Breeders' Cup Turf: Erupt emerges as contender

By way of Canada, the European contingent for the $4 million Breeders’ Cup Turf at Santa Anita on Nov. 5 grew stronger last weekend.

Erupt won the Grade 1 Canadian International at Woodbine on Sunday, a performance expected to lead to a relatively quick turnaround to the BC Turf. Erupt was available at 7-1 or 8-1 with British bookmakers on Wednesday, behind the New York-based Flintshire (2-1) and the Europeans Highland Reel (5-2) and Found (3-1).

Found, the winner of the 2015 BC Turf at Keeneland, is not a certain runner, though the support in future-book markets suggests otherwise.

A 4-year-old filly, Found won the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Chantilly Racecourse on Oct. 2 and was second in the Group 1 Champion Stakes at Ascot in England on Saturday.

Trainer Aidan O’Brien said immediately after the Champion Stakes that he was unsure whether Found would be sent to California. On Sunday, O’Brien said the BC Turf was still a possibility, with a decision to be finalized this week. Pre-entries for the Breeders’ Cup are due Monday. The fields will be announced next Wednesday.

O’Brien said last weekend that Highland Reel, second in the Arc, is bound for California. A 4-year-old colt, Highland Reel won the Group 1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot in July, the top race at 1 1/2 miles for older horses in England during the summer. Highland Reel was beaten 1 3/4 lengths by Found in the Arc as a 24-1 outsider.

Erupt, trained by Francis-Henri Graffard for the Niarchos family, snapped a seven-race losing streak in the Canadian International at 1 1/2 miles. Erupt has won 5 of 12 starts. He won his first four starts in 2015, including the Group 1 Grand Prix de Paris against 3-year-olds, but struggled in three starts last fall and in his first four starts this year. Erupt’s best finish in that span was a second in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud in July. He was fifth behind Highland Reel in the King George VI Stakes.

The presence of such runners has given California trainer Richard Mandella pause on whether to start Twentytwentyvision, a minor stakes winner who has been second or third in five graded stakes in the last 15 months.

Mandella is trying to assess whether Twentytwentyvision is good enough to hit the board in what would be the toughest race of his career.

“I’d have to think whether I’d be 1, 2, 3, or 4 in there, and I’ve got to figure that out,” he said. “It’s pretty stiff. We’re not established there yet.”

An alternative race is the $200,000 Hollywood Turf Cup at 1 1/2 miles at Del Mar on Nov. 25.