HIS faith in Rip Van Winkle has been unshakeable all season and Johnny Murtagh is counting on his trusty comrade to deliver in the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita tonight.
The Ballydoyle star has stayed loyal to the Sussex Stakes and QEII winner throughout the summer despite his on-going foot problems and believes his partner's guts and determination will reap the ultimate reward under the Californian sunshine.
Tra
iner Aidan O'Brien has said a similar performance to those which Rip Van Winkle produced at Ascot or Goodwood will be good enough to see him home on the Pro-Ride and Murtagh is of the same mind set. The jockey has spent the week enjoying Los Angeles and after a family trip to Universal Studios on Wednesday, his sights are now firmly set.
He said: "I have always dreamed of winning the Classic. It is the best race and all of the best horses run in it. It is the one race I would love to win.
"When you are sitting at home watching it on TV and the Classic comes along you do get that buzz.
"Come Saturday and for Rip to win it would be brilliant. You can see what it means to everyone at Ballydoyle and everyone is getting a buzz out of this."
Rip Van Winkle was noticeably sweaty when working on the track Wednesday morning, but Murtagh is unfazed by that and believes his partner can end the winning run of wonder-mare Zenyatta. He said: "The lad who rides him out says he is really bouncing and I have always thought the surface would suit him with the way he moves across the ground. He stays well and I think that a mile and a quarter around here will be tailor-made for him.
"Zenyatta looks very good, but she hasn't run against The Rip yet." Zenyatta also has yet to run against her males rivals and last year's Ladies' Classic winner will be racing over further than she has ever gone in the biggest field she has experienced.
Her trainer John Shirreffs said of the 13-time winner: "With Zenyatta we realised we had a horse that was very special and she kept developing.
"We felt that if she trained well we would go for the Classic. She is on the brink of making history so why take that away. Let her decide how it goes.
"I really don't know much about European form. I watched Rip Van Winkle's last race and listened to the commentator. That's all I really know except that he is a great horse."
Saeed bin Suroor has the utmost respect for Zenyatta but is keen on the chances of his unexposed Girolamo, who will start along with stablemate and UAE Derby winner Regal Ransom.
Bin Suroor said: "I saw Zenyatta last year before Cocoa Beach and Music Note ran against her and I said it would be hard for them to beat her. Zenyatta is different class."
Bob Baffert is talking as though Zensational has the Sprint already won, but the super-fast three-year-old can be picked off late on by Godolphin's Gayego. The colt has been a different proposition since being transferred to Saeed bin Suroor this year and his Grade One win over the course-and-distance last month will have left him cherry ripe.
Sir Michael Stoute's Conduit blitzed his rivals with a killer burst of speed in the Turf last year and can repeat the dose under champion jockey Ryan Moore. The chestnut has been gleaming under the early-morning sun this week and his turn of foot should prove too much for stablemate Spanish Moon and fellow British raider Dar Ri Me.
Goldikova has been on the slide since drawing 11 of 11 in the Mile, but Freddie Head's brilliant filly has more than a touch of class and is another defending champion who is fancied to follow up.
Fellow French filly Six Perfections defied stall 13 to score in this race here in California in 2003 and with Head predicting an improved performance, expect Goldikova to take her Group One-winning haul to seven.
Before Man Of Iron won last night, Aidan O'Brien's hadn't had a Breeders' Cup winner since 2003, but team Ballydoyle can return to Ireland buoyed by further successes for Alfred Nobel and Mastercraftsman. The latter could run below his Royal Ascot-winning form to still wipe the board in an average renewal of Dirt Mile and he stands out after proving his effectiveness on an artificial surface at Dundalk recently.
Frankie Dettori and John Gosden teamed up to strike with Donativum in the Juvenile Turf in 2008 and they can pull off the same feat this time around with Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere runner-up Pounced.
