Sky Lantern can light up Santa Anita

Published on 02/11/2012 01:51

THE Americans, still reeling from losing the Ryder Cup to Europe, put their sporting pride on the line again tonight and tomorrow when their top racehorses take on their counterparts from across the pond in the Breeders’ Cup Festival.

The home contingent at Santa Anita looks strong but hopes are high in Britain and Ireland, in particular, that some of the prize-money can be spirited out of the United States.

Six races will be held tonight, with the remaining nine tomorrow, and Richard Hannon junior believes his Juvenile Fillies Turf favourite Sky Lantern represents the team’s best-ever chance of grabbing an elusive first winner at the Breeders’ Cup this evening.

Champion trainer Richard Hannon has not enjoyed much luck, with Paco Boy and Strong Suit failing to fire in the last two renewals of the Breeders’ Cup Mile. However, Moyglare Stud Stakes heroine Sky Lantern is drawn well in stall three and the fast ground at Santa Anita is in her favour.

Hannon junior, the trainer’s son and assistant, said: “She’s the top-rated horse by 5lbs and, although they tell me the filly from Canada [Spring Venture] is very good, we’ll have to see about that. We’re pleased to be running for the amount of money on offer as it’s more than she would get for winning the Guineas. We have been much luckier with the draw than last year with Strong Suit and, hopefully, Sky Lantern will handle the turns better than did Paco Boy. The fast ground will suit her and she’s by the far our best chance of a Breeders’ Cup winner.”

Andover handler Ralph 
Beckett is looking forward to saddling Waterway Run, the mount of Frankie Dettori. She has won three of her four starts in Britain, including the Oh So Sharp Stakes at Newmarket in late September. Beckett said: “She’s travelled here fine and is a very straightforward filly. I think she has the presence to handle herself well.”

The third and final British contender is the Jeremy Noseda-trained The Gold Cheongsam, a three-times winner who wears blinkers for the first time and will be ridden by William Buick.

Noseda said: “She’s a tough filly. We would have a bit to find, but we think she might prefer firm ground which she should get here. She’s had a lot of experience, she’s battle-hardened. A fast-ground mile on an oval track could just be right up her street.”

Meanwhile, Fame And Glory takes a step into the unknown as he tackles the Santa Anita dirt for the first time in another of tonight’s six Breeders’ Cup races – the Marathon. The son of Montjeu was a top drawer middle-distance horse as a three and four-year-old, with victories in the Irish Derby and the 
Coronation Cup at Epsom before Aidan O’Brien successfully converted him into a stayer last season.

He won the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot over two and a half miles and the British Champions Long Distance Cup but he disappointed in the same two races this season.

He is applied with a visor for his California mission and Jamie Spencer keeps the ride on the six-year-old.

O’Brien said: “He doesn’t owe anyone a thing and we are entitled to be the wiser after Ascot, because, in soft ground, he tends to look after himself. He has a lot of class and is a big cruiser. He’s a Group One horse that has won from a mile and a quarter to two and a half miles.”

There is a second Irish challenger in the mile and three-quarters contest in the shape of the Dermot Weld-trained Sense Of Purpose, while American-based Irishman Eoin Harty is hopeful of a decent show from Godolphin’s Balladry.

More than a dozen New York-based horses had their travel plans changed at the last minute to allow them to get on a flight before Hurricane Sandy wreaked havoc on the East Coast.

All arrived safe and well in California and are ready to run at the meeting.