Aidan O’Brien holds a strong hand as he searches for back-to-back victories in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf at Santa Anita.

The one-mile contest brings the opening night of Breeders’ Cup action to a close, with the Ballydoyle handler winning the race for a record-extending fifth time with Victoria Road at Keeneland 12 months ago.

This time he has assembled a three-strong hand in quest for victory number six, as River Tiber, Unquestionable and Mountain Bear all face the starter in California.

Coolmore number one Ryan Moore has elected for River Tiber, who brings solid Group One credentials to the table having placed in both the Prix Morny and Middle Park since winning at Royal Ascot.

“We always thought River Tiber was a really good horse,” said O’Brien.

“His last two runs have been a little bit below par. In France he had a break before and we perhaps didn’t quite have him at his best and the last day we felt we didn’t have him at his best either.

“We think he has come right since Newmarket and I think he is rated 3lb below the other horse (Unquestionable) but he has always been a very classy horse and we think he is better now than he was for his last two runs. All the ducks weren’t in a row the last time.”

It will be the first time River Tiber has raced beyond six furlongs, but O’Brien is keen to test the colt’s credentials over a mile at a track which should play to his strengths.

Speaking during Breakfast at the Breeders’ Cup on Thursday, he added: “We always thought he would love stepping up to seven, so if we thought he would get seven at home, he should get a mile around here. He has a nice draw and a flat track and we’re looking forward to seeing what he does.”

Unquestionable has yet to get his head in front in Group company and was last seen finishing an honourable second to Rosallion in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere at ParisLongchamp.

Frankie Dettori comes in for the spare ride aboard the classy son of Wootton Bassett who has been knocking on the door all summer.

“Ryan was delighted with him in France and said the split just came a little bit too early for him and he had to go early,” continued O’Brien.

“Obviously when the split came he had to go and he would have just preferred to wait a little bit longer. He ran a very good race.

“We always felt a mile would be well within his compass and he’s in very good form and has a nice draw as well.”

The O’Brien trio are the sole European representation in a race the raiders have dominated since its inception, but there is a strong cast of American challengers lining up to take their chance.

Todd Pletcher struck in 2010 and will saddle the hat-trick-seeking Agate Road, while Michael McCarthy’s Endlessly is unbeaten in three and has track-and-trip form to his name.

Christophe Clement’s Carson’s Run accounted for My Boy Prince in the Grade One Summer Stakes at Woodbine, while the latter is joined by Can Group from Hall Of Fame handler Mark Casse’s well-respected stable.

Big Evs will carry British hopes on his broad shoulders when he attempts to blast his way to a famous victory in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint at Santa Anita.

Mick Appleby’s youngster has been one of the season’s star juveniles and will attempt to bring his stellar season to a fitting end in the shadows of the San Gabriel Mountains on Friday.

The Royal Ascot scorer will be his trainer’s first runner at the showpiece event and after his one disappointment this season in the Nunthorpe, the son of Blue Point was back to his brilliant best when blazing a trail in the Flying Childers Stakes at Doncaster.

The Rutland-based handler is thrilled to be in California with his star performer, who he believes has proven he is more than capable of handling top talent.

“I’ve never really had the right ammo in the two-year-old division, but I think with this horse I’ve proved I can do it,” said Appleby.

“After Goodwood we thought about coming here and as to his blip in the Nunthorpe it came just two weeks after a hard race in soft ground and we put a line through it. In hindsight we shouldn’t have run at York, it was way too soon.

“Doncaster was a most impressive win and if he reproduces it he will take a lot of beating.”

Tom Marquand was in the saddle when registering a breathtaking all-the-way success on Town Moor in September and will once again be aboard the speedy youngster whose blistering starts have been a hallmark of his campaign.

“He absolutely flew out of the gate this morning and should be as good at it as any of the Americans,” said Appleby.

“My main concern is going round a bend, but Tom breezed him yesterday and said he coped with it really well. The ground will ride on the quick side which is fine for us.”

