Racing: St Jovite joins the Classic

IN A race worth going to Gulfstream for, St Jovite will take on Rodrigo De Triano in the Breeders' Cup Classic on Saturday week. Arazi may also contest the world's richest race at dollars 3m, but has the Mile, on turf, as an option.

Like Rodrigo De Triano, St Jovite will be encountering a dirt surface for the first time in the 10-furlong Classic, but his trainer, Jim Bolger, believes that the colt will make the transition.

'We reckoned that St Jovite has nothing more to prove on grass over a mile and a half and, since he's likely to stand at stud in the United States, we should take this opportunity to prove his versatility,' he said. 'We won't really know whether he will cope with the dirt until the day. But the progeny of his sire, Pleasant Colony, have all done well on the surface.'

Jolypha, Dancing Brave's sister, has also been declared for the Classic, along with Clive Brittain's Garden Of Heaven, an impressive winner at Longchamp on Sunday. Both are quoted at 16-1 by Ladbrokes. But Dermot Weld's Brief Truce will contest the Mile, not the Classic as had originally been suggested.

The raiders will take heart from the success of Paul Cole's runners in North America this weekend. Snurge took the Rothmans International at Woodbine in Canada on Sunday to add to Zoman's success in the Budweiser International at Laurel on Saturday.

Yesterday's results, page 33