American Derby Hopeful Our Channel Arrives Stateside

Abdulla al Mansoori’s Our Channel arrived from his English base, by way of Amsterdam, early Sunday morning for his planned attempt at the Grade III $200,000 American Derby in good order, according to his connections.  The son of English Channel is to quarantine until late Monday and hit the track early Tuesday morning.

“He’s doing really well,” said assistant trainer Archie Watson.  “We got in early this morning  and he took it all in stride and come through the trip well.  Our plan is to hit the track at around 7:00 am Tuesday morning.  We will do a little jog on the training track and then take him to the main course on the other days leading up the race.”

The chestnut colt raced last in the Group I Investec (English) Derby at Epsom Downs, a left-handed course with a tight turn into the stretch.  After breaking well and setting the pace, the American-bred led until the quarter-pole before fading.

“He’s a very handy horse and he’s run at some of the more unconventional tracks in Britain,” Watson continued.  “Tight turns and American-style racing should work for him.  He won the Epsom trial and then the (English) Derby was the plan beforehand.  He ran a great race to lead to the 2-pole and that’s probably as far as he wants to go (stamina-wise).  We entered him for this series earlier in the year and it was in the plans all along.

“He’s a very good horse who runs on any sort of ground and we believe he’ll do very well here,” Watson concluded.  If all goes well, the two-time winner in five starts will return to his British home before a possible attempt at the Grade I $500,000 Secretariat Stakes on Aug. 16.