European Road: Cairo returns in Patton Stakes

A one-mile test on Polytrack, the Patton is worth points on the 20-8-6-4-2 scale to the top five finishers. That’s twice as much as the European Road events contested on turf last fall, so the Patton winner will jump to the top of the leaderboard.

You can watch and wager on the Patton, carded as Friday’s sixth race (2:30 p.m. ET), on TwinSpires.com.

Here are three talking points for the Patton:

1. Cairo could use the Patton as a springboard to the UAE Derby.

Last seen capturing the Oct. 15 Killavullan (G3) at Leopardstown, Cairo was pre-entered in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1) but ultimately didn’t ship to Keeneland. 

Cairo will be heavily favored to give O’Brien a fifth win in the Patton, especially with Ryan Moore coming in for the ride. His most recent winner of this race, Mendelssohn (2018), went on to star in the UAE Derby (G2) on Dubai World Cup night and punch his ticket to Churchill Downs.

That itinerary could be on the cards for Cairo. Although bred in Ireland, he is a son of elite Kentucky stallion Quality Road, who was the early favorite for the 2009 Kentucky Derby (G1) before having to scratch. 

2. Fellow Triple Crown nominee Stormy Entry is among a quartet with recent wins over the track.

The only other Triple Crown nominee in the Patton, Stormy Entry, has raced exclusively at Dundalk. A Kentucky homebred for internationally-minded owner/breeder Charles Fipke, the Willie Browne trainee didn’t start until December. Stormy Entry moved forward from his debut second to win his next two, including a Feb. 10 event at this distance.

Cash Out, who just missed to Stormy Entry that day, wheeled back to break his maiden at this track and trip Feb. 17. Trained by Joseph O’Brien, Aidan’s son and a two-time Patton winner himself, Cash Out is joined by stablemate All Things Nice. She has not raced since the summer.

News at Ten comes off an impressive course-and-distance maiden score Feb. 3 for Michael O’Callaghan. Judging by his time, and the formlines, he rates as potentially the best entrant with a race under his belt this winter. In contrast, Miss Caruso must improve after taking three starts to break her maiden versus fillies.

3. Tiverton represents the high-profile connections of Juddmonte and Dermot Weld.

A subpar eighth behind Cairo in the Killavullan, Tiverton is eligible to rebound for legendary horseman Dermot Weld. The Juddmonte homebred had never been out of the top two in his previous races, notably placing to future Group 1 winner Proud and Regal on debut. 

Tiverton went on to capture a Listowel maiden as the odds-on favorite, and he had some support as a 7-1 chance in the Killavullan. Connections forecast that he’d be even better in time, so it would be no surprise if he steps up considerably this season.