European superstar Henrythenavigator pointed to the BC Classic

DiscreetCat

from Bloodhorse:

Following Henrythenavigator’s fourth consecutive group I victory in the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood July 30, trainer Aidan O’Brien, who was saddling his 16th Group I win of the year, said the colt’s ultimate goal is the Breeders’ Cup Classic (gr. I) on the synthetic surface at Santa Anita.

Coolmore’s John Magnier said that Henrythenavigator has established himself as the best miler in Europe and now it’s time to start looking to expand his horizons.

“He’s done the miling thing and the ultimate aim is to step him up in distance,” Magnier told the Racing Post. “The ambition is to go to Santa Anita and the plan is the Classic, but we don’t have to decide now. I think he will go on any surface, but we have to go and prove it. It may not work but we’ve got to try it.

“We did it with success with Giant’s Causeway, who enhanced his reputation in the race, but we came unstuck with Galileo and Hawk Wing. I’m not saying we won’t run him in anymore mile races, but we think he’ll stay and he would have run in the Derby had the ground been right.”

Henrythenavigator, a son of Kingmambo, out of the Sadler’s Wells mare Sequoyah, has won six of his eight career starts, with one second and a third. His other Group I scores came in the English and Irish Two Thousand Guineas and the St. James's Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot.

Duckgawd

That is cool... I watched the Replay of this race on TVG, and he looked pretty good. It will be cool to see a world class field line up for this one instead of just some of the Top US horses.... If Casino Drive comes back it will truly be a World Class Race, maybe even the Olympics for Horse Racing!

Cant Wait for The BC

DiscreetCat

I have a bit of an update on this situation. Duke of Marmalade is now being strongly considered for the BC Classic. And if he does run there, i think it's rather unlikely that his barnmate Henrythenavigator would turn up in the same race. I'm currently of the opinion that Henrythenavigator is more likely for the Mile, something i've suspected ever since i learned that there was no scheduled stretch-out attempt before the Classic. He just ran in the one-mile Prix du Moulin (his first loss this year), and they're talking about the Queen Elizabeth now. O'Brien did run George Washington in the Classic coming out of a win in the QE, so who knows, but right now i think it's more likely The Duke will try the Classic. And i think he'd stand a heckuva chance.

2W2P2S

Aiden Obrien said Henrythenavigator is better than Giant's Causeway, Rock of Gibaltar and Sadler's Wells (his mentor Vincent Obrien trained for Coolmore). "The best miler I've ever trained"...............that is not something to be taken lightly coming from Obrien.

DiscreetCat

Hard to imagine a better miler than Rock of Gibralter. He was the unluckiest loser of any Breeders Cup race i've ever witnessed. Henrythenavigator is clearly top-shelf however, and rates a strong chance in whatever race they choose to run him in.

Incidentally, he's 8/1 for the BC Mile in Vegas, which i thought about taking after the Duke of Marmalade news broke, but i think his participation is still too dicey right now (at that number, anyway). Suffice to say i'm keeping an eye on the situation though.

DiscreetCat

I just listened to an Arc preview online, and both of the European experts on the show said that they consider Duke of Marmalade "unlikely" to run in the Arc.

If he does in fact skip the Arc (an incredibly prestigious race for which he's currently the second-favorite), it would indicate almost conclusively that he's being pointed for the BC Classic. In my estimation, there's virtually no chance that he would pass on the Arc and then run in the BC Turf.