Breeders’ Cup Turf: Course not too soft for Golden Horn

LEXINGTON, Ky. – While his connections clearly wish no rain had fallen at Keeneland this week, Golden Horn won’t be taken out of Saturday’s $3 million Breeders’ Cup Turf, provided there’s no further significant precipitation before the race, trainer John Gosden said Thursday.

Golden Horn, who will be retired to stud following the race, will be heavily favored to win the Turf after victories this year in two of the world’s best-known races, the English Derby and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, both of which were run over firm grass. Golden Horn won the Irish Champion Stakes over a course rated soft, but he was scratched because of wet going from the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, and his connections long ago made it clear that Golden Horn prefers fast ground.

Under jockey Frankie Dettori, Golden Horn galloped a lap Thursday morning on a turf course here at Keeneland that Gosden described as “soft, good to soft in places – which is exactly what you’d expect after all this rain.”

There were sprinkles here Monday, but the real rain started Tuesday, and after one final shower late Wednesday night, Lexington Blue Grass Airport just across Versailles Road from Keeneland had measured 1.83 inches of rain during the precipitation event. But it was sunny and quite breezy Thursday – good drying conditions – with more sunshine forecast for Friday. There’s a 30 percent chance of showers after 2 p.m. Saturday, according to the National Weather Service. Local horsemen familiar with the sand-based course believe there’s a chance the turf could be upgraded to “good” this weekend.

“Frankie’s saying he’s not unhappy at all,” said owner and breeder Anthony Oppenheimer. “He’s quite happy with [the turf]. It doesn’t appear to be terribly sticky, and there appears to be a base. The horse looks simply marvelous now. His coat is amazing, and he’s very playful today: He had a good bite at his groom.”

No Arc winner has won a Breeders’ Cup race the same year, but though he has gone through a long, demanding campaign – during which he grew about three inches, according to Gosden – Golden Horn appears to have thrived since the Arc.

”He flew here to America weighing two kilos [4.4 pounds] more than he did before the Arc, so he’s put all that back,” Gosden said.