NEWS:JIM BOLGER and Kevin Manning's international Group One focus will continue to Hong Kong in December, but more immediately Irish fans will be hoping that this Saturday night's €3.7 million Breeders' Cup Classic will turn into an "Arnie and Aidan show".
California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will present the trophy to the Classic victors at Santa Anita, and Aidan O'Brien is pitching Duke Of Marmalade and Henrythenavigator against the best American horse, Curlin, in another attempt on the US's most valuable prize.
This is the eighth year Ireland's champion trainer has targeted the Classic, and his seven previous runners are a roll-call of Ballydoyle's best.
Giants Causeway did best when just beaten by Tiznow eight years ago, but Galileo, Hawk Wing and Oratorio finished well out of the money, while George Washington was fatally injured during last year's race at Monmouth Park.
O'Brien has been responsible for three of Ireland's five victories at the Breeders' Cup, and his possible nine-strong team at Santa Anita make up the backbone of the most powerful Irish team ever at the two-day event, which begins on Friday.
There is also the element of O'Brien's continuing attempt to break Bobby Frankel's world record for Group One winners in a year.
But even with David Wachman, Dermot Weld and Tommy Stack also heavily involved in Los Angeles, the Irish representatives will be hard-pressed to emulate Bolger and Manning's achievements at Newmarket on Saturday.
The Derby winner New Approach finished off his racing career with a six-length rout of the Emirates Champion Stakes opposition, while Intense Focus provided his connections with a third successive Dewhurst Stakes victory in desperately tight finish.
"He was the best I've had him all season," Bolger said of New Approach.
"To win a Group One with so much left in the tank, that's the measure of how good he is."
The trainer also described the five-time Group One winner as the best he has trained beyond a mile, and New Approach's famously unpredictable temperament was at its best on Saturday.
"He had it all worked out. He gave me the two fingers. 'That's it', he was saying to me. He was as near perfect as you could get. In the race he was bombproof," Bolger concluded.
Intense Focus is a 14 to 1 shot for next year's 2,000 Guineas after beating Lord Shanakill by a nose in the Dewhurst, but the inconclusive nature of the race is reflected in Rip Van Winkle's continuing presence at the top of next year's classic betting despite finishing only seventh on Saturday.
Arc Bleu was runner-up to Caracciola in the Cesarewitch, but his trainer, Tony Martin, received a €1,900 fine from the Newmarket stewards after they concluded that Martin had "brought a prohibited substance and the means with which to administer it into the stable yard, and without the permission of the veterinary officer."
Rip Van Winkle's Dewhurst failure has resulted in the odds on O'Brien securing the five more Group One wins needed to break Frankel's record lengthening out to 5 to 1.
A Cashmans spokesman said: "He has it all to do, but you never know at the Breeders' Cup. There are extra races this time and Achill Island managed to finish second in a race last year and he was no star."
O'Brien's Santa Anita runners are set to include Heart Shaped (Juvenile Fillies Turf) and Halfway To Heaven (Filly and Mare Turf) on Friday.
On Saturday he also has Soldier Of Fortune and Red Rock Canyon (Turf), Westphalia (Juvenile Turf), US Ranger (Mile), King Of Rome (Marathon) as well as the Classic duo.
