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Breeders' Cup Review

J A McGrath
The G1 Breeders' Cup lived up to its reputation as the venue for equine coronations at Keeneland on Saturday, but Kiaran McLaughlin, the Godolphin trainer, is already looking further afield, to Dubai in March, for his hardy three-year-old Frosted.

The G1 Breeders' Cup lived up to its reputation as the venue for equine coronations at Keeneland on Saturday, but Kiaran McLaughlin, the Godolphin trainer, is already looking further afield, to Dubai in March, for his hardy three-year-old Frosted.

McLaughlin praised the Breeders Cup Classic winner American Pharoah, who had been the main opposition to his Belmont Stakes runner-up all season. But, he was also proud of Godolphin's Frosted, who finished seventh in the Classic after looking a major chance at the half-mile.

"He has been beaten two lengths by the third, but he has run a very good race, and I am looking ahead now to the Dubai World Cup at Meydan in March.

"Immediately after the race, we were a little disappointed. But the more you analyse the race, the better his run looked. I wasn't happy with the race shape, particularly when two key horses were scratched and reduced it to an eight-runner field.

"We didn't want to get into a battle again with American Pharoah (as we had in the Travers at Saratoga), and nobody was going to take him on.

"It was a fast track after the rain we had early in the week, and that favoured horses up on the speed.

"But the reality is that American Pharoah has run a monster race, the best of his life. Nobody was going to beat him on Saturday. I'm glad he has retired and that we won't meet him in a race again," McLaughlin said.

"Frosted will have a little break now, in Florida, and early next year we will ship him out to Dubai to prepare for the Dubai World Cup by running in one of the rounds of the Maktoum Challenge, either in February or March," he added.

Golden Horn, the best three-year-old in Europe this year, was looking for a similar crowning achievement to American Pharoah, in his selected race, the G1 Breeders' Cup Turf, but it was not to be. He found it tougher on the soft Turf track and finished a gallant second to Found.

Anthony Oppenheimer must be congratulated for the way he campaigned Golden Horn throughout the season, winning the Derby, Irish Champion, and Arc. He raced his horse in all the important races, sometimes when ground conditions were not ideal.

Golden Horn now becomes a Darley stallion, standing at Dalham Hall, Newmarket, UK.

McLaughlin was disappointed in Wedding Toast, but she retires to join the Darley broodmare band in America, and his other Breeders' Cup runner Sentiero Italia, who finished fourth in her race, takes a break in Florida before resuming training next year.

Breeders' Cup Review