Ribchester to start in BC Mile

Ribchester will travel from England to have his career finale in the Breeders’ Cup Mile, his owner, Godolphin, announced Thursday morning. Ribchester was one of 21 pre-entrants in the BC Mile, but his connections did not immediately commit him to the race, as trainer Richard Fahey monitored the way Ribchester had exited a second-place finish Saturday in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot.

:: BREEDERS’ CUP 2017: Pre-entries, odds, comments, and more

“He has kept his coat, he looks a picture, and clearly, he wants to go,” Fahey said in a news release from Godolphin. “He has done everything but tell me himself that he should be on the plane to California.”

Ribchester is the 5-2 BC Mile favorite on the early line set by Daily Racing Form’s Mike Watchmaker and has long been favored in overseas antepost betting. Four-year-old Ribchester, who heads off to stud following the Breeders’ Cup, has won three Group 1 miles this year – the J.T. Lockinge, the Queen Anne, and the Prix du Moulin de Longchamp. He started his season in Dubai, finshing third in the March 25 Dubai Turf, among five of his races this year that have come over soft or yielding ground. Ribchester’s best race of the season, Fahey believes, was the Queen Anne Stakes, his only start this year on a firm course.

William Buick will have the mount on Ribchester. Buick’s last ride in the United States came in the Secretariat Stakes at Arlington, where his mount, Permian, broke down at the finish, with Buick fracturing his back in the fall.

:: Breeders' Cup PP packages: Get PPs, betting strategies, DRF+ Pro access, and more