Golden Horn, Flintshire rematch in Breeders Cup

A rematch in the Breeders’ Cup Turf between the first two finishers in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe is not something American racing fans have gotten to contemplate, but that is very much on the table this year when the Breeders’ Cup comes to Keeneland for the first time.

The Breeders' Cup Turf long has been the goal for Flintshire, who was second Sunday in the Arc. Flintshire also finished second in the 2014 Arc before finishing second to Main Sequence in the 2014 BC Turf, and he certainly will be no better than second choice in this year’s BC Turf if, as seems possible, Arc hero Golden Horn ships for the race. Golden Horn won the Arc by two lengths after getting a sweet pace-pressing trip under Frankie Dettori, who put the race to bed when he unleashed Golden Horn’s kick with about a quarter-mile left to run. The Arc was Golden Horn’s seventh start of 2015, and he already had won three major Group 1 races – the Epsom Derby, Eclipse, and Irish Champion – while also capturing the Group 2 Dante in his Epsom Derby prep and finishing a shocking second to Arabian Queen in the Group 1 International. Despite that busy campaign, the star 3-year-old still was deemed fresh by his connections after Sunday’s race, and if that condition remains unchanged in the next week or so, Golden Horn will begin prepping in earnest for his career finale in the BC Turf.

The last Arc winner to come for the Breeders' Cup Turf was Workforce – another English Derby winner – in 2010, but he was scratched from the race because trainer Michael Stoute believed the Churchill turf was too firm. Golden Horn is exactly the opposite. He wants firm going such as he found in the Arc, and his connections might hesitate to run him if Keeneland’s course is yielding, as it was for last weekend’s racing. The mighty mare Treve officially has been retired after finishing fourth in her bid for a historic third Arc win, and the fast going and relatively slow pace Sunday worked against her. Third-place finisher New Bay is an unlikely BC Turf runner, and if the top two from the race both run, the BC Turf will seem an unappealing spot to the connections of anything farther back in Sunday’s race.

Covert Love, who won the Prix de l’Opera on the Arc card, is a candidate for both the BC Filly and Mare Turf and the British Champions Fillies and Mares Stakes at Ascot, according to trainer Hugo Palmer. Jazzi Top, who was second in the race, could be considered for the BC Filly and Mare Turf. The Group 1 Prix de la Foret, another Arc undercard stakes, last year produced BC Mile winner Karakontie, who took a luckless loss in the Foret, but this year, the sharp Foret winner Make Believe might show up for the Breeders' Cup Mile. Like Karakontie last year, the 3-year-old Make Believe won the French 2000 Guineas, and he would be a major addition to the Breeders' Cup Mile should his connections decide to travel.