Punting pointers as Derby hero Van Dyck bids to salvage reputation in Turf

Breeders' Cup Turf (Grade 1) | 3yo+ | 1m4f Turf | Sky

The three-year-old middle-distance colts have failed to capture the imagination this season but Anthony Van Dyck could go some way to rescuing the situation at Santa Anita.

A narrow winner of a dramatic if less-than-vintage Investec Derby, the Galileo colt let the side down when failing to reel in Sovereign in the Irish equivalent before finishing tailed off behind Enable in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes.

The slow ground may not have suited him at Ascot, but the exaggerated margin of defeat still seemed to epitomise the yawning gap between the Classic generation and the game's marquee names.

Back on a decent surface in the Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown, Anthony Van Dyck somewhat redeemed himself when finishing third behind Magical and the firm California ground might be right up his street.

O'Brien has had this race in his sights for him since, and it would constitute a particularly shrewd piece of reputational recovery should Ryan Moore's mount win a race that Ballydoyle has tended to farm.

Of O'Brien's six previous Turf wins, three have come at Santa Anita, none more memorably than High Chaparral's epic dead-heat with Johar in 2003.

"We are very happy with him," said O'Brien, who will also saddle Mount Everest. "He has had only one little blip – in the King George in bad ground – and I shouldn’t have run him.

"He had a great run in the Irish Champion and we’d have gone to the Arc if the ground was nice but it wasn’t, so he did a piece of work in Dundalk. Trip, ground, track and draw – everything looks right for him.

"He is progressing with every run," O'Brien added of Mount Everest, a son of the 2003 Mile winner Six Perfections, who will be ridden by Wayne Lordan.

"Fast ground will suit him well and the track and the trip will be fine for him. He is coming here with the view that he is going to stay in training for next year, so we thought the experience would do him good. If he runs a nice race, we’d be delighted."

Bricks looking to build on modest home record

European runners have won 22 of the 35 Turf renewals, including nine of the last 11, but Bricks And Mortar looks a formidable candidate for the home team.

A similarly below-par bunch of three-year-olds, as well as the absence of a star among the Classic division, means that Chad Brown's five-year-old is a leading contender for Horse of the Year honours. The son of Giant's Causeway has won six on the spin, four of which were Grade 1s, but he is stepping up in distance.

In the Turf Classic, the Manhattan Stakes and the Arlington Million, in which he beat Magic Wand, he raced over 1m2f or a little less, so this will be a different test from stall nine of 12.

The Mile was an alternative, but Brown is relaxed about his decision for a colt who is due to retire to stud in Japan.

"I'm happy with choosing the Turf," he said. "I think he is drawn fine, being a little toward the outside. We're just hoping for a clear trip to give him a chance to show that he can stay the mile-and-a-half. I'm confident, the way he's training, that he'll be able to do it."

Old Persian could capitalise on notable absences

Godolphin's Old Persian has struggled to make an impact in the best races at this level.

However, with the likes of Enable, Waldgeist and Magical not present, he has emerged as a leading player. Winner of the Dubai Sheema Classic in March, he left behind two middling efforts to run out a decisive victor of the Northern Dancer Stakes at Woodbine in September.

Charlie Appleby with Old Persian at Santa Anita on Tuesday morningCredit: Edward Whitaker

"This was our target from Dubai, really," Charlie Appleby said of the four-year-old.

"We were always going to come straight here after Woodbine. I think with any athlete it’s great to come into a meeting like this with a spring in the step, and since Canada he’s been full of beans.

"I think he has a live shot and quick ground and tight turns won't worry him. I’m happy with his draw, William can just slot in there and see how it develops."

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