It will not garner anything like the acclaim and attention that Europe’s Ryder Cup team enjoyed when they thrashed the Americans in September, but five wins from the seven turf races at the 2023 Breeders’ Cup over the weekend was an impressive return. Around £4.2m in win prize money alone will find its way back into the British and Irish racing ecosystems, and while it is undoubtedly true that most of the winning owners are not exactly strapped for cash, the success of Big Evs in Friday’s Juvenile Turf Sprint was very much one for the little guys.
And putting money to one side, most of the European stars, both human and equine, performed up to their very best, making an essential and invaluable contribution to the spectacle. Mawj, the 1,000 Guineas winner, got a great ride from Oisin Murphy in the Mile before being nailed on the line by an even better ride by William Buick on Master Of The Seas. Likewise, Warm Heart, in the Filly & Mare Turf, did everything right before Frankie Dettori and Inspiral closed her down.
Ryan Moore’s run around the inside rail on Auguste Rodin, the Derby winner, was breathtaking too, though he was typically Moore-ish when asked if he had been the difference between winning and losing. “No,” he said. “I think my horse was getting a bad trip, and I think he won because he’s so good. I made the right call, but it could have been the wrong call as well. But because I had so much horse, he was able to overcome things. For me, he won despite things not going as smoothly as they should have gone. I think that marks him out to be a good horse.”
Newbury 12.05 Brookie 12.40 Willmount 1.15 Come On Gruff 1.50 Bella Civena 2.25 Equinus (nb) 3.00 Belargus 3.35 The Dark Edge 4.10 I’m A Lumberjack
Ludlow 12.15 Fenney Brook 12.50 Balboa 1.25 Jubilee Express 2.00 Florencethemachine 2.35 Lonimoss Bareliere 3.10 Choccabloc 3.45 Concetto 4.20 Giddyupadingdong
Sedgefield 12.25 El Jefe 1.00 Langton Wold 1.35 Dragonfruit 2.10 Tom Creen 2.45 Supremely West 3.20 Fils De Roi 3.55 Le Fou’s Keep
Chelmsford City 5.00 Pitney 5.30 Invincible Speed 6.00 She’sashambles 6.30 Nouveaux 7.00 Croeso Cymraeg 7.30 Greatgadian (nap) 8.00 Lupset Flossy Pop 8.30 Almaty Star
Exactly how good may, or may not, become apparent next season, as all options remain open on Auguste Rodin’s future.
As a son of Deep Impact, he would certainly add some variety to the Coolmore Stud stallion roster, while his three-year-old season of four wins and two total blowouts does suggest that a four‑year‑old campaign could go one of two ways. But there was also talk of a tilt at the Classic on dirt at Del Mar next year, so there is some thinking to be done and it might help that Ace Impact, the three-year-old Arc winner, has already been packed off to stud.
Inspiral, though, will definitely stay in training next season, while Adam West, whose Live In The Dream faded late in the Turf Sprint after leading at the home turn, is already looking ahead to a meeting with Big Evs at Del Mar next November.
The fierce and exhilarating competition on the turf on Saturday made for an interesting contrast with at least some of the action on the dirt, where three of the five races were won by the defending champion from Keeneland 12 months ago. Cody’s Wish, Goodnight Olive and Elite Power all set off as short-priced favourites and won with plenty to spare, which was rewarding for their loyal bands of supporters but did not say much about the current depth of their respective divisions.
It was also a little surreal, amid US racing’s ongoing attempt to clean up its act on doping and medication, to find Richard E Dutrow Jr in the winner’s enclosure after White Abarrio’s victory in the Classic.
Once upon a time in America – 2011, in fact, a time when what would appear to be fairly outrageous breaches of doping protocols to European eyes were often punished by fairly minor suspensions – Dutrow managed to get himself banned for no less than 10 years by the New York Racing Authority. The charge sheet was long and inglorious, and investigators even found what were described as “loaded syringes” in the drawers of his desk.
A dozen years later, Dutrow was taking the plaudits after his second career win in the Classic, and just 24 hours after Jessica Harrington, a hugely respected trainer with an unimpeachable record on the Flat and over jumps, found herself trying to explain to journalists why the Breeders’ Cup’s vets had scratched Givemethebeatboys from the Juvenile Turf Sprint.
Both Harrington and Aidan O’Brien, who won the Juvenile Turf with Unquestionable after River Tiber, his main contender for the race, failed to pass the vet, were clearly upset by the implication that they might consider running an unsound horse in a seller, never mind a Grade One on quick ground.
It would be enough to make any trainer think twice about going to the considerable trouble and expense of getting a horse from Europe to the west coast of America. The simple, sad fact of it, though, is that they were paying for the sins of several generations of US trainers, at least some of whom saw the loaded syringe as the easiest way to get a hurting horse to the track.
Hexham 12.25 Wavelength 1.00 Dangan Cloud 1.35 Jimmy Chou Pecos AA 2.10 One Mill Harbour 2.45 Rocco Storm 3.20 Cowboy Cooper
Exeter 12.35 Deafening Silence 1.10 Cast’s Tasha 1.45 Asta La Pasta 2.20 Imperial Measure 2.55 Grey Dawning 3.30 Indiana Jones (nap) 4.00 Broomfield Present
Chelmsford City 12.45 Stay Smart 1.20 Thank The Lord 1.55 Wadacre Grace 2.30 Meng Tian 3.03 Sunset In Paris 3.37 Big Jimbo 4.08 Super Saiyan
Newcastle 3.08 Evening Story 3.42 Leveret 4.12 Persian Blue 4.45 Bedford Flyer (nb) 5.20 Ramon Di Loria 5.50 Mr Heinz 6.20 Haworth Star 6.50 Fortamour 7.20 Manigordo
American racing is trying to move on, however, and the sense as the global racing caravan started the switch from California towards Melbourne next week and Hong Kong in December was that the significance of the Breeders’ Cup for owners, trainers and jockeys is as strong as ever. Santa Anita sees this event at its zenith, but Del Mar, where the surf meets the turf, will also exert a magnetic pull in 12 months’ time.