American trainer George Weaver saddles a three-strong hand in opposition, with Royal Ascot heroine Crimson Advocate the headline attraction alongside stablemates No Nay Mets and Amidst Waves.

The Queen Mary winner will be a first runner at the Breeders’ Cup for Qatar-based Wathnan Racing and she will appear for the first time in their increasingly-familiar silks when stepping out in the hands of John Velazquez.

“We’re excited and it will be an exciting day,” said Case Clay, Wathnan’s racing adviser in the USA.

“This is the Breeders’ Cup so it will be very tough competition. We’re just hoping for a nice clean break and the nice thing about the turf sprint is it is just get out and go – once the gates open it is going to be just that.

“We’re really happy to have John Velazquez on board, especially with his great experience at Ascot, and that is reassuring. We are just very excited.

“Olly Tait (senior Wathnan representative) has given me instruction to look for quality and she is the first purchase and hopefully there will be some more.”

Others from the home team to watch for include John Saddler’s Slider who claimed the Speakeasy Stakes over track and trip last month and Steven Asmussen’s Committee Of One, who accounted for Weaver’s Amidst Waves in the Indian Summer Stakes.

Asmussen said: “It was a breakthrough race last time. Obviously, at five-eighths on the turf (in stall 12), you need to get lucky with the trip. He’s a horse that likes to come from a little off of it, so hopefully a good trip will open up.”

There is a strong Irish challenge which features shock Royal Ascot winner Valiant Force, a first runner for Adrian Murray at the end-of-season spectacular, while the hat-trick-seeking Tiger Belle is just a second runner at the meeting for Adrian McGuinness.

Jessica Harrington’s Middle Park fourth Givemethebeatboys and Aidan O’Brien’s Cherry Blossom are the others making the trip from Ireland, while Frankie Dettori will get the leg-up aboard Ralph Beckett’s Starlust.

Frankie Dettori is savouring a “Ryder Cup atmosphere” as he prepares to take up several high-profile rides at this year’s Breeders’ Cup meeting at Santa Anita.

The high-profile fixture looked as though it could be one of the Italian’s last after he announced his retirement late last year, but his recent U-turn means racing fans in California can expect to see plenty more of him over the Christmas period and next year as he prepares to move Stateside full time.

The 52-year-old has a handful of quality rides over the course of the weekend, including Aidan O’Brien’s Unquestionable in Friday’s Juvenile Turf with Inspiral in the Filly & Mare Turf and King Of Steel in the Turf among his big guns on Saturday.

Dettori is also booked to partner Zandon for American trainer Chad Brown in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, but nevertheless sees himself as competing for the away team.

“The Breeders’ Cup has a Ryder Cup atmosphere and I’m proud to be representing Europe,” he said trackside on Thursday morning.

“I’m looking forward to riding back here for the first day of the meet on Boxing Day.”

Of Zandon, Dettori added: “He is a solid, staying horse who finished third in the Kentucky Derby (last year).

“I’ve ridden for Chad a few times, but I won’t ride the colt before Saturday.

“I thought he looked good when he won the Woodward last time.”

Ed Crisford is confident Carla’s Way will be “bang there at the finish” in Friday’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Santa Anita.

The daughter of Starspangledbanner proved her class with victory in the Group Two Rockfel Stakes at Newmarket in late September, since when she has been kept fresh for her trip to California.

Carla’s Way is part of a strong European contingent that also includes Donnacha O’Brien’s Cheveley Park Stakes heroine Porta Fortuna and Aidan O’Brien’s Content – and Crisford, who trains in partnership with his father, Simon, believes their filly has plenty in her favour.

He said: “It’s a really good race and Donnacha’s filly is a very good filly who has won a Group One, but Carla’s Way also brings sort of Group One form into the race having beaten the first and second in the Fillies’ Mile (Ylang Ylang and Shuwari).

“She will suit this track and a two-turn mile extremely well. We just didn’t want to run her on a straight mile on soft ground in the Fillies’ Mile so we opted to come here and we thought it would suit her down to the ground – she can just ping off that quick ground.

