Although three new Group One races have been added to Friday's card, the big stuff is still saved for Saturday and it all kicks off at 5.30pm our time.

As usual, the main Irish hopes are invested in Aidan O'Brien's team and the Ballydoyle trainer will be hoping to improve his fairly meagre six-per-cent strike rate at the meeting. O'Brien will send a small but select team across the Atlantic and George Washington, Excellent Art and Dylan Thomas all look to have reasonable prospects of success.

George's unsuccessful attempt to be a stallion was the prominent story at the start of the campaign and a victory in the ten furlong Breeders Cup Classic would give a symmetric feel to the end of the season. He will have his work cut out against the full might of this year's American classic generation, including the winners of Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes . . . Street Sense and Curlin.

O'Brien is optimistic that his charge can improve on his sixth place in the same race last year. Speaking earlier this week he said, "He is a very fresh horse. Last year the Breeders Cup came at the end of a tough, long season. He ran a good race in the Classic. He travelled very well in the race and obviously that is one of his biggest strengths and we are hoping everything happens for him this time. I've no doubt all the ability is there." He will need to be at best and to run an uncomplicated race if he is to beat the three year olds, the best of whom may prove to be Any Given Saturday, who has won his last three races impressively.

Excellent Art is another horse that seems to run over complicated races. He has been second to Ramonti twice when coming late from a long way back under Jamie Spencer. Despite this he is still the bookies favourite to win the mile which rather emphasises the lack of brilliance in the home team at this distance.

Dylan Thomas is likely to close out his career in the concluding race on the card, the mile and a half Breeders Cup Turf, and on paper has the easiest task of the O'Brien raiders. By far the highest rated horse in the field, he should easily account for last year's winner, Red Rocks, if his recent Arc victory hasn't taken too much out of him. If he succeeds it will his seventh Group One victory and a great finale for the colt.

The European challenge in general looks weaker than recent seasons with the exception of Henry Cecil's Passage of Time. For a bit of added excitement we need to stay local and look to the Bob Baffert trained Midnight Lute in the Sprint. The gigantic four-year-old wouldn't fit into the starting stalls if he was any bigger and he recently destroyed the opposition in his trial race.