Joe Hirsch, Arc key preps for Breeders' Cup Turf

Among world-class races in France and New York and to a lesser extent California, the field for the $4 million Breeders’ Cup Turf on Nov. 4 at Del Mar will be better known by Sunday evening.

Judging from very recent history, the results of the Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic at Belmont Park on Saturday deserve as much respect as Sunday’s Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Chantilly, France, Europe’s top flat race with a purse of approximately $5.89 million.

In the last five runnings of the Breeders Cup Turf, two winners – Little Mike in 2012 and Main Sequence in 2014 – had their last prep in the Joe Hirsch. Little Mike won the 2012 Arlington Million and was fifth in the Joe Hirsch that year. Main Sequence won the Sword Dancer Stakes at Saratoga in August 2014 and the Joe Hirsch before clinching the champion turf male title that year with a win in the BC Turf.

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Two winners of the BC Turf in the last five years had their previous start in the Arc – Found in 2015 and Highland Reel last year. Both finished second in the Arc for top European trainer Aidan O’Brien.

O’Brien won the 2013 BC Turf at Santa Anita with Magician, who had not raced since finishing ninth in the St. James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot in June of that year. The win proved late September and early October races do not always produce the winner of the BC Turf.

Highland Reel is one of seven candidates for Sunday’s Arc trained by O’Brien, along with Capri, Cliffs of Moher, Idaho, Order of St George, Seventh Heaven, and Winter.

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The odds-on favorite will be Enable, a 3-year-old trained by John Gosden who has won four consecutive Group 1 races. Ulysses, fourth in the 2016 BC Turf at Santa Anita, was the clear second choice as of Wednesday and is expected to run in the BC Turf for trainer Michael Stoute.

In the Hirsch, Oscar Performance, the star 3-year-old turf horse in the United States this year, will race against older horses and at 1 1/2 miles for the first time in a field including Beach Patrol and Money Multiplier.

Beach Patrol won the Arlington Million on Aug. 12. Money Multiplier, sixth in the 2016 BC Turf, was second to Sadler’s Joy in the Grade 1 Sword Dancer Stakes on Aug. 26 at Saratoga. Sadler’s Joy, trained by Tom Albertrani, is yet another contender for the Hirsch.

The field for Sunday’s Grade 2 John Henry Turf Championship at Santa Anita has at least one starter for the BC Turf in Hunt, who received an automatic berth for winning the Grade 2 Del Mar Handicap on Aug. 19.

In the Del Mar Handicap, Hunt finished three-quarters of a length in front of Itsinthepost, who raced in traffic in early stretch. Itsinthepost is a probable starter in the John Henry, with the BC Turf a possible goal.

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