Horse Racing: Cheer for Europeans at Cup Draw Ceremony

The weather was so miserable here yesterday morning that Ed Dunlop sent Ouija Board out to gallop on the turf course wearing the equine equivalent of a balaclava helmet.

The draw ceremony, though, was much more accommodating, not just to Ouija Board but to the great majority of Europe's many runners, including George Washington, who will start from stall four as he attempts to win the $5m Classic on Saturday night. Ouija Board drew box two in the $2m Filly & Mare Turf, in which 10 runners will go to post, and was installed as the 8-5 favourite for the race by the local odds-setter, an almost identical price to the 7-4 with most British bookmakers.

"It was pouring with rain so we thought we'd send her out with something to cover her head and keep her happy," Dunlop said. "That's a good draw for her, and we'll just canter her for the next two days, hopefully with Frankie [Dettori, her bigrace jockey] on board on Friday.

"It's slow ground out there now, but they say that it's a course that drains very quickly, and we'd hope that it will be fine for her by Saturday."

The going on the turf course was described as yielding for the meeting at Churchill Downs yesterday, with the dirt course, which was more a series of muddy puddles than a racetrack by midday, officially riding "sloppy". Little more rain is forecast, however, and fast conditions are still expected to prevail for the first $20m racecard in American history.

Ouija Board is the shortest-priced European runner, but Satwa Queen, from France, also holds a good chance in her race, though she is 7-1 (from 5-1) with Coral after drawing stall nine.

There was mounting tension when yesterday's draw ceremony reached its climax, with George Washington and Bernardini, the hot favourite for the Classic, still to be allocated a stall, and two high numbers among the four that remained. Both horses got lucky, though, with George Washington going into four, and Bernardini due to start on his immediate inside in three.

The 12 box was the only alternative left for Bernardini at that stage, which might have given American punters pause for thought as they prepare to back him like a certainty on Saturday. With his excellent draw, though, he is currently an evenmoney chance, and the feeling is that he will be significantly shorter when the starting bell sounds on Saturday.

David Junior, Britain's representative in the race, drew a very acceptable seven, and Brian Meehan, his trainer, seems confident that the Eclipse Stakes winner will do himself justice.

"He's never had dirt in his face before like he will on Saturday, but he's a very tough horse who enjoys change and doing different things," Meehan said. "It's a huge gamble to run him, but he's an outstanding and very consistent horse, and he's got a great each-way chance." Meehan's other runner at the meeting, Red Rocks, has stall nine in the Turf, with Hurricane Run, generally a 3-1 chance, drawn seven and Aidan O'Brien's Scorpion wellplaced in four.

In the Mile, a key race when it comes to stall position since there is a sharp lefthand bend shortly after the start, Jeremy Noseda's Araafa is the clear favourite with most bookmakers after getting a perfect draw in three. Aussie Rules, another of Aidan O'Brien's runners, had less fortune, though, and will start from the wide outside in 14, while his stablemate, Ivan Denisovich, is now a non-runner.

Rob Roy, who looked well as he worked on the turf course yesterday, is in stall nine, which Echo Of Light, the mount of Frankie Dettori, drew six. Librettist, his stablemate at the Godolphin yard, is in 13, and out to 12-1 (from 10-1) with Hill's as a result, while John Gosden, who saddled a runner at the first Breeders' Cup in 1984, will be delighted with Sleeping Indian's draw in four. Satulagi, who represents a bold bid for the Juvenile Fillies' by Stan Moore's Hungerford yard, drew stall 11 and is generally a 25-1 chance to take the winner's share of the $2m purse.