HNNY MURTAGH looks set to partner Duke Of Marmalade in the Breeders' Cup Classic, leaving American John Velazquez to ride Henrythenavigator at Santa Anita on October 25.

Aidan O'Brien, speaking at a press conference to announce the meeting's pre-entries, said that although the final decision had still to be made, Murtagh was more likely to be on Duke Of Marmalade because he is proven at the distance.

"You can't be sure Henry will definitely get a mile and a quarter so I would say at the moment Johnny is probably favouring the Duke over Henry," he said.                
John Gosden confirmed Raven's Pass would tackle the Classic rather than the Mile and believes a European horse could prevail over US champion Curlin on the new synthetic surface.

He said: "It's about a level a playing field as you are going to get. Yes we have a very good chance."

There are 180 horses pre-entered, 35 from overseas, for the 14 Breeders' Cup races, including 61 Grade 1 winners which organisers claimed were the "best fields the Breeders' Cup has ever had top to bottom".