Can she do it? Contenders and trainer views as Enable bids for history in Turf

8.56 Churchill Downs
Longines Breeders' Cup Turf | G1 | 1m4f | ATR

John Gosden has twice got within half a length of landing this $4 million middle-distance turf feature and is out to bridge that gap with his outstanding filly Enable.

The four-year-old is seeking to create a slice of history as the first Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner to follow up at the Breeders' Cup the same year. Eight have tried and eight have failed, seven of them in the Turf.

Rider William Buick was in tears after the Gosden-trained The Fugue was run down by Magician in this race at Santa Anita in 2013, while two years later Arc hero Golden Horn narrowly missed out when undone by a combination of soft ground and Found at Keeneland.

Unlike those Turf challengers, who were at the end of a busy summer campaign, Enable's season began only in September after she recovered from injury.

The daughter of Nathaniel looked as good as ever when making all to see off the classy Crystal Ocean in a Group 3 at Kempton, after which Khalid Abdullah's filly became only the seventh horse to win back-to-back runnings of Europe's most prestigious race.

That was a victory she can be marked up for, as she had missed a crucial piece of work just ten days previously and was described as 85 per cent fit by Gosden.

ARC WINNERS GOING ON TO BREEDERS’ CUP

2016 Found 3rd in Turf
2015 Golden Horn 2nd in Turf
2007 Dylan Thomas 5th in Turf
2001 Sakhee 2nd in Classic
1992 Subotica 5th in Turf
1990 Saumarez 5th in Turf
1987 Trempolino 2nd in Turf
1986 Dancing Brave 4th in Turf

Since that short-neck triumph over Sea Of Class, Enable has looked as good as ever on the gallops, especially in her final piece of work before her departure from Newmarket last week, and she appears to have handled her first international flight with the minimum of fuss.

Thursday's rain at Churchill Downs was bad news for some but not Enable, who seems to handle anything except firm.

Frankie Dettori will become the winningmost rider in this race if he can steer Enable home, having won the contest four times, most recently with Dangerous Midge here in 2010.

He said: "No horse has ever won the Arc and at the Breeders’ Cup the same year, but records are there to be broken.

"Enable has raced only twice so should be fairly fresh and she has travelled well. When you travel halfway around the world, there is always that little bit of fear, but all seems well.

"She's straightforward to ride. She ran around Epsom, Chester, and she's so versatile ground-wise."

Pros Fresher than most and low draw could see her on the pace, where she likes to be. Likes going around bends and cut in the ground no issue

Cons That Arc-Breeders' Cup hoodoo, while fillies at this time of year can sometimes be a dodgy proposition – they don't win this race very often either

French pair look sure to be in the shake-up

Andre Fabre is double-handed in a bid to land the Turf for a fourth time, with the prolific Waldgeist joined by last year's winner Talismanic.

Waldgeist looks likely to give Enable most to think about after getting within a length and three-quarters of the Turf favourite when fourth in the Arc last time, a credible effort considering he started from stall 13.

Before that reversal, the son of Galileo had racked up a four-timer, the most recent win being his defeat of Talismanic in the Group 2 Prix Foy at Longchamp in September.

In contrast to Walgeist's good effort in the Arc, Fabre is still looking for answers for Talismanic’s poor performance at Longchamp, when he trailed in 13th, 11 lengths adrift of Enable.

Talismanic put up a gutsy performance to beat Beach Patrol and Highland Reel in last year’s Turf at Del Mar and then ran right up to that form when second in the Group 1 Hong Kong Vase at Sha Tin in December, but was subsequently beset by injury.

Fabre, who has a high opinion of Talismanic, said: “The horse appears well in himself and I'm hopeful of a good run. The challenge is different this year, with the competition, track conditions and his perplexing latest race all making us less confident, but nonetheless hopeful.

"The draw didn't help Waldgeist in the Arc, but it's like that at Longchamp. He could have been third with a better draw."

He added: "Enable is obviously the one to beat but they're both in good shape."

Waldgeist

Pros Won't mind the ground and looks sure to serve it up to Enable in the straight

Cons Only Group 1 win in the last two seasons was over Enable's stablemate Coronet in the summer and she would not be in the same class as Enable

Talismanic

Pros Not many miles on the clock this year and showed he didn't mind tight turns when landing this race at Del Mar a year ago

Cons Not many win this race twice and even the high-class Highland Reel failed to follow up a year ago

More Magic from Aidan?

Found was the last filly to win this race in 2015 and the same Aidan O'Brien-Ryan Moore combination are hoping to repeat the trick with Magical, who has taken the same route having come direct from a win at Champions Day at Ascot a fortnight ago.

The daughter of Galileo has proved a revelation since stepping up to middle distances recently, backing up a credible tenth behind Enable in the Arc with a gutsy defeat of the Gosden pair Coronet and Lah Ti Dar in the Group 1 Fillies & Mares Stakes at Ascot.

Prior to that, Magical's only previous win this year was over 1m1f at the Curragh in July and, with stamina now to the fore, O'Brien has decided to deploy Hunting Horn as a pacemaker as he chases a seventh win in the Turf.

Magical is driven out by Ryan Moore to score at Ascot on Champions DayCredit: Edward Whitaker

He said: "We're very happy with Magical. We always had it in our head to go for the Filly and Mare Turf but we had to get a couple of runs into her to get her back, because she's a big, powerful filly, she is gross.

"She ran at the Curragh and Leopardstown and we were very happy with her. We were then very happy with her race in the Arc as she had a bad draw.

"Ryan then gave her a beautiful ride at Ascot and she won nicely. We thought she might come forward from then, and she's come out of it well.”

He added of Hunting Horn: "He's a grand, solid horse. He hasn’t got a good draw but will go forward. We feel we haven’t seen the best of him yet, but he's progressive. I’m hoping he’ll run well."

Magical

Pros Hitting form at just the right time and O'Brien knows all about doing a Champions Day-Breeders' Cup double

Cons On only previous run against colts met with defeat in the Arc

What the others say

Bill Mott, trainer of Channel Maker
He seems to have come out of his last work feeling good. He's got a great coat of hair on him and he looks so good so we're happy. The race has become very competitive with all the Europeans coming.

Chad Brown, trainer of Robert Bruce
He's doing really well and has been doing great coming into the race, so we're happy enough.

Brad Cox, trainer of Arklow
He's not long off a race and is in good shape. We may not have the fastest horse in the race but he may be the fittest and he deserves a shot.

James 'Chuck' Lawrence, trainer of Glorious Empire
He’s been training great and he’s sound, so it’s just a case of trying to have him calm and cool. I know there are some nice horses from Europe, including the Arc winner Enable, and he’ll have to be at his best, but he’s dead honest and a happy horse right now – and happy horses have been known to do surprising things.

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