Breeders' Cup Turf: Japan Cup better option for Novellist

Novellist, winner of three consecutive Group 1 races who missed the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe last weekend because of illness, will not travel to California for the $3 million Breeders’ Cup Turf at Santa Anita on Nov. 2.

Trainer Andreas Wohler said Wednesday that Novellist is a candidate for the $5.36 million Japan Cup at Tokyo Racecourse on Nov. 24. He said Novellist has recovered from the temperature detected in the days before the Arc and that the decision to point to the Japan Cup is based largely on race timing.

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“He’s doing fine now,” Wohler said. “We won’t go to the Breeders’ Cup. We entered him in the Japan Cup because it’s farther away.”

With Arc winner Treve under consideration for a start in Hong Kong in December, the Breeders’ Cup will lack two of Europe’s top runners of 2013. That has made the race more attractive for Grandeur, trained by Jeremy Noseda. Grandeur, 4, won the Twilight Derby at Santa Anita and the Hollywood Turf Cup at Betfair Hollywood Park last fall in a three-race California campaign.

“We’re looking long and hard at the Breeders’ Cup,” Noseda said Wednesday in a phone interview from England. “If I think I’ll have a chance in California, I’ll go to California. I know he likes the track.”

Owned by Yvonne Jacques, Grandeur, an Irish-bred colt by Verglas, has 1 win in 4 starts this year, the minor Foundation Stakes over 1 1/4 miles at Goodwood, England, on Sept. 25. He was seventh in the Arlington Million at Arlington Park on Aug. 17, a loss that Noseda dismisses.

“He finished lame and he was lame straight after the race,” Noseda said, without going into detail.

The recent win has left Noseda confident that Grandeur can be competitive against top American runners such as Indy Point, Little Mike, Real Solution, and Big Blue Kitten. The European team will include the 4-year-old filly The Fugue. Other European-based runners may join the race in coming weeks.

“It’s judging what will come from Europe,” Noseda said. “I don’t believe there is anything in America to run away from.”