O’Brien picks Juddmonte candidate

Await The Dawn will be Aidan O’Brien’s main contender for the Juddmonte International at York on Wednesday week.

He will be bidding to give the Ballydoyle maestro a fourth victory in York’s richest race after Giant’s Causeway (2000), Duke of Marmalade (2008) and Rip Van Winkle 12 months ago.

The downside is Await The Dawn’s participation effectively rules out the possibility of Eclipse winner So You Think, one of the best horses in training, appearing at the Welcome to Yorkshire Ebor Festival.

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It is also unclear who will ride Await The Dawn. The winner of five of his six races to date, he was last seen spreadeagling his field in the Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot under Ryan Moore, who is now sidelined with a season-ending arm injury.

One possibility is O’Brien’s teenage son Joseph taking the reins. He won the Irish 2000 Guineas earlier this year on Roderic O’Connor for his father and has been booked to ride Tactician – owned by the Queen - in the Ebor itself.

Another set to join Await The Dawn on Knavesmire is the filly Wonder Of Wonders, second in the Oaks at Epsom and third in the Irish equivalent.

The three-year-old is due to tackle the likes of Midday and Snow Fairy in the Darley Yorkshire Oaks a day later.

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Other Ballydoyle inmates heading to York include Seville and the two-year-old Reply.

“Await The Dawn is being aimed at the Juddmonte International at York and Wonder Of Wonders at the Yorkshire Oaks,” O’Brien’s wife Annemarie tweeted.

“We are looking at the Great Voltigeur Stakes at York for Seville and Reply could run in the Gimcrack.

“So You Think will possibly have his next start in the Red Mills Champion Stakes at Leopardstown on September 3.”

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Charlie Hills, meanwhile, aims to make the most of a “fantastic opportunity” after it was announced he will officially take over training duties from his father Barry after next week’s Ebor Festival.

Hills senior has over 3,200 winners to his credit and is one of racing’s most respected names, but has decided to hand over the training licence to his son who has been acting as assistant trainer for some time.

Hills Snr, who trained 10 Classic winners in Britain and Ireland, will remain as managing director of the family company.

Now 74, he began training in 1969 on the back of a hugely successful punt on Frankincense in the previous season’s Lincoln.

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His greatest horse was arguably Rheingold – the 1972 Dante Stakes winner who was only narrowly denied by Roberto and Lester Piggott in the Epsom Derby.

He then went on to take the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud, a feat he would go on to match the following year.

An excellent 1973 campaign also yielded glory in the Prix Ganay and the Hardwicke Stakes, as well as success in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, with Piggott this time in the saddle.

“It’s a fantastic opportunity for me,” said Hills Jnr. “It’s going to be a lot of hard work and graft.

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“We’ve got a good team here and we want to keep things going if we can and get some new owners in.”

The Hills family is one of the biggest dynasties in the sport. His eldest son John is an established trainer, while twins Michael and Richard are two of the most well-respected jockeys in the weighing room.

n Ed Dunlop is keeping his sights firmly on the weather as he plots the next race for multiple Group One winner Snow Fairy.

The Newmarket trainer is keen to run last season’s dual Classic winner at York next week in either the Juddmonte International or the Darley Yorkshire Oaks.

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However, should the ground turn soft on Knavesmire, then the four-year-old could switch to Deauville for the Prix Jean Romanet on Sunday week.

“Snow Fairy is very well and looks to have improved again since she ran so well against Midday in the Nassau Stakes at Goodwood,” said Dunlop.

n Hayley Turner feels her riding style will be ideally suited to Wigmore Hall in Saturday’s Arlington Million in Chicago.

Turner, fresh from securing the first Group One victory of her career on Dream Ahead in the July Cup, takes over the reins from Jamie Spencer on Michael Bell’s globe-trotting four-year-old.

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Wigmore Hall was victorious at the Dubai Carnival at Meydan in March and heads to America this weekend for his first racecourse appearance since finishing down the field in Singapore in May.

“It’s one of the big international races of the year, and to be part of it, let alone in with a good shout, is great news,” Turner said in her online column.

“I’ve ridden him once before, over a year ago now, when he was second in a conditions race at Doncaster.

“He’s always been well regarded at home but obviously he’s come on a hell of a lot since then.

“He’s a hold-up horse, and I do enjoy riding that type of horse, and think I suit those tactics.”

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