Pearl Another Breeders' Cup Gem

LEXINGTON, KY–The European-trained runners may have been shut out on opening day of the Breeders' Cup at Keeneland, but there would have been plenty of smiling faces in Ireland, France and England on Friday evening as 'TDN Rising Star' Aunt Pearl (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) kept her perfect record intact with a powerful front-running score in the GI Juvenile Fillies Turf under Frenchman Florent Geroux for trainer Brad Cox. Aidan O'Brien's Mother Earth (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) made up significant ground late to grab second, mowing down the Ringfort Stud-bred Miss Amulet (Ire) (Sir Prancealot {Ire})-herself a revelation this season in winning two stakes races after being purchased for £7,500 as a yearling-who checked in third. Stonestreet Stables' G1 Prix Morny and G2 Queen Mary S. winner Campanelle (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) faded to fourth after chasing Aunt Pearl's five-length lead early.

Bred by the partnership of John Malone's Ballylinch Stud and Frenchman Lucien Urano's Ecurie des Charmes, Aunt Pearl was presented in the ring during Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale last year. At 280,000gns, she was the most expensive of nine fillies bought between Books 1 and 2 by Liz Crow and Brad Weisbord of BSW Bloodstock, who were shopping at the sale for the first time for a new venture headed by prominent American owners Sol Kumin and Michael Dubb to target European-bred fillies to run on the turf in the U.S.

“We put a group together and Mike and I were the first two who were apart of it, and then we filled it in with a few others,” Kumin explained. “They [Weisbord and Crow] went over there and did all the hard work and it was obviously a terrific job by the team scouting this horse out. From the beginning she was one of the better ones of the group and she's probably turned out to be the best one.”

If all this sounds familiar, it should: two years previously, agent Mike Ryan had shopped Book 1 for Klaravich Stables and unearthed another daughter of Lope De Vega, Newspaperofrecord (Ire). Like Aunt Pearl, Newspaperofrecord won her first two starts by open lengths before wiring this race at Churchill Downs. For Kumin in particular, the Juvenile Fillies Turf is a race he is building an enviable record in; he won it for the first time in 2014 at Santa Anita with Lady Eli (Divine Park).

Aunt Pearl isn't the only Grade I star for American connections to have graduated from Book 1 last year; agent Ben McElroy picked out Campanelle for 190,000gns on behalf of Stonestreet, one of three he signed for. To add further clout, the seventh-place finisher in the Juvenile Fillies Turf, Editor At Large (Ire), is also by Lope De Vega and was purchased from Book 1 for 260,000gns by Mike Ryan for Peter Brant's White Birch Farm.

Coronavirus understandably put somewhat of a damper on American invaders at Park Paddocks this October, but Irishmen Ryan and McElroy were both on the buyers' list and Aunt Pearl's win all but guarantees that the already formidable American participation will continue to rise at Tattersalls.

Aunt Pearl is the latest feather in the cap for Ballylinch Stud's Lope De Vega, whose star has only continued to ascend over the years. He has had four Group 1 winners on three continents this year, with Newspaperofrecord adding the G1 Just a Game S. to her already illustrious record and Gytrash (Aus) and the 2-year-old Lucky Vega (Ire) becoming new top-level winners in Australia and Ireland, respectively. Lope De Vega's G2 Champions Juvenile S. scorer Cadillac (Ire) was a respectable fourth in Friday's G1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf for Alpha Racing and Jessica Harrington, while Godolphin's G3 Tattersalls S. winner La Barrosa (Ire) is one to look forward to next year.

While European-trained runners failed to get a win on the board at the Breeders' Cup on Friday, a few others in addition to Cadillac made favourable impressions. Battleground (War Front) made up ground late to be second in the Juvenile Turf under Ryan Moore, just missing emulating his dam Found (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) who won the GI Breeders' Cup Turf the last time the championships were at Keeneland in 2015.

Owners Martin and Lisa Webb and trainer Nigel Tinkler kept the faith in jockey Rowan Scott, who rode out his claim this summer, bringing him over to ride G2 Flying Childers S. winner Ubettabelieveit (GB) (Kodiac {GB}) in the GII Juvenile Turf Sprint, and Scott gave the colt a beautiful ride to be third. Acting like a rider with plenty more experience under his belt, Scott kept a cool head when his mount blew the break, guiding him to the rail and letting him gradually pick off runners while taking the shortest route around the course. It is likely this is not the last we've heard from Scott, as well as Ubettabelieveit's owners the Webbs, who were adamant on Thursday that a top four finish would spark big celebrations.

With a hugely formidable European contingent lined up for Saturday's GI Breeders' Cup Turf as well as two Guineas winners in the GI Mile, the second day of the Breeders' Cup holds plenty of chances for trophies to be taken back across the Atlantic.