By Emma Berry
DEL MAR, USA — Ahead of the big day on Saturday, Friday's Breeders' Cup card is all about the youngsters, and the European trainers have come mob-handed with two-year-olds.
After last year's triumphs for Big Evs (Ire) (Blue Point {Ire}) and Unquestionable (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) in the Juvenile Turf Sprint and Juvenile Turf, expectations are again high that these trophies can be smuggled out of the country.
In the former, the form of the G2 Flying Childers Stakes could well be key, as the first three home at Doncaster on September 13 – Aesterius (Ire), Big Mojo (Ire) and Magnum Force (Ire) – are all set to meet once more.
The 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 was fifth behind fellow Wathnan Racing runner Shareholder (Not This Time) in the G2 Coventry Stakes and, racing exclusively over the minimum trip, he has since picked up wins in the Listed Dragon Stakes and G3 Prix d'Arenberg as well as the Flying Childers.
His trainer Archie Watson is relishing running the colt who he says has taken to his new surroundings at Del Mar “like a duck to water”.
He said, “It's a proper race, and the Japanese horse [Ecoro Sieg] seems fancied. Aesterius has drawn well and he's a very quick horse. The English horses are all drawn down on the rail so hopefully he can just get out and forwards and into a nice rhythm. He's very talented, a gorgeous big horse with lots of scope. He's the most laidback horse. From the moment he got here it was like taking a six-year-old gelding who had been here three times already.”
So far so good then for Aesterius, who was joined on the trip by Watson's stable star Bradsell (GB) (Tasleet {GB}), who is soon to be moving on permanently to a new career at the National Stud. He has one more dance, however, in Saturday's Turf Sprint, for which he is second-favourite behind the Steve Asmussen-trained Cogburn (Not This Time).
“He's obviously had a fantastic year after his well-documented setback in the spring, and to come back and do what he's done has just been amazing,” said Watson of Bradsell, who had surgery for a leg fracture earlier this year.
“It has always been the plan to end up here. For us, Royal Ascot and the Breeders' Cup are the two pinnacles. That's where we want to be. We've been fortunate enough to have runners here in the past and we haven't quite hit 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 that the departure of Bradsell, who has been a group winner in each of his three seasons in training, will be a bittersweet moment for his team.
“I'm delighted that he has secured a place at stud but it's going to be very sad for us not to have him around,” Watson said. “He's just a legend of a horse and we couldn't be happier with him out there. I think he looks fantastic and he always seems to grow a couple of inches when he goes abroad. He loves life out here and thinks he's King Kong.”
He added, “We gate-schooled yesterday and he jumped quick. The draw [in 12] is not ideal but the one saving grace is that the American favourite Cogburn is drawn nine and he does go forward, so we'll see. It'll just be great to see the best sprinter in America take on the best sprinter in Europe.”
Big Mojo, a son of first-crop sire Mohaather (GB), also had a travelling mate from his own stable in Big Evs, who's been there, done that when it comes to the Breeders' Cup following his breakthrough win last year for Michael Appleby.
The trainer arrived at the track on Thursday morning to see Big Mojo school in the gates.
“The main concern is whether he would handle the bend because it's quite tight and he's a big two-year-old, but he's been galloping round it quite well,” he said. “We went round Southwell before we came here and he handled that really well.
“He won't be quite as sharp as Big Evs – he's a bigger horse – and I think he will be really nice next year. The main concern is to get round the bend but he's got a decent draw to do that.”
Ger Lyons, who has skilfully steered clear of the hubbub 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, the Irish champion jockey Colin Keane.
Keane was aboard Magnum Force on Thursday morning as he was ponied to the gates before jumping out for a smart breeze along the stretch. Not over big, the Mehmas colt was moving very well indeed.
“I thought the first two from the Flying Childers would come to the Breeders' Cup and I felt that he had to be here as well,” said Lyons, whose classy juveniles this season include the G1 Phoenix Stakes winner Babouche (GB) (Kodiac {GB}).
