Hear the full interview
From 14:22 in Friday’s episode of Nick Luck Daily. Press play to start at the interview.
William Muir believes the step up to a mile will bring out the best in Breacher when the colt tackles Saturday’s Futurity Trophy at Doncaster, the final Group 1 of the British Flat season.
Trained by Muir and Chris Grassick, the son of Cracksman won his maiden at Salisbury in June before finishing third in both the Solario Stakes at Sandown and the Champagne Stakes at Doncaster. He now goes up an extra furlong against Aidan O’Brien’s Beresford Stakes winner Noble Exhibit, Karl Burke’s Burning Up and Charlie Appleby’s Al Hudaiba.
“Definitely he wants the further distance, it’s definitely going to be in his favour,” Muir told Nick Luck. “He’s been in great form. We’ve been waiting for this race since the Doncaster race last time.”
Ground the unknown
The weather has turned the ground into the big question. Breacher has never raced on heavy, but Muir takes heart from his breeding and from what jockey Lewis Edmunds told him after the Solario, run on good to soft.
“Who knows about heavy ground? You won’t know that until you’ve run on it,” he said. “Lewis said the ground didn’t beat him. He may have got a little unbalanced because he hadn’t been on that sort of ground at all this year. He said it was the extra furlong, or the experience, and he thinks he’d have turned the tables.”
Muir also respects the opposition. “I’ve got no doubts that Aidan’s horse is very good. It looked very good in the Beresford, and Charlie’s has done not a lot wrong,” he said. “Karl’s horse loves the ground as well. It’s a really strong race, but I’m really looking forward to competing against them.”
“Pyledriver went on to be extraordinary because he got better and better and better.”
William Muir
‘Campaign him big’
Muir said after Breacher’s debut that he could be the best he has ever trained, and he now sees him as a middle-distance horse for next year, following a similar path to stable star Pyledriver.
“At one time I thought he showed so much speed we’d be around the mile, but no, I think he’s going to be a lovely horse for next year at a mile and a quarter plus,” he said. “His mother got a trip, his dad got a trip, so why shouldn’t he? I would campaign him big, because I think he’s capable of it.”
“As a two-year-old, Pyledriver wouldn’t have been as good as he’s showing, but Pyledriver went on to be extraordinary because he got better and better and better,” he added. “The only other horse that compares to this as a two-year-old was Averti, and he was explosive.” Depending on how Saturday goes, Breacher will be put away for the winter, with a Guineas or Guineas trial a possible starting point before stepping up in trip.
Ebt’s Guard to Nottingham
Muir also confirmed that Ebt’s Guard, third in the Balmoral Handicap at Ascot on British Champions Day, will take up his entry at Nottingham next week. “He loves soft ground, and if it’s heavy, he loves heavy ground,” he said. “He went to the same race last year and finished third, not beaten very far. Yes, he will go there.”
