Will Hayler of the London Evening Standard is on hand at Churchill Downs to bring you all the flavour and colour of the Breeders' Cup 2006. Stay logged on for more updates.

Wednesday, November 1:

The toilet in my hotel bathroom says '1.6gpf' on it. I think I've finally worked out what it must stand for.

I don't exactly know what it is that Kentuckyians most like to eat but it must be re-assuring for them that whatever it is, there's 1.6 gallons of water ready to wash it away each time.

I had plenty of time to ponder this during the night as my body couldn't make up its mind whether it was time to pass out or get up and go.

I ended up somewhere between the two and slept for four hours before waking at 6.20am when I headed for the track.

There was plenty to see.

All of the Europeans, bar the O'Brien quintet (who remain in quarantine until Thursday morning), did something this morning.

I don't know what Hurricane Run is usually like at home in the mornings and Andre Fabre is seemingly not intending to come to the meeting so that I can ask.

But he certainly looked either full of beans or stone bonking mad (depending on your perspective) as he messed around with his work rider on the sloppy dirt track, weaving from side to side and cocking his jaw like he was laughing on his way back to the stables.

I'm not sure what sort of impression he made on me, but he certainly made an impression.

The one to really impress was Rob Roy, who looked an absolute picture as he cantered on the turf under Kevin Bradshaw.

He really is a handsome bastard and I am going to have to consider backing him in the Mile, particularly if SMS decides to go for the drugs with him.

Something inside has obviously been troubling him for a while now but maybe if the pain barrier problem can be dealt with, he could be a great long-odds poke.

The Americans can't have him at all.

With the rain still tipping down and a cold breeze blowing, Ouija Board worked in a grey balaclava-style hood.

I wondered if I might be stumbling on a scoop. "She's wearing a hood," I said as Ed Dunlop tried to walk past me out on to the track.

"It's wet," he replied.

"Will she be wearing it in the race?" I chanced.

"Don't be stupid," he said.

Looks like I'll miss out on Journalist of the Year again.

Unsurprisingly, she was a real professional and barely batted an eyelid as she did what she had to do on the track.

"She was brilliant," said Robin Trevor-Jones, her regular rider, as they returned to the stables.

"It was a bit muddy out there but it'll soon dry out."

That seemed to be a fairly unanimous opinion. Sam Avis, travelling head lad to Godolphin, agreed anyway.

"The turf course here is one of the best-draining tracks in the world," he said.

"It could rain all day today but if it's dry Friday and Saturday morning it would be quick again by the time that racing starts."

Sam's bosses are due out tomorrow but he said he didn't know whether Sheikh Mohammed would be racing on Saturday.

It's hard to imagine that HRH won't make it, even if he does have the usual world peace problems to work on at home. Bernadini could be a once-in-a-lifetime horse. He's got a perfect draw in three too, and George Washington would be well drawn in four if he wasn't almost guaranteed to fluff the start.

Some of the lads have been talking about a match bet between George and David Junior that William Hill are offering.

I have a hunch that the even money on DJ might not last, although all bets are being phoned back to Blighty due to the understandable reluctance of any of the bookmakers' PRs out here to get too involved in proceedings.

They shift in their seats nervously every time they hear a police siren.