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O'Meara readies Lord Glitters and Suedois for Breeders' Cup Mile

3 minute read

Yorkshire trainer hopes to be double-handed at Santa Anita.

David O'Meara is hoping to mount his third crack at winning the Breeders' Cup Mile with a double handful, after committing both Lord Glitters  and Suedois  to the $2million contest.

Lord Glitters returns to scale after winning Queen Anne STakes
Lord Glitters returns to scale after winning Queen Anne STakes Picture: Racing and Sports

O'Meara has put a line through Lord Glitters' disappointing showing in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot, and pre-entered him in the Santa Anita contest in which he is guaranteed a start for his victory in the Queen Anne – a 'Win & You're In' race.

Suedois, who finished fourth in the Breeders' Cup Mile two years ago, will join his stablemate in this year's edition – shown live on Sky Sports Racing – if he secures a place in the field when the handicapping panel meet on Tuesday.

Suedois parading on 19 Jun, 2018
Suedois parading on 19 Jun, 2018 Picture: Racing and Sports

Despite returning to his favourite track on Saturday, Lord Glitters could not repeat his Royal Ascot heroics and finished only eighth behind King Of Change.

"Lord Glitters seems in good form, and I don't know why he ran disappointingly at Ascot," said O'Meara.

"He was on a wing, held up in a race moving off to the right. They didn't go very quick, and the horse that led them went on to finish fourth, and that was a 20-1 shot.

"I suspect they didn't go quick enough for him, and you normally get a better pace in a Breeders' Cup Mile."

Suedois, a Group Three winner this year, heads to California on the back of a third-place finish in the Shadwell Turf Mile at Keeneland.

"He was third on his last run and only got beaten three-quarters of a length and a nose," said the trainer.

Yorkshire-based O'Meara has earned more than £2million in prize-money for the first time this year in Britain, from 121 winners.

He will be paying his fourth visit to the Breeders' Cup, having come close to securing a breakthrough success with his first runner when Mondialiste was second in the Mile in 2015.

"It's great money, and we have geldings for whom there are plenty of big pots around the world," he said.

"Lord Glitters has been to Dubai and Canada. It's a case of 'why not' really?

"First impressions last, and our first trip to North America was when we took Mondialiste to Canada for the Woodbine Mile – and he won it. When your first experience is a result like that, you tend to look favourably on these races.

"Since then, we have won an Arlington Million, a Shadwell Mile, we were second in a Breeders' Cup Mile, fourth in a Breeders' Cup Mile and third in another Shadwell Mile. They are big-money races, and the horses run pretty well over there."


At The Races

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