King Of Steel team taking watching brief on Santa Anita challenge

Breeders’ Cup Turf option still on the table for Champion Stakes hero.

Connections will take a watching brief before deciding whether King Of Steel will bid to follow up his Qipco Champion Stakes success with Breeders’ Cup glory.

The Roger Varian-trained three-year-old, owned by Kia Joorabchian’s Amo Racing, is among the leading fancies for the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Santa Anita on November 4, but must first show he has recovered well enough from his Ascot exertions.

“I think we need to take stock and see how the horse is – I know that’s the obvious thing to say,” said Varian.

“He appears to have come out of the race physically in good shape, but he would have had a hard race yesterday and we can’t ignore that. We just have to see how he is over the next week.

“I know Kia is very keen on the Breeders’ Cup anyway, in general, and if he could get a good horse there, then of course he’d want to be there.

Frankie Dettori is congratulated by owner Kia Joorabchian
Frankie Dettori is congratulated by owner Kia Joorabchian (John Walton/PA)

“But in fairness to Kia, he’s been very good all year and he’s always said to me only run the horse when you’re 100 per cent happy, and if you’re not, we don’t go.

“I’m sure that will be the same regarding California in a couple of weeks’ time. We need to give it a few days to see what messages the horse is giving us, so I’m not going to take it off the table and we’ll just see how he is.”

One thing Varian will have no fears about after the thrilling Champions Stakes success under Frankie Dettori is King Of Steel’s ability to handle to Breeders’ Cup razzamatazz.

Speaking on Racing TV’s Luck on Sunday programme, Varian said: “He’s really a delight to train, not just because he’s very good but because he’s got a great temperament – and I thought that was on show yesterday.

“There was a lot of buzz and noise as the horse left the paddock and he had to keep himself together.

“And after the race, with all that was going on, he was really just behaving like a very good horse with a very calm personality.

“He’s like that; when he gets to the races, he doesn’t waste any excess energy, no nervous energy escapes from him and he’s really the ultimate professional as a racehorse.”

Frankie Dettori soaks in the applause of the crowd
Frankie Dettori soaks in the applause of the crowd (John Walton/PA)

Varian was also full of praise for Dettori, who produced another memorable ride on his farewell to British racing.

“I actually haven’t had a proper debrief with Frankie yet; I had a few hugs but not a debrief,” added Varian.

“I thought we were in trouble for the first half of the race, nothing was really making up ground or coming off the pace.

“Of course, we left everything to Frankie, but I don’t think he thought he’d be last going into Swinley Bottom.

“He gave him a beautiful ride, kept him balanced, gave him a chance to find his feet and he came home very strong where it mattered.”

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