“Her draw (stall nine) isn’t too bad and you have options from there at least. I always thought five to 10 is where I wanted to be so it is OK.

“She is in really good form and has taken to Santa Anita extremely well. She’s been on the track in a morning and for a two-year-old it can be quite a lot going to a new place and seeing all the horses training on the track there, but she is just loving it and is like an old pro.

“She’s taken everything in her stride, I couldn’t be happier with her and I think she goes in with a favourite’s chance. Hopefully she gets a clean trip and I’m sure she will be bang there at the finish.”

Porta Fortuna has won four of her six starts, with her Cheveley Park success preceded by Group Three triumphs at Naas and in the Albany Stakes at Royal Ascot.

She has not yet won beyond six furlongs and tackles a mile for the first time, but O’Brien is happy to roll the dice.

“She’s been fantastic for us and has had a great year,” he said.

“She’s in great form and seems to have travelled over well. We are not sure if we will stay the mile, but she will handle the ground and the track should be fine so we are excited.

“Ever since the day the owners bought her after her maiden this has been sort of a long-term plan. Obviously you can never expect to be at the Breeders’ Cup, but if she turned out to be good enough this was always the plan and thankfully she has.

“We’re just keeping her safe and happy and healthy until the race and hopefully we get a bit of luck on the day.”

O’Brien senior saddled Meditate to claim victory in last year’s renewal and will be hoping Content can raise her game following a surprise Group Three win at the Curragh four weeks ago.

Leading contenders for the home team include Cherie DeVaux’s She Feels Pretty and Hard To Justify, who looks to provide her trainer Chad Brown with a fifth win in the last 11 runnings.

The British horseracing industry has launched a petition urging the UK government to halt the planned introduction of what are seen as intrusive affordability checks.

By 11am on Thursday over 10,000 had already signed the online petition just hours after it had been posted, which it says could push punters towards black markets.

The Gambling White Paper published in April outlined plans to introduce blanket affordability checks which the industry as a whole has come together to rally against.

Racing industry experts have warned of a “catastrophic” impact on horse racing, with more than half of 14,000 people who recently took part in a survey suggesting they would walk away from the sport rather than provide personal financial information.

Independent estimates say up to £250million could be lost in revenue over the next five years.

Although it is registered in the name of Nevin Truesdale, chief executive of the Jockey Club, the petition is launched on behalf of Britain’s horseracing industry, which supports more than 85,000 jobs and contributes £4.1billion to the UK economy each year.

Its online citation reads: “We want the government to abandon the planned implementation of affordability checks for some people who want to place a bet. Such checks – including assessing whether people are ‘at risk of harm’ based on their postcode or job title – are inappropriate and discriminatory.

“The proposed checks could see bettors having to prove they can afford their hobby if they sustain losses as low as £1.37 per day. We accept the need to help those with problem gambling but more intrusive checks triggered at a higher threshold risks bettors moving to the black market where there are no consumer protections or safer gambling tools. There will also be a negative impact on British horseracing’s finances due to a reduction in betting turnover and resulting fall in Levy yield.”

Truesdale said: “The horseracing industry is hugely supportive of changes which directly address problem gambling, especially in the digital age we are in and we welcome the reform of the gambling laws which will result from the white paper, once it passes through the Parliamentary legislative process.

“However, the proposed and ongoing affordability checks are a significant infringement on personal freedom and have the potential to impact unfairly on two groups of people – the millions who gamble responsibly every year and the tens of thousands whose livelihoods depend directly and indirectly on horseracing.

“It is deeply disturbing that racing fans may have to prove they can afford to lose what amounts to less than £10 a week having a flutter on the sport they love, in particular when you consider the extremely low percentage of problem gambling in relation to horseracing. Nowhere else in society do we see this level of intrusiveness from the government when it comes to people’s legitimate hobbies.”

