BY BROCK SHERIDAN
DEL MAR, CA—Although Arthur’s Ride drew post 12 in the $7 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic (Grade 1), trainer Bill Mott is not concerned about his Florida-bred star in the mile-and-a-quarter contest for 3-year-olds and older.
“The post is fine,” Mott said. “It’s a long run down to the turn. It’s like running in the [Kentucky] Derby. It’s a long run down to the first turn. I don’t think it’s a problem. It could be an advantage for us.”
Arthur’s Ride is one of 15 entered to run in the Breeders’ Cup Classic with one horse, Rattle N Roll, left on the also-eligible list.
Arthur’s Ride is 15-1 on the morning line after finishing a disappointing fifth as the 4-5 favorite in the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup on Sept. 1 at Saratoga Race Course. Arthur’s Ride will have some familiar foes in the Classic as the first two finishers from the Jockey Club Gold Cup, Highland Falls and Pyrenees, are also set for the Classic.
Despite the finish and nearly two months since his last start, Mott said he remains confident Arthur’s Ride will have a good showing Saturday.
“I could see where he could possibly regress a little bit in the Jockey Club Gold Cup although I thought he was good enough to do it,” Mott said. “He regressed a little bit and now he has had a little more time to recover. I look for him to come back in the Breeders’ Cup.
“If you’re able to keep them in training and not miss anything, these horses can train into a race like this. I wouldn’t want it to be any longer than two months off, but he’s coming into the race very well.”
Bred in Florida by Helen and Joseph Barbazon and Tapit Syndicate, Arthur’s Ride is now owned by Karl and Cathi Glassman of Stuart, Fla., who race under the Glassman Racing LLC banner.
Arthur’s Ride is by Tapit out of Points of Grace, by Point Given and has won half of his eight career starts with two seconds and earnings of $804,955.
He will have the services of jockey Junior Alvarado, who has ridden the grey or roan 4-year-old colt in his last five starts.
The 5-2 morning line favorite is City of Troy, who invades from Great Britain with trainer Aidan P. O’Brien.
City of Troy has won his last three races, all Grade 1 tests on turf. He began his winning streak in June with a two-and-three-quarters-lengths victory in the mile-and-a-half Betfred Epsom Derby then won the mile-and-a-quarter Coral Eclipse by a length at Sandown in July. Most recently, he won the mile-and-five-sixteenths Juddmonte International at York on Aug. 21.
His only career defeat in seven lifetime starts came when ninth in the Grade 1 Qipco 2000 Guineas won by Notable Speech at Newmarket in May.
City of Troy is by Justify out of Together Forever (Ire), by Galilieo (Ire) and he has earnings of $3,028,555.
“His movement, ability, cruise, action, determination, makeup, the way he’s put together—a very compact horse who looks much smaller until you stand into him and realize how big he really is—all the things that make him different,” O’Brien said. “His movement is massive with big, long strides; he’s aggressive and he’s hardy and you can see his dad (Justify) and granddad (Galileo) in him, so he’s always been an exciting horse. All the things that make him different, and he has the pedigree to back it all up.”
City of Troy has drawn post three and regular rider Ryan Moore travels from England to ride.
The second choice in the program at 3-1 is Fierceness for trainer Todd Pletcher and owner Repole Stable.
A graduate of the early training program at Ocala Stud, Fierceness won the Grade 2 Jim Dandy presented by Mohegan Sun by a length in July then took the Grade 1 DraftKings Travers by a half-length on Aug. 24.
Fierceness is by City of Light out of Nonna Bella, by Stay Thirsty and has earned $2,666,350.
John Velazquez will ride Fierceness from post nine.
Rounding out the field for the Classic are Forever Young (Jpn) with jockey Ryusei Sakai, Luis Saez has the call on Highland Falls, Mixto has rider Kyle Frey, Senor Buscador will have Joel Rosario in the saddle, Derma Sotogake (Jpn) and jockey Christophe Lemaire, Ushba Tesoro (Jpn) will have Yuga Kawada aboard, Brian Hernandez Jr. will guide Pyrenees, Tapit Trice will be piloted by Irad Ortiz Jr., Sierra Leone has Flavien Prat named to ride, Newgate has Frankie Dettori taking the call and Next will be ridden by Luan Machado.
Post time for the Breeders’ Cup Classic has been set at 5:41 p.m. EDT and will be shown live on NBC and Peacock.
