DEL MAR, United States – Ahead of Saturday's large day, Friday's Breeders' Cup card is all about the teenage horses, with European trainers arriving in immense numbers with two-year-olds.
Following last year's triumphs for Huge Evs (Ire) (Blue Point {Ire}) and Unquestionable (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) in the Juvenile Turf Sprint and Juvenile Turf, expectations are once again high that these trophies can be smuggled out of the country .
In the former case, form in the G2 Flying Childers Stakes could well be crucial, with the first three players visiting Doncaster on September 13 – Aesterius (Ire), Huge Mojo (Ire) and Magnum Force (Ire) – all will meet again.
Mehmas (Ire) colt Aesterius has been kept busy by Archie Watson since graduating from the Goffs UK Breeze-up Sale in April. A winner on debut in May, he finished fifth in the G2 Coventry Stakes behind his Wathnan Racing colleague Shareholder (not this time). Since he only raced over the minimum distance, he has since taken victories in the Listed Dragon Stakes and the G3 Prix d' Arenberg as well as the Flying Childers.
His trainer, Archie Watson, is enjoying leading the colt, who he said has adapted to his fresh surroundings in Del Mar “like a duck to water.”
He said: “It’s a real race and the Japanese horse [Ecoro Sieg] seems conceited. Aesterius is well marked and is a very rapid horse. The English horses are all pulled down on the rail so hopefully he can just get out and get forward and get into a nice rhythm. He is very talented, a pretty large horse with a lot of ability. He is the most relaxed horse. From the moment he got here it was like taking a six-year-old gelding who had been here three times.”
So far so good for Aesterius, who was brought along for the journey by Watson's stable star Bradsell (GB) (Tasleet {GB}), who will soon be aiming for a constant career at the national stud. However, he has one more dance in the Turf Sprint on Saturday, for which he is second favorite behind the Steve Asmussen-trained Cogburn (not this time).
“He obviously had a fantastic year after his well-documented setback in the spring, and it was just great to come back and do what he did,” Watson said of Bradsell, who underwent surgery for a broken leg earlier this year.
“It was always the plan to end up here. For us, Royal Ascot and the Breeders' Cup are the two highlights. That's where we want to be. We’ve been fortunate to have runners here in the past and we haven’t quite gotten to the winner’s enclosure yet, but I don’t think we’ve brought horses with as good a chance as these two before.”
He admitted the departure of Bradsell, who was group winner in each of his three training seasons, will be a bittersweet moment for his team.
“I’m delighted he has secured a place at stud but it will be very melancholy for us not to have him with us,” Watson said. “He’s just a horse legend and we couldn’t be happier with him out there. I think he looks fantastic and always seems to grow a few centimeters when he goes abroad. He loves life out here and thinks he’s King Kong.”
He added: “We visited the school yesterday and he jumped quickly. The draw [in 12] isn't ideal, but the only saving grace is that American favorite Cogburn gets a nine and goes forward, so we'll see. It will be just great to see the best sprinter in America compete against the best sprinter in Europe.”
Huge Mojo, a son of first-time sire Mohaather (GB), also had a fellow traveler from his own stable in Huge Evs, who was there after his breakthrough win for Michael at the Breeders' Cup last year Appleby.
The coach arrived at the track on Thursday morning to see Huge Mojo School at the gates.
“The biggest concern is whether he would be able to handle the turn because it's pretty tight and he's a large two-year-old, but he cantered through the turn quite well,” he said. “We went through Southwell before we came here and he handled it really well.
“He won’t be quite as piercing as Huge Evs – he’s a bigger horse – and I think he’ll be really nice next year. The main concern is getting the corner, but he has a good draw for that.”
Ger Lyons, who skillfully avoided the hustle and bustle outside the quarantine barn this week, has returned to Del Mar, this time with Magnum Force and accompanied by wife Lynne, daughter Kerri and her partner, Irish champion jockey Colin Keane.
Keane was on board Magnum Force on Thursday morning as he was taken to the gates before jumping out to enjoy a breath of fresh air on the track. Not too large, the Mehmas stallion actually moved very well.
