MICK KINANE was an interested spectator as George Washington dug his hooves into the Kentucky dirt for the first time here yesterday. The jockey who rides Europe’s flagship horse in the Breeders’ Cup Classic nodded silently as George Washington glided round the bend, with Aidan O’Brien, his trainer, in attendance on a local pony.

When the work was done, Kinane looked round the sweeping turn towards the back straight at Churchill Downs and said: “They’ll come off that bend and run hard all the way down there. There’s never any breather in the Classic, but the home straight is a long one. You can take your time.”

On the other side of the course, the track announcer took a different view. “George Washington is hating the dirt,” he bellowed. O’Brien smiled wryly when told of the declaration. “Well, we’ll just have to wait and see,” he said.

O’Brien was otherwise delighted with George Washington’s demeanour. Gone is the stroppy adolescent, in his place a racing machine with an assured gait and a bold eye. Europeans acknowledge his prowess, but the question is whether the champion miler can impose himself on an alien surface.

The odds are long against it. Horses act on dirt, or they don’t. No amount of practice can simulate race conditions, when hard sand splatters into equine faces. If that is concern enough, there is also the matter of George Washington’s opponents. O’Brien alludes to his colt’s natural ability but many here are of a similar hue. There’s Bernardini, for starters. There’s the granite-like Invasor. And there’s David Junior, the dirt-bred, Brian Meehan-trained colt whose credentials surpass those of George Washington.

And, of course, there is Lava Man, whose blue-collar roots tug on the neutral’s heartstrings. Claimed for $50,000 (about £26,000) in 2005, the five-year-old has since bankrolled $3.7 million and brings a seven-race winning streak into the Classic. All have been gained at home in California, however; he has made no impact on the road.

In some ways Lava Man echoes Seabiscuit, with the blue-blooded Bernardini cast as War Admiral. Even Doug O’Neill, who trains Lava Man, was taken with his first sighting of Bernardini on Wednesday. “With his neck bowed,” O’Neill said, “he looked like the Loch Ness monster.”

To put George Washington’s prospects in perspective, the Classic will settle Horse of the Year honours. It is surely asking too much for him to gatecrash what has the makings of an epic renewal. For those of an adventurous nature, the each-way call is Giacomo. The Classic promises to set up just like the 2005 Kentucky Derby, which Giacomo won with a late surge through opponents exhausted by blistering early fractions.

Europe’s prospects are infinitely rosier in the three grass races. There is no reason to suppose that Ouija Board won’t operate in the Filly & Mare Turf. A winner and runner-up from two previous runs in this race, the globe-trotting mare has looked a picture all week. Her form is unimpeachable and Ed Dunlop’s wish for a quick surface now looks assured.

In a quiet moment yesterday, Dunlop enthused about Ouija Board’s unflappable temperament. As if to underline the point, she took a dim view of Scorpion almost charging into her rear-end as he exited the turf course after exercise. The look she shot him was contemptuous in the extreme; besides, she has already been booked to Kingmambo when her racing career concludes next month.

Scorpion, for his part, has been the buzz horse for the Turf and he looked well primed yesterday. His aggressive running style fuels speculation that he is here to help Hurricane Run, who is largely in the same ownership. As well as Huricane Run has prepared, however, the ground has gone against him. Scorpion is thus taken to force the issue and outlast a gang of late closers.

The Mile is little more than a crap-shoot over two tight turns. Although Echo Of Light is a popular order, this quirky character will do well to lead it out from the front. Rob Roy has place prospects at a huge price but Gorella represents the bet of the day. An unlucky third 12 months ago, Patrick Biancone’s runner is in mint condition. The relatively long finishing straight perfectly complements her late-rushing style.

• The Breeders' Cup meeting will be shown free on both At The Races (Sky Channel 415) and Racing UK (Sky Channel 432)