O'Brien kicks off with three

THE 28th Breeders’ Cup gets underway at Churchill Downs tonight with a showmanship that can’t quite disguise the cracks in some claims being made for it, but still with a very concrete $26 million on offer.

Calling itself the “World Thoroughbred Championships” could be construed as a typical piece of American hard-sell considering only one of the world’s top 10-rated horses – the Aidan O’Brien-trained So You Think – is actually in attendance.

But European involvement has always been a sideshow considering the essentially local focus of racing’s richest two days which is designed to sell the sport in America.

What is interesting tonight is how even the “Filly Friday” tagline looks shaky considering the very best females, Goldikova, Havre De Grace and Midday, will all be in action tomorrow.

But despite all that, and the persistent discrepancies involving drug policies on either side of the Atlantic, the Breeders’ Cup continues to generate an excitement and glamour that can be gauged by O’Brien’s decision to send a massive team of 11 horses.

The champion trainer’s eight runners tomorrow will only clear quarantine today but three of O’Brien’s line up tonight including Misty For Me in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf and a pair of two-year-olds in both Juvenile contests.

One of them, the Dundalk winner Up, hasn’t impressed some local clockers at Churchill Downs with one of the trade papers describing the daughter of Galileo as “roughly the size of a very large dog”.

Homecoming Queen tackles dirt for the very first time and overall Misty For Me looks the best Ballydoyle hope on the first day.

Her Pretty Polly defeat of Midday in June is a standout piece of form but ground conditions are likely to be different now and the former top French mare Stacelita has been in dominant form on her last two starts in the US.

John Gosden’s Boussac heroine Elusive Katie will be a major European fancy in the Juvenile Turf but the French hope, Dear Lavinia, doesn’t have much to make up on her on Deauville form during the summer and is bred to relish the hike in trip.

The Ladies Classic on dirt is the Friday feature and off a strong pace the Alabama winner Royal Delta could run down both Plum Pretty and It’s Tricky while the Frizette winner My Miss Aurelia can make a winning first start around two turns in the Juvenile.