Breeders' Cup Turf: Key contenders

Enable, by Nathaniel
Last 3 Beyers: NA-NA-NA

• Two-time winner of the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe is 9 for 10 with six Group 1 victories in her career.
• Has only raced twice this year owing to a knee injury in the spring.
• Won this year’s Arc at less than 100 percent after missing a week of training due to a fever following her Group 3 win in the September Stakes.
“You’re running a mile and a half around three turns, it’s a very, very different ballgame to the Arc,” trainer John Gosden said. “The Arc is one huge, sweeping turn. We’ve been pleased with her since she arrived here, so you can ask for no more.”
• Gosden is 0 for 7 in the BC Turf.

Waldegeist, by Galileo
Last 3 Beyers: N1-NA-NA

• Won four consecutive Group stakes in France before finishing fourth, 1 3/4 lengths behind Enable, in the Arc.
• Had a bit of traffic in the Arc, which could have cost him third.
• Is a four-time winner at the Turf distance of 1 1/2 miles.

Magical, by Galileo
Last 3 Beyers: NA-NA-NA
• Finished 10th, beaten 5 1/4 lengths by Enable, in the Arc, but came back 13 days later to win Group 1 Champion Stakes.
“We were very happy with her race in the Arc. She had a bad draw,” trainer Aidan O’Brien said. “We knew from the draw that she probably couldn’t win, and she was going from a mile to a mile and a half, so really it was a conditioning race for Ascot.”
• Can handle give in the ground, as likely will be the case Saturday.
• O’Brien has won this race in four of the last seven years and six times overall.

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Liam the Charmer, by Smart Strike
Last 3 Beyers: 98-97-93
• Has only raced twice this year, winning both, and looks like he is made to stretch out to 1 1/2 miles.
• Though he’s raced exclusively in Southern California, he is 2 for 3 over courses labeled “good.”
“He’s got a puncher’s chance for sure,” trainer Michael McCarthy said.

Channel Maker, by English Channel
Last 3 Beyers: 108-103-102
• Is in career-best form for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, having won two of his last three starts, including a dominant 4 1/2-length victory in the Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic, run over soft ground.
• His one bad race this year was a fifth in the Grade 1 Turf Classic going 1 1/8 miles over this course. Mott felt that result had more to do with trip than course condition.

Glorious Empire, by Holy Roman
Last 3 Beyers: 106-102-98
• Has won three consecutive races, including a 1 3/4-length front-running victory over Channel Maker in the Grade 1 Sword Dancer.
• Likely to be setting the pace under Julien Leparoux.

Robert Bruce, by Fast Company
Last 3 Beyers: 101-104-100
• Arlington Million winner is 8 for 10 in his career and 2 for 4 in North America.
• Had difficult trip when sixth, beaten one length, in the Grade 1 Manhattan in June.
• Didn’t seem to quicken over soft Belmont turf, which he might find at Churchill Downs on Saturday, when second to Channel Maker in the Joe Hirsch.
“He prefers firm turf,” trainer Chad Brown said.

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