Truesdale added that a major concern regarding the government’s plans is that the checks themselves will not actually succeed in addressing the biggest issue they have been designed to tackle.

“If you introduce these blanket checks as they have been proposed, all it will actually do is create issues and friction for people, most of whom bet perfectly responsibly,” he said.

“We would like to see a much more targeted system of checks, which specifically respond to other markers of harm rather than just a blanket affordability check that will do nothing to address the underlying issue.”

Should 100,000 sign the petition it will be considered for debate in parliament.

Hamish will attempt to successfully complete an unbeaten 2023 season when he lines up in the rearranged Betfred St Simon Stakes at Newmarket on Friday.

William Haggas’ stable stalwart, who is owned by the trainer’s father, Brian, has won all three outings this term and was last seen winning easily at the Qatar Goodwood Festival.

He will now race on the Rowley Mile for the very first time, bidding to go one better than when second in the race when held at its usual home of Newbury 12 months ago.

“We need some more rain really, but I think the ground will be pretty soft,” said Haggas.

“Newmarket is a completely different test for him. He’s a quirky horse so it will be interesting to see how he copes. We have never contemplated running him here, but there is a first time for everything I suppose.

“He is a useful horse. He’s in good form, so we’re hopeful.”

It was Max Vega who denied Hamish in the race last year and he is one of two in the race for trainer Ralph Beckett, alongside stablemate Lone Eagle.

Charlie Appleby’s King Of Conquest steps up in trip having pushed Haggas’ My Prospero close at Goodwood in September while Karl Burke’s Al Qareem has been in brilliant order since returning from a layoff and adds extra spice to the contest in search of a hat-trick.

“We chose to run here rather than go to France (for the Prix Royal-Oak). We just felt near enough two miles on heavy ground would be hard work for him when you add in the travelling as well,” explained Nick Bradley, managing director of owners Nick Bradley Racing.

“I think the race is strong enough, the last two times he has been headed and fought back and I would be pretty hopeful, but Hamish is obviously in there as a very good horse.

“We go there expecting a big run and soft ground over a mile and a half might be perfect for him. I don’t quite know what his optimum is, when he won his Group Two it was over further on soft ground, but right now this is what I would choose – a mile and a half and soft ground.”

The Bradley silks will be carried for the first time by Grant Tuer’s Nottingham scorer Je Ne Sais Quoi in the supporting Irish EBF “Bosra Sham” Fillies’ Stakes, a race that has attracted 15 two-year-old fillies.

Chief among some talented youngsters in the field is Richard Hannon’s Serene Seraph who was placed behind a number of quality operators in her first two starts before opening her account in style at Newbury.

She now makes her first start for new owners Wathnan Racing and connections are confident she will handle the drop back in trip as they search for some end-of-season black type.

“She will take her chance coming back a furlong but I think she will get away with it,” said Richard Brown, racing adviser for the owners.

“It looks like very testing ground as it was at Newbury when she won last time.

“She has some very strong form in the book and we were keen to have a go at some black type before putting her away for next year.

“She’s a big filly and she will only be better next year, but Richard is very happy with her and we are happy to take a chance.”

Dual Group One winner Mostahdaf will retire to the stallion ranks at Shadwell’s Beech House Stud after his final career start in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf on Saturday.

The Frankel colt is trained by John and Thady Gosden for owner-breeder Shadwell, the racing operation of Sheikha Hissa.

His five-year-old campaign has been a great success with victories in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot and the Juddmonte International at York, performances that see him lining up at Santa Anita on a mark of 128 with nearly £2.5million in prize-money earnt so far.

Beech House Stud in Newmarket is newly refurbished and will become the home of all Shadwell’s UK-based stallions, meaning Mostahdaf will stand alongside Baaeed, Tasleet and Mohaather.

Angus Gold, Shadwell’s racing manager, said: “Mostahdaf has been a top-class horse for the last three seasons, from showing his speed when winning five of his six races as a three-year-old between seven furlongs and a mile; he then displayed his clear versatility and ability over further.

