Paul Townend teams up with cross-channel hope Haiti Couleurs in first Grade One of jumps season

Racing’s codes are in flux right now, a point underlined by how Willie Mullins bids for more Breeders’ Cup glory in Keeneland, Kentucky, on Saturday night but doesn’t have a single runner on jump racing’s first Grade One programme of the season at Down Royal hours earlier.

Ethical Diamond sprang a 28/1 shock in last year’s $5 million Breeders’ Cup Turf in Del Mar and will again have Dylan Browne McMonagle on board in the mile-and-a-half grass highlight due off at 9.36pm Irish time.

It is the last of four Grade One contests on “the lawn” at the second day of US racing’s biggest meeting of the year. There are 11 Irish-trained runners spread across them.

Donnacha O’Brien’s Comanche Brave takes on the top local sprinter Bacio in the Turf Sprint off at 5.48pm, while Willie McCreery’s Jancis and the Ger Lyons trained Red Letter join Ballydoyle’s Precise in the Filly & Mare at 7.04pm.

Aidan O’Brien flies the flag on his own in the Mile (8.20pm) with True Love and Puerto Rico before a handful of Irish hopefuls contest the Turf.

Ethical Diamond is joined by Jessica Harrington’s Irish Champion Stakes winner Hotazhell and a trio of classic winners. Ryan Moore has opted for Irish Derby hero Benvenuto Cellini over the top filly Diamond Necklace, while Irish Oaks winner Johanna Walsh represents Joseph O’Brien.

There are four British-trained hopefuls in a field that also contains runners from France and Japan.

“I think it’s a much more competitive race this year, but I think we have trained for it while a lot of the others have had a busy autumn,” Mullins said about Ethical Diamond. “He’s drawn one which means different tactics and we might have to jump and go, but we will leave that to Dylan. He’s more mature this year and easier to ride.”

A tiny local representation has a mountain to climb to prevent an 11th European success in the last 12 years, admittedly in a race that’s an outlier in US terms. They might have better hopes in the earlier Mile although Godolphin’s Notable Speech is another Del Mar champion back to defend his title.

Colin Keane will be firmly centre stage in the Filly & Mare where Blue Bolt stretches out in trip to try to seal a superb Group One season. Being drawn 12 is a slight negative, and she’s been operating at a mile all year, although trainer Andrew Balding believes the biggest problem is the time of year.

“She’s had a long season, like a lot of these horses, that’s always the concern, the end of a long season and the travel,” Balding said. “We felt she was strong at the end of her races, another furlong and a half, particularly on a two-turn track would be within her compass. I’d be more concerned with the sort of length she’s been on the go than the distance.”

US eyes will mostly be on the five Grade One contests on dirt with Englishman looking a “lock” in the Sprint, despite an outside post, before Japan’s Forever Young tries to become just the second back-to-back winner of the $7 million Classic off at 10.16pm.

Last year’s Kentucky Derby and Belmont winner Sovereignty will lead attempts to spare home blushes and Golden Tempo, who completed the same classic double earlier this year, is also in the line-up.

Billy Lee will hotfoot it back from riding Jancis in Keeneland to ride on the final day of the Irish flat season at the Curragh where he will be officially crowned champion jockey. There might even be an apt winner with Lee riding the Mullins-trained Thread Of Gold in the concluding Finale Stakes.

But it’s Saturday’s Grade One BetVictor Champion Chase, named after the former dual winner Envoi Allen, that indicates the direction of racing travel for the months ahead.

It’s 11 years since a cross-channel based winner of the race but Haiti Couleurs represents Welsh trainer Rebecca Curtis and she has snapped up Paul Townend’s services. In a race where plenty of fancied ones aren’t sure to relish the three-mile trip, Townend could dominate from the front on a strong stayer with a proven history of running well fresh.

Ground conditions on the chase course at Down Royal were good after Friday’s card, more a flat description than ideal National Hunt ground and leaving trainer Gordon Elliott unhappy with the going.