The Flying Childers trio will also be joined in the line-up by the G1 Prix Morny winner Whistlejacket (Ire) (No Nay Never), who is dropping back to five furlongs and has continued to look bombproof in temperament in among the 10 Ballydoyle horses on the track each morning.
Six of the 12 runners for the Juvenile Turf hail from stables in Britain or Ireland, with Andrew Balding's GI Summer Stakes winner New Century heading the market. The Qatar Racing homebred already has the distinction of being the first top-level winner for his young sire Kameko.
With Balding absent from Del Mar, David Redvers, Hannah Wall and Peter Molony were at trackwork on Thursday to see the colt and could have an exciting few days in store as the Qatar team also has the favourite for Tuesday's Melbourne Cup in Buckaroo (GB) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}).
“The horse looks great and I think he's built to go round that track,” said Redvers of New Century. “We've got an amazing weekend to look forward to as we hope to have three runners in the Melbourne Cup if Saint George gets in, and there's also Valiant King.
“We weren't planning to go to Melbourne but there started to be chat about it at dinner last night and I think if we can do something special here on Friday then the clamour to go will be quite strong.”
Certainly a Breeders' Cup winner for Tweenhills resident Kameko would provide a major boost.
Redvers added, “Kameko had another lovely first-time-out two-year-old winner last night and he's proven that he can get not just one but three or four very good horses from a relatively small first crop.”
The excitement level was notably up a notch at the track on Thursday morning and a huge contingent from Coolmore was present, including MV and JP Magnier, and fellow owners Michael Tabor, Derrick and Paul Smith. They weren't the only ones eager to see the Ballydoyle horses schooling in the paddock, with work-watchers lining the rails several deep as the O'Brien team took several laps before proceeding back on to the track for a strong canter.
With all the clamour surrounding City Of Troy (Justify), it is easy to overlook horses such as Lake Victoria (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), who has been ridden each morning by Ryan Moore and heads into the Juvenile Fillies Turf a worthy favourite. Then there's lovely old Luxembourg (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) at the head of the string, who may yet have a say in the Turf in an intriguing battle of the older horses which includes the 2022 winner Rebel's Romance (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) and Emily Upjohn (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), who will be renewing her partnership with Frankie Dettori.
There are only two three-year-olds in the field of 13, with the progressive Jayarebe (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) bidding to become Brian Meehan's third winner of the Breeders' Cup Turf after Red Rocks (Ire) and Dangerous Midge.
Meehan has been aboard the pony accompanying Jayarebe over the last few mornings, and on Thursday the G2 Prix Dollar winner was ridden by his big-race jockey Sean Levey, who described Jayarebe as feeling “surprisingly well”.
He looks well, too, and Meehan certainly appears to be a happy man ahead of Saturday's contest.
“The draw [in five] couldn't be better,” he said. “He's a very versatile and adaptable horse, the way he is ridden in the races, and Sean is one of our leading riders in Europe now, and he knows him so well. So we're in good shape.”
Jayarebe is yet to race beyond ten and a half furlongs but the step up to a mile and a half is of no concern to Meehan.
“All next year as well he'll probably switch between 10 and 12 furlongs, and 12 furlongs on Saturday is certainly very comfortable,” he said. “[Wednesday] was his first morning and he was certainly taking it all in. We took him out early when it was a bit quieter. It was all about him getting used to his pony and used to the track.”
The trainer has had 12 previous Breeders' Cup runners and will also run the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches runner-up Kathmandu (Ire) (Showcasing {GB}) in Saturday's GIII Goldikova Stakes on the undercard.
He added, “Kathmandu is definitely Group 1 class so the Goldikova is the perfect race for her really.
“It's great to be back at the Breeders' Cup, for sure it is my favourite meeting. Any time you win a Group 1 race is such a high, but I guess to take a horse to another continent and win a championship race is huge, and that's a tremendous feeling of achievement for the whole operation.”
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