Olympic Glory takes on a giant in USA turf racing

Olympic Glory and Richard Hughes ease to victory in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes Sponsored by QIPCO – can they follow up in the Breeders’ Cup Mile? Image courtesy of racingfotos.com.

Olympic Glory had to defeat stars like Dawn Approach, Kingsbarns, Maxios and Soft Falling Rain at Ascot on QIPCO British Champions Day when he surged to an easy victory in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, Europe’s richest mile race, but it will be a whole new ball game when he lines up at Santa Anita on Saturday for the Breeders’ Cup Mile, the richest mile race in the USA.

Absolutely everything will be different, but that’s one of the beauties of horse racing – you encounter different situations and the great horses must learn to take it in their stride.

At Ascot he raced over a straight mile on soft ground; at Santa Anita it is likely to be fast ground and they will race round a very tight oval.

Can the all conquering Hannon-Hughes partnership see him strike gold for the second time in two weeks?

Up against him is the world’s highest-rated miler following the retirement of Frankel and Excelebration last year – Wise Dan.

He has won 12 of his last 14 starts and has notched up seven Group 1 victories including a smooth success in this race last year when he left the 2012 QE2 winner, Excelebration, trailing behind him in fourth place.

With his knowledge of the track – he excels around tight American ovals – and his high crusing speed, the best USA-trained turf miler in years will be very hard to beat.

Olympic Glory is clearly a top class rival, however, and the blinkers in the QE2 had the desired effect by waking him up and bringing his huge talent to the fore.

We can but hope that like The Fugue and Declaration of War, Olympic Glory can fly the flag for Britain and the QIPCO British Champions Series and prove himself a star on Saturday night.