Godolphin will attempt to win the $620,000 Champion Stakes at Newmarket on Saturday with a three-pronged entry of Equerry, Moon Ballad, and Noverre.
And in the seven-furlong, Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes for 2-year-olds, trainer Aidan O'Brien has entered three - Tomahawk, Marino Marini, and Ontario - who also were pre-entered in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile. If they run at Newmarket, O'Brien will be represented in the Juvenile by Hold That Tiger and Van Nistelrooy.
Marienbard, the 15-1 upset winner of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe on Oct. 6, has been retired by Godolphin to stand next year at East Stud in Japan.
A 5-year-old Irish-bred son of Caerleon, Marienbard had been expected to run in either the Breeders' Cup Turf or the Japan Cup after his brilliant Arc win over Europe's major Derby winners, Sulamani and High Chaparral. Instead, he heads for the breeding shed with a record of eight wins from 17 starts for earnings of $1,936,153.
Godolphin will attempt to win the $620,000 Champion Stakes at Newmarket on Saturday with a three-pronged entry of Equerry, Moon Ballad and Noverre.
And in the 7-furlong Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes, the Aidan O'Brien-trained Tomahawk is poised to take his chance along with Ontario and Marino Marini, an indication that the Irish conditioner will be represented in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile by Hold That Tiger and Van Nistelrooy.
Northerly will attempt to carry highweight of 128 pounds to victory in the 1 1/2-mile, $1 million Caulfield Cup Handicap at Caulfield Racecourse in Australia on Saturday.
A 6-year-old Australian-bred gelding trained by Fred Kersley, Northerly will be seeking his fourth consecutive victory in the Group 1 Caulfield Cup, which starts the countdown to the Melbourne Cup at Flemington on Nov. 6.
Slickly scored his second consecutive victory in the Group 1 Premio Vittorio di Capua on Sunday in his first start since taking last year's running of the race at San Siro in Milan. The 6-year-old Slickly led throughout on heavy ground to defeat German invader Horeion Directa by 1 1/4 lengths, getting the mile in 1:42.30.
Godolphin has some options with Slickly, but he will not go in the Breeders' Cup Mile. At his best on soft ground, he could return to Italy for the 1 1/4-mile Premio Roma at the Capannelle on Nov. 17.
Sakhee, the highweighted horse on the 2001 International Classification, has been retired by Godolphin after having failed to return to form while preparing for this Saturday's Champion Stakes.
The six-length winner of last year's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, Sakhee came within a nose of beating Tiznow in the Breeders' Cup Classic but had disappointed in his last two starts this season. He finished third in the Dubai World Cup and second in the Group 3 Prix Gontaut-Biron.
A decision on whether Marienbard, the winner of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in Paris on Oct. 6, will start in the Breeders' Cup Turf at Arlington Park on Oct. 26 will be made early next week, according to Simon Crisford, the racing manager for Godolphin Racing.
Friday, William Hill, a prominent English betting company, took a stand on the issue, withdrawing Marienbard from its future book for the Turf. William Hill installed High Chaparral, the third-place finisher in the Arc, as the 5-2 favorite for the Turf.
Gossamer, expected to use Sunday's Group 1 Premio Vittorio di Capua in Milan as a prep for the Breeders' Cup Mile, was denied a spot in the race when trainer Luca Cumani failed to submit her entry in time.
Instead the 3-year-old Gossamer will run at Newmarket in next Saturday's Challenge Stakes, a seven-furlong Group 2 race. If Cumani still intends on running his filly in the Mile, that would leave him the near-impossible task of getting her to Arlington Park in just seven days.
NEW YORK - The announcement from Pascal Bary earlier this week that Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe runner-up Sulamani would almost certainly not be coming to Arlington put a dent in the Breeders' Cup Turf, but the race is still of championship caliber with High Chaparral, Golan, Denon, Ballingarry, and, it is hoped, Marienbard still on target.
West Point Thoroughbreds, a New Jersey-based company that sells racing partnerships, plans to buy and race several 2-year-olds in Dubai this year and market them to U.S. owners, officials for the company said Wednesday.
West Point president Terry Finley and president of bloodstock services Jim Cullen are in Dubai for the Oct. 12 Pearls of Dubai International juvenile sale. Any horse West Point buys there will be raced in Dubai through at least the end of its 2-year-old season, said Rich Cristiano, West Point's director of client management.