Twice well ahead of Champion defence Twice Over continues ticking over to Henry Cecil's satisfaction ahead of his defence of the Emirates Airline Champion Stakes. It has already been a long season for the five-year-old, who started off in the Dubai World Cup and has performed well in four other Group One races, with victory in the Coral-Eclipse being the highlight. He was third to Cape Blanco in the Irish Champion Stakes on his most recent outing. Cecil said: "Twice Over seems in great form. "It was a funny race in Ireland. He couldn't pick the other horse up, I don't know why. "But he seems very well and I'm sure he's going to run very well next week." Following last year's Champion success, Twice Over went on to finish third behind Zenyatta in the Breeders' Cup Classic but he will not travel to America this time around with Cecil prioritising another attempt at the Dubai World Cup. "The Breeder's Cup is on dirt rather than synthetic this time and I don't want him to run on that," explained Cecil. "We'll prepare him for the Dubai World Cup. We'd like to win that. "I'm not quite sure how we will get him ready - we might take him out early to Dubai and give him a run before, or maybe give him a run here first. We'll see. "It went wrong last year with the draw, but he was only beaten three and a half lengths. It's worth another go." Ed Dunlop confirmed his dual Oaks winner Snow Fairy as a likely contender as long as the ground is suitable. Last seen finishing fourth in the St Leger, the Intikhab filly will be stepping back to 10 furlongs before heading off on her travels. He said: "She'll go for the Champion Stakes as long as the ground is OK. Then she will go for a valuable race in Japan, the Queen Elizabeth II Commemorative Cup, three weeks later. "Ryan Moore rode her this morning and said she felt as well as ever."
