk Wing in the Mile and the Classic has yet to be finalised. And O'Brien's decision will determine the destination of Europe's other miling star, the filly Gossamer.

Her trainer, Luca Cumani, has been thoroughly frustrated by the glorious Indian summer the rest of us have been enjoying, as it has resulted in the fast ground that is no good to his charge.

The Irish 1,000 Guineas heroine is off to Italy on Sunday for what is arguably Europe's softest Group One mile contest, the Premio Vittorio di Capua in Milan. There, she will find her favoured soft ground, and Cumani expects the same in Chicago, where her options are the Mile or the Filly and Mare Turf over 10 furlongs.

Gossamer, third to Rock Of Gibraltar in the Prix du Moulin on her latest outing, was forced to bypass both the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes and the Sun Chariot Stakes because of ground conditions, but has been looking simply a million dollars on the Newmarket gallops. "We're following the ground, and the plane to Italy is booked at the weekend," he said. "And in Chicago in October, it generally rains. But I will see what Aidan O'Brien's plans are before making a decision about her race."

Pipe mare's odds are cut for Cesarewitch

Miss Fara, trained by Martin Pipe, was supported in the ante-post market yesterday for the Cesarewitch Handicap at Newmarket a week on Saturday. The seven-year-old mare's price was cut from 25-1 to 16-1 by Coral.

The firm of bookmakers reported "concerted" backing for Miss Fara, third in a 10-runner handicap over two miles on her latest start, as she attempts to give Pipe a second success in the two-and-a-quarter mile marathon following the victory of his Heros Fatal two years ago. Later, William Hill cut her odds to 12-1 from 20-1, and Ladbrokes went 16-1 from 20-1.

Andy Turnell sent Noble Pasao on the long trip from Malton to Lingfield yesterday and it paid off when the 8-1 chance landed the showcase handicap. Fergal Lynch's mount was overtaken by Mystic Forest inside the last furlong but rallied gamely to win by a short-head.

CESAREWITCH HANDICAP: Latest odds (Coral): 4-1 Tees Components, 12-1 Greenhope, Hugs Dancer, Distant Prospect, 14-1 Conquestadora, Mesmeric, Palua, 16-1 Establishment, Borgeois, Dancing Bay, Double Honour, Eternal Spring, Fantasy Hill, Hirapour, Mana d'Argent, Rahwaan, Ranville, Random Quest, Riyadh, Zibeline, Miss Fara, 20-1 others.