Breeders Cup -day one

The Breeders Cup starts this evening at Churchill Downs, Kentucky, with the so-called Ladies Day, when 5 of the 6 races are confined to fillies. The exception is the first race of the series, the B.C. Marathon at 21.10 CET, won for the two years at has been run by European runners, as the Americans are not usually much good over this distance. Bright Horizon (Aidan O´Brien/ Johnny Murtagh) and Precision Break (Paul Cole/ Jamie Spencer) are the two European runners here, with the former easily preferred. The Juvenile Fillies Turf at 21.50 has 4 European runners, with the O´Brien/ Murtagh team represented by Together, who has arguably the best form but is badly drawn. Tale Untold (Richard Hannon/ Ryan Moore), Quiet Oasis (Brian Meehan/ Frankie Dettori) and Flood Plain (John Gosden/ William Buick) are the others, while the unbeaten Winter Memories (Jonas Toner/ Jose Lazcano) looks best of the locals.

Sara Louise (Saeed bin Suroor/ Dettori) is the only "European" in the Filly & Mares Sprint at 22.30, but she has in fact been racing only in the States and looks held on form. Thyskens Theory (Meehan/ Dettori) is fancied in the Juvenile Fillies (on dírt) at 23.10, where Bob Baffert´ s AZ Warrior (Martin Garcia) could be the one to beat. The Filly & Mare Turf over 1 mile 3 furlongs at 23.50 is the race of the evening as far as the Europeans are concerned and sees Midday (Henry Cecil/ Tom Queally) attempt to repeat her 2009 victory at Santa Anita. She holds the other Europeans - Plumania (André Fabre/ Olivier Peslier) and Hibaayeb (bin Suroor/ Dettori) -a flop in the Preis der Diana at Düsseldorf - but the Japanese challenger Red Desire looks very dangerous. It would also be nice to see German-bred Eclair de Lune run well.

Fnally, the Ladies Classic at 0.30 should lie between Blind Luck (Jerry Hollendorfer/ Joel Rosario) and Life at Ten (Todd Pletcher/ John Velazquez)