o'brien excited by classic bid

By PA Sport Staff

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Aidan O'Brien feels George Washington's bid for Breeders' Cup Classic glory represents a calculated risk.

The Ballydoyle handler praised owners John Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith for taking the gamble of not only testing their three-year-old over a mile and a quarter, but doing it on an unknown surface against the best horses in the world.

O'Brien said: "It's just great that the lads are going to let him do it. It's exciting for everybody.

"It would have been okay for the lads to keep him for the Mile, where he would have been a short-priced favourite and you would imagine it would be a sail for him.

"But this is exciting - a total trip into the unknown.

"Anything is possible with this horse. We know we've never had a horse with the ability like this but we know the task is there and the circumstances he has to overcome."

George Washington will get his first look at the dirt track at Churchill Downs on Friday morning at 7.45am local time when he rides out with stablemate Ivan Denisovich for a "happy canter".

O'Brien added: "No matter what surface he has to work on he seems to be always the same - heavy grass, hard grass, polytrack; his movement never changes.

"But obviously he's never raced on the dirt, he's never been on the dirt and we've seen what can happen to horses on the dirt.

"There's always things you can look back on and say 'I should have said that or done that' but really what everybody's trying to do is to expose the stallions for the breeders to see what their limitations are - and that's why it's great that the lads are this way about it.

"It's very easy to be cautious and only give them one or two runs a year but the lads never stopped him from running up.

"This fellow has some pace but firstly, will he travel?

"And if he does, then how long will that pace last?"