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Grand National festival

Gosden trio reported in good shape ahead of Breeders' Cup missions

ASCOT, ENGLAND - JUNE 17:  Lord North ridden by James Doyle on the way to winning the Prince Of Wales' Stakes on Day Two of Royal Ascot at Ascot Racecourse on June 17, 2020 in Ascot, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
Lord North: flies the flag for John Gosden at KeenelandCredit: Julian Finney (Getty Images)

John Gosden has issued a positive bulletin on the condition of his three runners at this weekend's two-day Breeders' Cup fixture at Keeneland.

Gosden saddles Royal Ascot winner Lord North and consistent filly Mehdaayih in Saturday's Longines Breeders' Cup Turf and is hoping the state of the ground in Kentucky holds up to enhance their chances.

Lord North finished last behind Addeybb on heavy ground in the Champion Stakes at Ascot in October but accounted for that rival on good ground in the Group 1 Prince Of Wales's Stakes in June.

He will have the services of Frankie Dettori for the first time this year, which is a major bonus given the jockey has won the race five times including with Enable in 2018.

Mehdaayih: impressive Chester winner will be supplemented for the Oaks
Mehdaayih: Gosden's second-string in the Breeders' Cup TurfCredit: Edward Whitaker

Gosden, who will not be making the trip to the Keeneland this weekend, said: "Lord North, Mehdaayih and our other runner Terrebellum, who goes in the Filly & Mare Turf, arrived over there last weekend and all the reports so far have been good.

"They all cantered nicely this morning I believe. All three have respectable draws in their races and rather than being too high or too low.

"They tell me the ground on the turf track is good to firm to loose so we'll see how it rides on the day. They have had a lot of rain during the autumn and it could well ride softer than that but hopefully they'll handle it okay."

A TurfTrax report for the track issued on Tuesday gave the going on the turf track as good and a GoingStick reading of 7.4 In the last seven days the track has seen over 50mm of rain.


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Newmarket correspondent

Published on inGrand National festival

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