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| Staff Writer |
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Next weekend, King Of Steel will strive to build on his impressive performance at the QIPCO Champion Stakes by competing in the Breeders' Cup.
Owner Kia Joorabchian has confirmed that the 3YO horse is heading towards Santa Anita, with the likelihood of participating in the Breeders' Cup Turf. Although there is a possibility of running in the Classic, it seems that the horse's lack of experience on dirt makes the 12-furlong turf event the preferred choice at this point.
“We’ve been monitoring him all week, I’ve spoken to Roger (Varian) almost every day and I went to see him this week,” Joorabchian told Nick Luck’s Daily Podcast on Friday. “To be honest Roger has said the same thing every day, he can’t fault him and he’s in great shape. He’s come out of the race really well.
“Roger would always err on the side of caution, but he’s very happy with him so he’s going to travel today to Santa Anita so fingers crossed he should be running in, I’d say, most probably the Turf, but we haven’t completely ruled anything out yet.
“The reality is, Roger and his team probably feel much more comfortable on the turf, as a three-year-old I think we would edge towards the Turf. He’s never run on dirt and the only factor is if he gets out of the gates a little bit slower he’d get a lot of dirt in his face. That is edging us more towards the Turf. The jockey (Frankie Dettori) arrived there yesterday, he sent me a video of himself working out.”