Connections will take a watching brief before deciding whether King Of Steel will bid to follow up his Qipco Champion Stakes success with Breeders’ Cup glory.

The Roger Varian-trained three-year-old, owned by Kia Joorabchian’s Amo Racing, is among the leading fancies for the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Santa Anita on November 4, but must first show he has recovered well enough from his Ascot exertions.

“I think we need to take stock and see how the horse is – I know that’s the obvious thing to say,” said Varian.

“He appears to have come out of the race physically in good shape, but he would have had a hard race yesterday and we can’t ignore that. We just have to see how he is over the next week.

“I know Kia is very keen on the Breeders’ Cup anyway, in general, and if he could get a good horse there, then of course he’d want to be there.

“But in fairness to Kia, he’s been very good all year and he’s always said to me only run the horse when you’re 100 per cent happy, and if you’re not, we don’t go.

“I’m sure that will be the same regarding California in a couple of weeks’ time. We need to give it a few days to see what messages the horse is giving us, so I’m not going to take it off the table and we’ll just see how he is.”

One thing Varian will have no fears about after the thrilling Champions Stakes success under Frankie Dettori is King Of Steel’s ability to handle to Breeders’ Cup razzamatazz.

Speaking on Racing TV’s Luck on Sunday programme, Varian said: “He’s really a delight to train, not just because he’s very good but because he’s got a great temperament – and I thought that was on show yesterday.

“There was a lot of buzz and noise as the horse left the paddock and he had to keep himself together.

“And after the race, with all that was going on, he was really just behaving like a very good horse with a very calm personality.

“He’s like that; when he gets to the races, he doesn’t waste any excess energy, no nervous energy escapes from him and he’s really the ultimate professional as a racehorse.”

Varian was also full of praise for Dettori, who produced another memorable ride on his farewell to British racing.

“I actually haven’t had a proper debrief with Frankie yet; I had a few hugs but not a debrief,” added Varian.

“I thought we were in trouble for the first half of the race, nothing was really making up ground or coming off the pace.

“Of course, we left everything to Frankie, but I don’t think he thought he’d be last going into Swinley Bottom.

“He gave him a beautiful ride, kept him balanced, gave him a chance to find his feet and he came home very strong where it mattered.”

Auguste Rodin is likely to head straight for the Breeders’ Cup after his impressive return to form in the Irish Champion Stakes.

The Aidan O’Brien-trained colt put a disappointing King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes run behind him when sent off the 11-4 favourite at Leopardstown under Ryan Moore last Saturday.

The English and Irish Derby winner showed his ability in a quality field to come home half a length ahead of stablemate Luxembourg.

The Breeders’ Cup now beckons at Santa Anita in early November, with the Deep Impact colt likely to set sail for America without another run.

“He’s very good. I was speaking to the boss on the way up and it’s very possible he’ll go straight to America,” O’Brien said.

“He came out of it great and I couldn’t have been happier with him.

“He loves pace and follows pace very easy. When he gets there he doesn’t do much, but that’s the way he’s always been.

“All he wants is a good pace on in front of him and in America you usually get that on fast ground.”

O’Brien was also pleased to see Kyprios return to action on Sunday at the Curragh, where the chestnut returned from nearly a year off the track to finish second in the Irish St Leger.

It was a heartening effort after such a long absence and Champions Day at Ascot in late October is now under consideration for the top-class stayer.

“He came out of the race very good and I’m very happy with him, I’m delighted with him really,” added O’Brien.

“He came out of it brilliant and he’s nearly moving better now than he was before the race, even though we were very happy with his action. He’s definitely gone the right way.

“You’d probably think about Ascot now because you’d give him time to go back, Arc weekend may be too quick.

“At least he could be there now for next year, which is great.”