“Since winning the Neom Turf Cup in Saudi Arabia by seven lengths earlier this year, he has come from behind to beat the best 10-furlong horses in Europe at Royal Ascot, and then made all in the Juddmonte International. At York he highlighted both his speed and class by running six of the last eight furlongs under 12 seconds.

“Mostahdaf never missed a day’s training and was a thorough professional throughout his career; his enthusiasm for his work, together with his outstanding physique and speed, should make him a very attractive prospect for breeders.”

John Gosden added: “Mostahdaf has always been a pleasure to train. Sound and always positive and generous in his work. His action is superb and fluent with a high cruising speed and electric acceleration. A horse who has been very consistent throughout his career.”

In other stallion news, Juddmonte have announced the Ralph Beckett-trained Irish Derby winner Westover has been sold and will stand at Yushun Stallion Station in Hokkaido, Japan for the 2024 season.

He will be syndicated, and a fee is yet to be determined.

Royal Ascot winner Bradsell has been scratched from the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint.

In a huge blow to connections the King’s Stand Stakes hero will not be taking his place in the field.

He had been seen in action on the Santa Anita track on Wednesday but overnight trainer Archie Watson informed Breeders’ Cup officials Bradsell would not be running.

In the absence of usual partner Hollie Doyle, who is suspended, he was due to be ridden by Luke Morris but unfortunately for those concerned Bradsell will be absent when the field lines up on Saturday.

European interest in the race now rests with Nunthorpe winner Live In The Dream and Aidan O’Brien’s Aesop’s Fables.

Gerri Colombe will have to wait an extra week to start out on the Cheltenham Gold Cup trail after Down Royal’s two-day meeting on Friday and Saturday was postponed by seven days to now take place on November 10 and November 11.

Gordon Elliott’s talented stayer is the second-favourite for Gold Cup glory following a fine novice chase campaign last term and was due to step into open company in the feature Ladbrokes Champion Chase, where rivals could have included established stars Conflated, Envoi Allen and Minella Indo.

However, with Down Royal currently unraceable, the decision has been made to shift the whole meeting back in the calendar with fresh entries for the meeting set to close on Monday and Tuesday.

Down Royal clerk Tracey O’Meara said: “We have just taken another look at the track and consulted with the River Agencies within the locality. The situation here is that we’ve been informed the River Lagan will continue to rise over the next 48 hours which will not enable the standing water on the course to subside.

“We were hoping for a more positive outcome when we started work on the track this morning to remove the water, but the situation with the River Lagan leaves us with no option but to make the difficult decision to cancel both Friday and Saturday as the track will simply not be ready in time.

“We were giving the meeting every chance but have made the decision at the earliest possible opportunity with the industry and public in mind. We are pleased to say that everyone is in a position to reschedule the fixtures for Friday 10 and Saturday 11 of November and the forecast into next week looks to be more favourable. Fresh entries will close on Monday for Friday and Tuesday for Saturday.”

Champion Stakes winner King Of Steel could be back in America next year for the Breeders’ Cup Classic, Roger Varian has indicated.

There was a decision to be had this time around after the giant grey won on Champions Day at Ascot, with owner Kia Joorabchian admitting he was tempted by an ambitious bid for the dirt showpiece.

Discretion got the better part of valour on this occasion with only 14 days separating the meetings at Ascot and Santa Anita, and King Of Steel will contest the Breeders’ Cup Turf over 12 furlongs instead, meaning he will once more clash with his Derby conqueror Auguste Rodin.

“He looks to be taking everything in his stride. He has a positive demeanour of a horse that can go again. The natural instinct was not to come, but the vital signs are good,” said Varian.

“We left the decision to come as long as we could and he looked so good at home he was ticking plenty of boxes to make me think we should travel.

“It’s the type of race we are interested in, the Turf was always the priority. He found a way to win at Ascot, but I’m sure he didn’t enjoy the conditions.

“We could think about the Classic next season as he will stay in training.”