Ulysses on course for Breeders' Cup but Winter may have run her final race
By Racing TV
Last Updated: Tue 5 Dec 2023
Ulysses remains on course for another crack at the Breeders' Cup Turf after connections decided against running him in the Champion Stakes at Ascot on Saturday.
Fourth to Highland Reel in the race last year, a return to America has been high on the agenda all season for Sir Michael Stoute's colt.
He has taken his form to another level this campaign, winning the Coral-Eclipse and Juddmonte International over 10 furlongs while finishing a respectable distance behind Enable in the King George and the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe over a mile and a half.
Such has been his well-being since his run in France that an appearance at Ascot was still a possibility, but the forecast for plenty of rain on Saturday would not have been in his favour.
Stoute said on Thursday: "(We are) planning to run in the Breeders' Cup."
Meanwhile, a decision on whether Winter stays in training next season has still to be made after Aidan O'Brien confirmed she will not run again this year.
The dual Guineas heroine has been under the weather since she was unplaced when stepped up to a mile and a half for the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at Chantilly at the beginning of the month.
Winter was not confirmed for either the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes or the Champion Stakes at Ascot on Saturday and the four-time Group One winner may well have run her last race.
"She hasn't been 100 per cent since the Arc," O'Brien said. "She hadn't done much since then and that's why she was taken out (of the Ascot races).
"She won't run again this year and whether she stays in training will have to be discussed."
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