Arkle
12-05-2006, 06:24 AM
THE owners of Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro have raised the intriguing possibility of running him in Europe at some time in his career – with the Arc de Triomphe as first choice.
Barbaro, a brilliant winner at Churchill Downs by the widest margin for 60 years, is now heading for the second leg of the US Triple Crown, the Preakness Stakes on Saturday week.
He runs in the colours of Lael Stables, the racing operation of owner-breeders Roy and Gretchen Jackson, who also bred 2,000 Guineas winner George Washington.
Barbaro won three races on turf, including a Graded race, before being switched to dirt by trainer Michael Matz with such good effect. According to the Thoroughbred Times, the Jacksons are interested in trying him again on the surface in Europe at some point, with the Arc as a possible target.
“Wouldn’t that be a great thing?” Roy Jackson said. “People always come here to win our Breeders’ Cup races, so it would be something to go over there and run.”
The Jacksons are no strangers to racing in Europe, having had that speedy filly Superstar Leo in training with William Haggas.
Indeed, a question was raised at the post-Derby press conference asking whether they might even consider Epsom rather than a crack at the Triple Crown.
While that is a fanciful idea, Roy Jackson joked that Longchamp had certain attractions, saying: “Gretchen and D D Matz [Michael’s wife] would love to go to the Arc de Triomphe, because they want to go shopping in Paris.”
Given their sporting nature – the Jacksons turned down a $5 million offer for Barbaro after he had won the Laurel Futurity as ajuvenile – a visit to the Arc is not such a far-fetched concept.
But although Ascot are seldom slow to approach connections of leading foreign-trained horses, their public relations director Nick Smith isn’t planning to pursue Barbaro yet with a view to the King George.
“If they are still standing at the Breeders’ Cup, then obviously we’d speak to them about the next year’s King George,” said Smith. “But it is a little bit early – you’d never get an American three-year-old in the race.”
Barbaro, a brilliant winner at Churchill Downs by the widest margin for 60 years, is now heading for the second leg of the US Triple Crown, the Preakness Stakes on Saturday week.
He runs in the colours of Lael Stables, the racing operation of owner-breeders Roy and Gretchen Jackson, who also bred 2,000 Guineas winner George Washington.
Barbaro won three races on turf, including a Graded race, before being switched to dirt by trainer Michael Matz with such good effect. According to the Thoroughbred Times, the Jacksons are interested in trying him again on the surface in Europe at some point, with the Arc as a possible target.
“Wouldn’t that be a great thing?” Roy Jackson said. “People always come here to win our Breeders’ Cup races, so it would be something to go over there and run.”
The Jacksons are no strangers to racing in Europe, having had that speedy filly Superstar Leo in training with William Haggas.
Indeed, a question was raised at the post-Derby press conference asking whether they might even consider Epsom rather than a crack at the Triple Crown.
While that is a fanciful idea, Roy Jackson joked that Longchamp had certain attractions, saying: “Gretchen and D D Matz [Michael’s wife] would love to go to the Arc de Triomphe, because they want to go shopping in Paris.”
Given their sporting nature – the Jacksons turned down a $5 million offer for Barbaro after he had won the Laurel Futurity as ajuvenile – a visit to the Arc is not such a far-fetched concept.
But although Ascot are seldom slow to approach connections of leading foreign-trained horses, their public relations director Nick Smith isn’t planning to pursue Barbaro yet with a view to the King George.
“If they are still standing at the Breeders’ Cup, then obviously we’d speak to them about the next year’s King George,” said Smith. “But it is a little bit early – you’d never get an American three-year-old in the race.”