William Buick and Oisin Murphy miss big domestic meetings for $2.75 million Champions Day card in Canada

Today's Offers

11

All offers

Exclusive new customer sign up offers

FREE BETS

FREE BETS

Oisin Murphy and William Buick will miss Group 1 contests in Britain and Ireland to ride at Champions Day in Canada, with Godolphin's Naval Power and Queen Elizabeth II Stakes.  winner Big Rock featuring on a star-studded card.

Charlie Appleby has sent out four top-level winners in North America since launching a satellite yard earlier this year and will have runners in the four Grade 1 contests on the card. Naval Power, who has posted back-to-back seconds, headlines the raid in the $1 million Rogers Woodbine Mile and is joined by two-year-olds Mountain Breeze (8.25) and Al Qudra (10.41), while Cinderella's Dream (9.33) aims to complete a hat-trick.

The trainer said: "Naval Power goes into the Woodbine Mile a fresh horse following a good layoff since the Turf Classic. It's a decent race but, on the back of his two US performances this season, he should be very competitive. He looks fit and well, and we're very pleased with him.

"Cinderella's Dream is taking on older opposition for the first time and we're hoping that she can show herself to be a candidate for the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf. She's been faultless in America so far this season."

Murphy has two rides including Kameko colt New Century, who steps up in grade having won the three-runner Listed Stonehenge Stakes at Salisbury last month.

He also rides Blush, who is seeking a fourth successive win, for Carlos Laffon-Parias in the E P Taylor Stakes where four-time Group 1 winner Blue Rose Cen is among the opposition.

She is on the comeback trail for Maurizio Guarnieri, having lost four times this campaign, while his Big Rock is also out to get his career back on track. The four-year-old was rated the fourth-best horse in the world when delivering a six-length thrashing to a good field in last season’s QEII, but has been beaten more than 40 lengths on his three starts this term.

Sign up to receive On The Nose, our essential daily newsletter, from the Racing Post. Your unmissable morning feed, direct to your email inbox every morning.