Champion OUIJA BOARD (GB) (Cape Cross [Ire]), winner of last year’s Breeders’
Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1), will make her next start in the October 29 Breeders’
Cup at Belmont Park. Having made a successful return from injury to win
Saturday’s Princess Royal S. (Eng-G3) at Newmarket, the four-year-old will be
prepared for a bid to win back-to-back renewals of the Breeders’ Cup event after
the possibility of a weekend outing at Longchamp was shelved.
“I was
particularly pleased that she won so impressively and hopefully
all her problems are over,” trainer Ed Dunlop said Wednesday.
“She’s come out of the race incredibly well and didn’t lose a
huge amount of weight. She cantered this morning and looks
fantastic. She has a phenomenal amount of speed for a staying
filly and her great skill is her tactical speed, but she’s much
lazier than she was and when she hits the front she thinks she
doesn’t need to do anymore.
“With only eight days between races,
we decided not to go to Longchamp and take any risks, so she’ll
probably ship to America a week before and we’ll mimic what we
did last year,” he added. “The ground is a concern, as it can be on the slow
side, but she seemed to handle it at Texas after the rain last
year and we’d only not run if it was like a road, which it won’t
be.”
Ouija Board is expected to remain in training and head to the Hong Kong
Invitational meeting at Sha Tin on December 12. Dunlop said that last year’s English (Eng-G1) and Irish Oaks
(Ire-G1) heroine has been
nominated to the Hong Kong Cup (HK-G1) and Hong Kong Vase (HK-G1).
“Japan and Hong Kong are options later on, but I’d be
leaning towards Hong Kong,” he said. “She’s proven she has
trained on and is a fresh filly.”