News: Aidan O'Brien is likely to maintain his usual low-key approach when he arrives in Kentucky today ahead of the Breeders' Cup but Kieren Fallon has adopted a very different tactic in Australia and his confidence in the Melbourne Cup chances of Yeats is described by one of his main rivals as being "quite amazing".
Ireland's champion trainer will return home after Saturday night's Breeders' Cup and he has left Yeats's preparation for Tuesday's Melbourne Cup to his stable jockey who continues to grab the headlines during his lengthy spell down under.
A recent work-out by the former Coronation Cup and current Ascot Gold Cup winner impressed Fallon so much that he greeted the watching local media with: "How does the Melbourne Cup winner look, boys?" And according to one of Australia's top jockeys, that is only consistent with the growing confidence in the chances of a third Irish-trained winner of the race that stops a nation.
Glen Boss, a three-time Melbourne Cup winner on Makybe Diva has been struck by Fallon's faith in Yeats, who has reportedly settled down to life in Australia in impressive fashion.
"I've ridden against Kieren a lot in Hong Kong and I know he is a good judge of a horse," said Boss to local reporters. "He has ridden all the best horses but he is talking this horse (Yeats) up like he is really over the line. It's quite amazing."
Fallon's first taste of riding in Melbourne yielded a Group Two win and a 10-day ban last Saturday at Moonee Valley where he also finished fourth in the Cox Plate on board Aqua D'Amore. That run seems to have only increased Fallon's belief that Yeats can follow in the footsteps of Vintage Crop (1993) and Media Puzzle (2002).
Ballydoyle's five-strong Breeders' Cup team touched down in Kentucky yesterday and the Mile trio of Aussie Rules, Ad Valorem and Ivan Denisovich, as well as the Turf contender Scorpion, look set to face fast ground conditions in Saturday's $20 million series.
Final entries for the eight Breeders' Cup races will be made today and, on the back of that, the vital post position draws will be made. O'Brien has already pointed to the importance of a good draw for George Washington who will tackle dirt for the first time in his career when he runs in the $5 million Classic.
The Irish flat season will finish at Leopardstown on Sunday where O'Brien has 11 of the 25 entries remaining in the Listed Eyrefield Stakes over nine furlongs. They include Soldier Of Fortune and Frederick Ozanam.
