HENRYTHENAVIGATOR is all the rage in the ante-post betting lists for the Breeders' Cup Classic later this year as punters rush to back Aidan O'Brien's top three-year-old ahead of his market rivals for the $5 million race, Curlin and Big Brown.
Coolmore's brilliant colt, who racked up his fourth successive Group 1 of the season with a narrow success at Glorious Goodwood last week, has been cut to 3-1 favourite from 7-2 by Ladbrokes for the showpiece ten-furlong Classic at Santa Anita
in October.
Curlin is priced at 4-1 while Big Brown has been eased to 8-1 from 6-1 despite winning the Haskell Invitational at the weekend.
David Williams of Ladbrokes said: "Punters were disappointed with Big Brown at the weekend and we're not laying much on Curlin. Henrythenavigator remains the buzz horse and his fans are clearly excited about a tilt at the Classic."
Big Brown may not have been impressive, but he did showed reservoirs of determination when returning to winning ways at Monmouth Park.
The Kentucky Derby and Preakness hero cast aside his Belmont disappointment, in which he was virtually pulled up, to take the $1 million Haskell Invitational by a length and three-quarters. Jockey Kent Desormeaux's insisted: "He's back."
Meanwhile, trainer Linda Perratt hopes to get Big Timer ready for the John Smith's Ayr Gold Cup next month following a setback. The four-year-old had a few weeks off after his win in the Wokingham Stakes at Royal Ascot.
The full article contains 259 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
