Hugo Palmer international runners Saturday blog: 'He's really thrived in quarantine'

Coral ambassador Hugo Palmer has two international runners on Saturday at Del Mar in the USA and Royal Randwick in Australia. The trainer previews both in his latest blog.

• Ardisia - Del Mar - 12.25am race odds

• Seagulls Eleven - Royal Randwick - 5.45am race odds

Del Mar 12.25am, Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf – Ardisia

It's going to be a huge few hours for the whole team, with a runner in California, and one in Sydney. These are the big days we aim for as a yard, taking on the best around the world.

Ardisia has been a miracle really, it’s incredible to think we’ve gone from scrambling home in a Goodwood nursery to running in the Breeders’ Cup, it’s been quite a transformation. He does need to improve again, a repeat of the mark of 108 he ran to at Ascot last time won’t be good enough, but he has been improving by eight pounds a run, and I don’t think he’ll need to improve by that much to get involved here.

The favourite Gstaad is rated 118, but he’s drawn in 14 so faces an uphill task, whereas we’re a bit better off in stall 10.  Our horse has travelled over well, he’s enjoying the Californian sunshine, and we haven’t had to do too much with him since Ascot. He’s a smashing horse, he tries his heart out, we’re lucky to have him and we’re looking forward to running him.

Royal Randwick 5.45am, Golden Eagle – Seagulls Eleven

This has been the target for this horse since he won at Glorious Goodwood, so it’s hugely exciting that it’s all gone to plan since.  Races worth this much money, ten million Australian dollars, are obviously extremely rare, so this is a massive day for me, the yard, the owners and the horse.

He travelled down earlier this month, and I’m told he’s really thrived in quarantine here, I’ve only just arrived in Sydney so am looking forward to seeing him, but I’ve seen pictures and he’s put weight and muscle on, and looks fantastic.

We’ve drawn stall three, which I’m happy with, anywhere between three and eight looks ideal, and from there, Tom Marquand has options. I don’t think we want to lead, or need to, or indeed will be able to, but from there Tom can be patient, fill him with confidence, and then ride his finish up the short Randwick straight.

As you can imagine, it’s going to be a good race, all the form Australian horses are here, and the favourite, Autumn Glow, is unbeaten and might be hard to beat, but we’re rated the same as Lake Forest, who won this last year, so it can be done. We’ll obviously find out if he’s good enough, but I do think the horse is here in as good as condition as we’d want him, and he’s ready to run a career best, and then we’ll see if that’s enough.

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