I OBSERVED in last week’s column that “European-trained horses will do well to win more than a couple of races at the Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland this weekend”. It is fair to say that they did well!

There were famous wins for Ireland from Tarnawa in the Breeders’ Cup Turf and Order Of Australia in the Breeders’ Cup Mile, and for Britain from Glass Slippers in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint and Audarya in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf, plus a number of valiant efforts in defeat.

Given the logistical challenges associated with travelling horses and the humans in their support group at the best of times, it has been no mean feat for international raiding parties to have been so successful when things are even more difficult.

That win by Tarnawa was pretty special, especially as Magical made it a one-two for Ireland in the dying strides.

The Dermot Weld-trained filly came with a storming run to overhaul local star Channel Maker, and she was readily on top by the end.

I have a figure of 121 on Tarnawa (Magical now on 120) on what was her fourth win out of four this campaign.

Good enough

That would have been just about good enough for her to win this year’s Arc, with her sex allowance, though this year’s Arc was one of the lesser editions.

Tarnawa’s Prix de l’Opera victory over Alpine Star had received a further boost a couple of hours earlier when the Opera third Audarya held the challenges of the locals Rushing Fall and Harvey’s Lil Goil in that Filly and Mare Turf.

This was at a more modest level than Tarnawa’s win – Audarya remains on 114 – but plaudits must go to the trainer (James Fanshawe) here, too: it is only a few starts ago that Audarya was winning a handicap on the all-weather at Newcastle.

The Mile resulted in a phenomenal Aidan O’Brien one-two-three, but not in the order anticipated, and with a number of better-fancied rivals clearly underperforming.

Order Of Australia, whose best previous effort was arguably a seventh in the Prix du Jockey Club at Chantilly, looks to have run to about 120 in defeating Circus Maximus (119) and Lope Y Fernandez (118). Kameko and Siskin were only seventh and ninth respectively.

Unexpected it might have been, but Order Of Australia ran efficiently (101.3% finishing speed) and was not obviously flattered on the day.

The win of Glass Slippers in the Turf Sprint was more predictable, given she had won and finished second in the last two Abbayes, and mindful of the weakness of her opposition, but it still required her to show guts aplenty on a turning five and a half furlongs on firm ground to run down her rivals. She gets a figure of 113 for this.