Another Coolmore Classic Try With Gleneagles

John Magnier's Coolmore operation will try to secure its first Breeders' Cup Classic (gr. I) win this year with English and Irish classic winner Gleneagles.

Winner of this year's Two Thousand Guineas in Ireland and England, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, and Susan Magnier's Irish-bred Gleneagles will make his first start on dirt in the Breeders' Cup Classic (gr. I) Oct. 31 at Keeneland. When the three-time group I-winning son of Galileo starts in Saturday's 1 1/4-mile dirt race, it will mark the 14th time since 2000 that owners associated with Coolmore have started a horse in America's richest race.

The morning of Oct. 29, Gleneagles jogged around the outside of the sloppy Keeneland main track under Joseph O'Brien. Jockey Ryan Moore will have the mount in his first dirt start Saturday, which also will be his first race on Lasix.

"It is impossible to tell how he will handle the dirt, but what I would say is, when he stretched his legs this morning, he was in very good form and moving well," Joseph O'Brien said. "The dirt is still a bit sloppy, but better than it was and they are saying that there will not be much more in the way of rain."

Joseph O'Brien said Gleneagles should have enough early run to stay in the race in the initial stages.

"My horse has a lot of pace, he's a good mover who travels and can quicken and while it is a shot into the dark, he has a great constitution," Joseph O'Brien said. "I think we will know after a couple of furlongs, if he's travelling and happy, he is in with a shout." 

Co-owner Michael Tabor was on hand to watch the dual Guineas winner stretch his legs.

"He is a real champion and a real star, but whether or not he will adapt to this surface, we will just have to see, but he is a real champion," Tabor said.

Coolmore's top Breeders' Cup Classic runners have included Giant's Causeway  , who finished second in 2000; Henrythenavigator, second in 2008; and Declaration of War  , third in 2013. Gleneagles' sire, Galileo, finished sixth in the 2001 Classic.

Giant's Causeway parlayed his close runner-up finish to Tiznow   in the 2000 Classic into a successful Kentucky-based stallion career at Coolmore's Ashford Stud in Versailles, Ky. The son of Storm Cat has finished as the leading sire three times.