British Star Falbrav May Run in BC Classic

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Although trainer Luca Cumani is still leaning toward the Breeders' Cup Turf (gr. IT), he is taking a long, hard look at the Breeders' Cup Classic - Powered by Dodge (gr. I) after the defections of some of the leading contenders.

"Running him would (in the Classic) would be taking a punt, but should Falbrav win it, it would prove him more versatile than Giant's Causeway and Sakhee, and give him an incomparable profile as a stallion prospect," Cumani said in the Sporting Life.

"Should he get beaten in the Classic, all people would do is deride me for running him on the dirt, but I can live with that. The Classic is missing some of the top dirt horses, like Mineshaft, Candy Ride, and Empire Maker, but Medaglia d'Oro seems virtually unbeatable at Santa Anita. The Turf means taking on Sulamani, which will not be straightforward. However, I believe Falbrav has a faster kick that Sulamani, who is more of a horse who winds up his challenge. As things stand, tjhe idea is still to run in the Turf."

Falbrav is coming off a victory in the one-mile Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (Eng-I). Prior to that, he was an unlucky second behind High Chaparral in the Irish Champion Stakes (Ire-I), a race in which Cumani firmly believes Falbrav was clearly best. The 5-year-old son of Fairy King also captured the Juddmonte International (Eng-I), Eclipse Stakes (Eng-I), and Prix d'Ispahan (Fra-I) this year. Last fall he won the Japan Cup (Japan-I) by a nose over Sarafan and took the Gran Premio di Milano (Ity-I) in Italy.

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