“I thought the first two from the Flying Childers would come to the Breeders' Cup and I felt he had to be here too,” said Lyons, whose top prospects this season include G1 Phoenix Stakes winner Babouche (GB ) (Kodiac {GB}).
Also joining the trio of Flying Childers is G1 Prix Morny winner Whistlejacket (Ire) (No Nay Never), who drops back to five furlongs and continues to show a bombproof temperament among the 10 Ballydoyle horses every morning on the track.
Six of the 12 runners for the Juvenile Turf come from stables in Britain or Ireland, with Andrew Balding's GI Summer Stakes winner Modern Century leading the market. The Qatar Racing home breeder already has the honor of being the first top winner for his teenage sire Kameko.
With Balding absent from Del Mar, David Redvers, Hannah Wall and Peter Molony were at the track on Thursday to see the colt and could be in for an exhilarating few days as the Qatar team are also favorites for the Melbourne Cup on Tuesday in Buckaroo (GB). (Fastnet Rock {Aus}).
“The horse looks great and I think he’s built to handle this track,” Modern Century’s Redvers said. “We can look forward to a fantastic weekend as we hope to have three runners in the Melbourne Cup when Saint George is there and there is also Valiant King.
“We hadn't actually planned on going to Melbourne but there was some discussion about it over dinner last night and I think if we can do something special here on Friday then the buzz to go there will be pretty forceful.”
A Breeders' Cup winner for Tweenhills-based Kameko would certainly be a large boost.
Redvers added: “Kameko had another great first-time winner last night and he proved that he can get not just one but three or four very good horses from a relatively petite first crop. “
On Thursday morning the excitement at the track was significantly higher and a immense group from Coolmore were in attendance including MV and JP Magnier as well as co-owners Michael Tabor, Derrick and Paul Smith. They weren't the only ones who couldn't wait to see the Ballydoyle horses in the paddock, with the work monitors standing several aisles behind the rails as the O'Brien team completed several laps before heading back out onto the track to gallop vigorously.
With all the hustle and bustle surrounding City Of Troy (Justify), it's basic to overlook horses like Lake Victoria (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), who has been ridden every morning by Ryan Moore and is a worthy favorite in the Juvenile Fillies Turf. Then there's lovely elderly Luxembourg (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) at the front, in a thrilling battle of older horses that also includes 2022 winner Rebel's Romance (Ire) (Dubawi). could have a say in the turf {Ire}) and Emily Upjohn (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), who will renew her partnership with Frankie Dettori.
There are only two three-year-olds in the field of 13, with the progressive Jayarebe (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) vying to become Brian Meehan's third Breeders' Cup Turf winner after Red Rocks (Ire) and Risky Midge.
Meehan was on the pony accompanying Jayarebe in the final hours of the morning and on Thursday the G2 Prix Dollar winner was ridden by his great racing jockey Sean Levey, who described Jayarebe as “surprisingly good”.
He's looking good too and Meehan certainly seems a content man ahead of Saturday's contest.
“The draw [in five] It doesn’t get any better,” he said. “He's a very versatile and adaptable horse in terms of the way he's ridden in the races and Sean is now one of our leading riders in Europe and he knows him so well. “So we're in a good one Constitution.”
Jayarebe still has to run beyond ten and a half furlongs, but the step up to a mile and a half is no problem for Meehan.
“Next year too he will probably alternate between 10 and 12 furlongs and 12 furlongs on Saturday is certainly very pleasant,” he said. “[Wednesday] It was his first morning and he definitely took it all in. We got him out early when things were a little quieter. The main thing for him was to get used to his pony and the track.”
The trainer has had 12 Breeders' Cup entries and will also run Pouliches runner-up Kathmandu (Ire)'s Poule d'Essai (Showcasing {GB}) on the undercard in Saturday's GIII Goldikova Stakes.
He added: “Kathmandu is definitely a Group 1 class, so the Goldikova is really the perfect race for them.”
“It's great to be back at the Breeders' Cup, it's definitely my favorite meeting. Any time you win a Group 1 race it’s a huge achievement, but I think taking a horse to another continent and winning a championship race is huge and that’s a huge sense of achievement for the whole organization.”
