BC Internationals: Mile contender Lancaster Bomber

A War Front half-brother to star miler Excelebration, who was fourth to Wise Dan and Animal Kingdom in the 2012 Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1), Lancaster Bomber has the advantage of already being proven at a high level in North American conditions.

The Aidan O’Brien trainee has often been employed as a pacemaker for Churchill at both two and three, but he’s not your garden-variety rabbit. He fought on well to hold second in last year’s Dewhurst (G1), as recounted in his Breeders’ Cup profile for the Juvenile Turf (G1), and he again filled the runner-up spot at Santa Anita. Despite a checkered passage into the clubhouse turn, where he had to steady, Lancaster Bomber rallied smartly behind Oscar Performance.

Lancaster Bomber was among the raft of Ballydoyle nominees to the U.S. Triple Crown, which on pedigree didn’t appear to be a likely proposition. But he proved more versatile than might have been expected in the UAE Derby (G2), closing for fourth to Thunder Snow after a slow start put him too far back early. With an alert break, he would have scored more Kentucky Derby (G1) points, and we may well have seen him at Churchill Downs.

Instead, Lancaster Bomber was called up for pacemaker duty in the 2000 Guineas (G1) at Newmarket on the first Saturday in May. Although outkicked late, he was a respectable fourth to Churchill, Barney Roy, and another subsequent Group 1-winning miler in Al Wukair.