THE £24 million Breeders’ Cup is back with a bang on fireworks night.
The huge meeting – which is one of the richest in the world and being held at Keeneland racecourse in Kentucky this year – is billed as racing’s ‘world championships’.
And there are some truly mouth watering head-to-heads to look forward to in one of the last big Flat carnivals of the year with plenty of UK interest.
All of the action will be live on ITV4 and Sky Sports Racing this weekend.
Make sure you tune in – especially for these monster clashes.
4.29 Keeneland – Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint
Highfield Princess v Golden Pal
Highfield Princess has been one of the horses of the season so far.
The John Quinn-trained filly won her first race in a handicap off a mark of 58 – and now she is one of the best sprinters in the world.
She has won the Nunthorpe Stakes and Flying Five Stakes this season and is one of the best chances of a British winner at the meeting.
She takes on Golden Pal, who US trainer Wesley Ward reckons is the ‘fastest horse’ he has ever trained.
UK fans will be familiar with Ward – he has saddled plenty of winners at Royal Ascot over the years, including the brilliant Lady Aurelia.
He has been talking up Golden Pal ahead of the big clash and he completed his prep for the big race with an easy win at Keeneland last month.
VERDICT
Golden Pal deserves respect, but Highfield Princess has done nothing but improve and her fairy-tale can continue.
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7.10 Breeders’ Cup Mile
Kinross v Modern Games
Frankie Dettori gets the leg-up on Kinross, who has been a sensation this season for trainer Ralph Beckett.
He recently completed a four-timer when bagging the British Champions Sprint Stakes over six furlongs at Ascot.
He hasn’t run over a mile since November 2020, but there shouldn’t be too much of a focus on stamina around the sharp left-handed track at Keeneland.
Charlie Appleby’s Modern Games is his big rival, and the horse was a cracking second in the QEII Stakes at Ascot last month.
He has winning form at the Breeders’ Cup, having won the Juvenile Turf 12 months ago, and he is well-drawn in stall four.
VERDICT
Kinross is in the form of his life at the moment, but Modern Games is a top miler in his own right and has proven himself at the Breeders’ Cup.
9.40 Breeders’ Cup Classic
Flightline v Epicenter
Flightline is rated the best horse in the world – some even reckon he is the best US horse since the legendary Secretariat.
He has only had five career starts, but on his most recent outing he beat the Dubai World Cup winner Country Grammer by a jaw-dropping 19 lengths.
Trained in California by John Sadler, he has proven he can do it on the east coast of America, bagging a big race at Belmont in New York earlier in the year.
But he faces a serious rival in the shape of the exciting three-year-old Epicenter.
The Steve Asmussen-trained colt was a runaway winner of the Grade 1 Travers Stakes at Saratoga on his last start, and his trainer has a stunning record at the Breeders’ Cup.
VERDICT
Flightline looks an absolute monster, and while Epicenter is the biggest challenge he has faced to date he should still have too much up his sleeve.
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