Wootton Bassett Colt Leaves No Doubts in the Juvenile Turf

Courtesy of years in the sport of horse racing, Team Coolmore is as well versed as anyone with many of racing's highs and lows. Hitting one of those lulls when GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf morning-line favorite River Tiber (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) was a vet scratch earlier Friday, the team–in concert with Al Shaqab Racing–ended Day 1 of the World Championships with a rousing coup, taking the final Breeders' Cup race of the day with Unquestionable (Fr), a colt by Coolmore stallion Wootton Bassett {GB}). Coolmore completed the Exacta in the one-mile turf test with Mountain Bear (Ire), by another one of the operation's Irish stallions, No Nay Never.

Sent off the 3-2 choice following the early defection of his stablemate, Unquestionable was tucked into a ground-saving fourth going into the first turn as Air Recruit (Air Force Blue), prompted by Cup and Saucer S. winner My Boy Prince (Cairo Prince), led through a swift opening quarter in :22.26. With the leading duo continuing to show the way through a half in :46.72, the €340,000 Arqana August yearling appeared to be full of run but was in dire need of a clear path turning for home. With the seas parting ahead straightening for home, Ryan Moore strong-armed the colt along with a half-dozen reminders down the lane and the pair drew off to win by 1 1/2 lengths over the last-to-second rush of 22-1 chance Mountain Bear. The Canadian Invader was a head back in third.

“He's a very tough horse who we've always had a lot of faith in,” said O'Brien. “Ryan [Moore] gave him an unbelievable ride in a great position from an early stage from a tough draw [post 8]. He won very well in the end and I'm delighted. He did everything right in the preparations going into the race so for him to go and win is brilliant.”

The other O'Brien-trained runner Mountain Bear, who appeared to sit back at the start, was taken via equine ambulance to the Southern California Equine Foundation equine hospital for further evaluation. According to a Breeders' Cup release, the colt has a non-displaced lateral condylar fracture to the left front leg.

O'Brien commented, “That's a little fracture down into his cannon. It's not displaced, so that's good…So he can get a cast on him for four weeks and should be fine. He's down in the barn and settled in now.”

He added, “They're unbelievably quick to pick him up and bring him down. He did no damage. So that's all very good news really.”

In regard to the scratch of early favorite River Tiber, O'Brien added, “The vets thought he was a little bit stiff [Friday] morning. I know myself, I don't wake up the same every morning–he was a bit stiff. I think time has gone by, we wouldn't even bat an eye at it. [But] I think with all the hysteria and everything that's gone on, nobody wanted to take any chance. We respected that. It is the way it is. I would say he will probably be perfect [Sunday] morning, but yeah, he was a little bit stiff this morning. Nobody wanted to take a chance, so that was fine.”

The victory marked the 17th World Championships score for trainer O'Brien and the 13th win for Moore. With Friday's win, the duo have now partnered for a total of six wins in the Juvenile Turf following wins with Wrote (Ire) (2011), George Vancouver (2012), Hit It a Bomb (2015), Mendelssohn (2017) and Victoria Road (Ire) (2022).

The day also marked a banner day for Coolmore stallions. In addition to the top two finishers in the Juvenile Turf, the team's stallions also accounted for the Exacta in the GI Juvenile Fillies with Just F Y I (Justify) and Jody's Pride (American Pharoah) in addition to the top two in the GI Juvenile Fillies Turf with Hard to Justify (Justify) and Porta Fortuna (Ire), by former Coolmore sire Caravaggio.

Third going five panels over the soft turf in his career debut at the Curragh May 1, Unquestionable duly followed up with a TDN Rising Star-earning win at that venue May 27. Beaten a nose by Bucanero Fuerte (GB) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) in the G2 Railway S., he was fourth behind that winning rival in the G1 Phoenix S. Aug. 12. In his most recent start, he finished a length adrift of the classy Rosallion (Blue Point {Ire}) in the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere at ParisLongchamp Oct. 1.

According to O'Brien, a venture to the Classics might be in the offing for Friday's winner.

“He looks like he could be a French Guineas type horse, so that's what we will probably train him for, something like that,” said O'Brien. “Then in the spring, we'll kind of clear up the picture. He's obviously a lovely horse to look to be going forward with next year.”

“He had a few runs maybe that wasn't up to scratch, but we had good reasons for them all in our own mind, so we were happy about that.”

Pedigree Notes:
Coolmore sire Wootton Bassett counted among the operation's stallions that enjoyed a banner day Friday. With the victory, Unquestionable gave the son of Iffraaj his 40th black-type winner and his 27th graded/group winner. The colt's 8-year-old dam, Strawberry Lace (GB), is out of listed winner and group placed Crying Lightening (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}). This represents the family of Group 2 winner and sire Bated Breath (Dansili {GB}). Preceded by a Night of Thunder (Ire) (Enjoy The Show {Fr}) filly, Unquestionable is the second foal out of his young dam, who subsequently foaled a pair of colts by Almanzor (Fr).

Watch UNQUESTIONABLE win the $1 Million @Prevagen #BreedersCup Juvenile Turf on #FutureStarsFriday at @santaanitapark! Cheers to the connections! pic.twitter.com/MODHgiKmmG

— Breeders' Cup (@BreedersCup) November 3, 2023

Friday, Santa Anita
PREVAGEN BREEDERS' CUP JUVENILE TURF-GI, $920,000, Santa Anita, 11-3, 2yo, c/g, 1mT, 1:33.65, fm.
1–UNQUESTIONABLE (FR), 122, c, 2, by Wootton Bassett (GB)
                1st Dam: Strawberry Lace (GB), by Sea The Stars (Ire)
                2nd Dam: Crying Lightening (Ire),
                                by Holy Roman Emperor (Ire)
                3rd Dam: Auction Room, by Chester House
'TDN Rising Star'. 1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES
WIN, 1ST GRADE I WIN. (€340,000 Ylg '22 ARAUG).
O-Al Shaqab Racing, Westerberg, Mrs. John Magnier, Derrick
Smith and Michael B. Tabor; B-Mme C. Vitse, Mme A. Vitse,
Mme V. Vitse, G. Vitse (FR); T-Aidan P. O'Brien; J-Ryan L.
Moore. $520,000. Lifetime Record: GSP-Ire, G1SP-Fr, 6-2-2-1, $671,394.
Werk Nick Rating: A.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Mountain Bear (Ire), 122, c, 2, No Nay Never–Holy Alliance
(Ire), by Holy Roman Emperor (Ire). 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE.
O-Mrs. John Magnier, Derrick Smith and Michael B. Tabor;
B-Whisperview Trading Ltd (IRE); T-Aidan P. O'Brien. $170,000.
3–My Boy Prince, 122, c, 2, Cairo Prince–Hopping Not Hoping,
by Silent Name (Jpn). (C$115,000 Ylg '22 CANSEP). O-Gary
Barber; B-Murray Smith (ON); T-Mark E. Casse. $90,000.
Margins: 1HF, HD, HF. Odds: 1.50, 22.30, 5.20.
Also Ran: Can Group, Agate Road, Tok Tok, Air Recruit, Endlessly, Carson's Run, Stay Hot, Fulmineo. Scratched: Grand Mo the First, Liam's Journey, River Tiber (Ire).
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.