Racing:George Washington familiarised himself with the dirt track at Churchill Downs ahead of his run in the Breeders' Cup Classic.
Trainer Aidan O'Brien was on hand as the 2000 Guineas and Queen Elizabeth II Stakes winner, ridden by groom Pat Lillis, cantered on the course in company with Ivan Denisovich.
"He just cantered for a mile, that's all," O'Brien said. "It went fine. Everything went as expected and Pat was very happy with him," said the Ballydoyle maestro.
Although the three-year-old has shown signs of temperament on previous outings, George Washington was relaxed as he tried the unfamiliar surface under the watching eye of Coolmore supremo and co-owner John Magnier.
His relaxed demeanour certainly impressed the bookmakers with both William Hill and Stan James shortening the Irish contender a point to 7-1 third-favourite alongside Lava Man for Saturday's race.
"I thought he behaved very well - he behaved great, didn't he?" said O'Brien.
The trainer admitted, however, that plenty of questions still remained about his charge's race prospects on the dirt.
He said: "I suppose it's whether he can handle it or get a hold of it and whether he gets dirt in his face, what's going to happen."
As to discovering any answers, O'Brien added: "No, but we didn't think we would. All he wanted was to come around and canter where he's going to race, that's just being realistic, that's all we were going to know."
O'Brien also supervised Turf contender Scorpion and Mile hopes Ad Valorem and Aussie Rules as they had a spin on the inner turf track.
"All the horses seemed to be fine and all the lads that rode them, everyone seemed to be happy," said O'Brien.
George Washington's big-race rider Mick Kinane watched both sessions before later walking the track with O'Brien, Magnier and the other co-owners, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith.