Breeders' Cup Saturday: Trainer quotes ahead of all the major action from Del Mar including the Classic

Ryan has strong hand as Glass Slippers bids to retain title

Defending champion Glass Slippers and Sprint Cup hero Emaraaty Ana give Kevin Ryan a strong hand in his bid for successive victories in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint.

Glass Slippers provided the Yorkshire-based trainer with a breakthrough victory at the Breeders’ Cup when triumphing at Keeneland 12 months ago.

The Dream Ahead mare has returned to America following a light campaign – finishing third in the King George Stakes at Goodwood, the Flying Five at the Curragh and the Prix de l’Abbaye at ParisLongchamp.

“Glass Slippers is a good traveller, she’s settled in great and seems really well,” Ryan told TVG.

“It’s a different sort of discipline this year – with it being five furlongs, rather than five-and-a-half as it was last year. She’s a much better filly in the second half of the year. She does like a bit of cut in the ground, and it’s going to be quick ground here, but it was too heavy for her in France last time.

“I’m very much looking forward to her – she’s in great form.”

Emaraaty Ana will also line up at Del Mar on Saturday with strong claims, having proved himself a top-level sprinter in the second half of this season.

The five-year-old was well-beaten as a 100/1 shot in the July Cup, but has since finished second in the Nunthorpe before touching off Starman in a Group One thriller at Haydock in September.

“Emaraaty Ana is a class horse in his own right. He’s a very fast horse, and I’m sure the track and conditions will suit him,” Ryan added.

“We’ve always had huge faith in him. We’ve changed tactics to ride him with a bit more restraint, rather than letting him use all his speed early in a race. He’s got a great turn of foot – and since we’ve started riding him like that, he’s just gone from strength to strength.”

Irish hopes are carried by A Case Of You, who claimed a popular success for Ado McGuinness and his team when beating Glass Slippers in the Abbaye a month ago. The son of Hot Streak will encounter very different conditions in California, but his trainer is confident he can make his presence felt.

He said: “He’s travelled well and settled in well. He’s eating and drinking, and I’m delighted with the way he is, so we’re very happy. He recovered really well from the Abbaye. We actually gave him a very easy week after Longchamp and then we had to start cantering him again because he was getting so fresh.

“It’s fantastic to be here. To be meeting all the people and everything, it’s just unbelievable.”

The home team is headed by the Wesley Ward-trained Golden Pal, who bids for back-to-back wins at the Breeders’ Cup after winning the Juvenile Turf Sprint at his home track last season.

Ward remains mystified by his disappointing run in the Nunthorpe in August, but confidence is high that he can show his true colours this weekend following another win at Keeneland last month.

He said: “Golden Pal is doing super. I don’t know what happened in York – but he’s doing really good right now, I can tell you that. Everyone knows he’s my man – he’s special.”

Ward also saddles Kimari and Arrest Me Red, adding: “Kimari is going to come from behind, so she has a different running style (to Golden Pal). She’ll come rolling late. Arrest Me Red won that race at Belmont last time and got a really good number, so he’s got to be there with a chance as well.”

Audarya eyes historic double in Filly & Mare Turf

Audarya is aiming to join Ouija Board as a dual winner of the Filly & Mare Turf at the Breeders’ Cup.

James Fanshawe’s five-year-old does not head to Del Mar in quite the same form as she travelled to America last season – but still has the credentials to be a major player on Saturday.

Whereas last year she had won the Prix Jean Romanet and gone down by just a length to Tarnawa, subsequent winner of the Breeders’ Cup Turf, in the Prix de l’Opera, this year she has not managed to get her head in front.

There have been signs, however, in three of her four starts that her ability remains fully intact.

Beaten just three-quarters of a length by Love on her return in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot, she also went close in the Prix Jean Romanet and the Opera again.

Fanshawe remains optimistic that Audarya can pull off a famous double – although he will not be there in person to witness her effort this time, and will instead watch from his Newmarket base.

He said: “It’s really frustrating – I’d love to be out there. We had such a great time last year, and obviously got the perfect result in the end.

“But it’s just the way things are – I’m afraid (wife) Jacko and I can’t make it. But we’ve got a really good team in place – we’ve got Helen, who does the travelling, and Geoffroy de la Sayette, who rides Audarya every day and knows her really well. They were in the team last year, and our son Tom is out there as well.”

Fanshawe concedes Audarya’s preparation is in contrast to her sustained improvement en route to Keeneland 12 months ago – but he is not significantly concerned, and is banking on conditions to suit her.

“It was very different last year. She went from handicaps to winning a Group One in France, and then she just kept on improving,” he said, on a call hosted by Great British Racing International.

“This year, she’s had to start at a much higher level. She ran very well in the Prince of Wales’s, when she was second to Love, and that was the last time she’s had quick ground until now. The Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare last year broke the track record, so she obviously likes the quick ground.

“She ran very well in the Romanet, when it looked like she’d won and then she got done on the line, and she ran a pretty good race in the Opera – not beaten very far (behind Rougir), on very heavy ground last time. So it’s a slightly different preparation, but she seems in good form.”

Audarya is drawn widest of all in the 12-strong field, round Del Mar’s tight track.

Fanshawe said: “The 12 draw isn’t ideal, but we’ve done quite a bit of homework on that. I think the Del Mar Handicap was won by a horse (Astronaut) drawn 10 of 10, so we hope it’s not too much of a disadvantage.”

Aidan O’Brien’s Love missed two planned high-profile engagements last month, in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and then British Champions Day at Ascot, since finishing a short-head runner-up in a Curragh Group Two in September.

O’Brien said: “She just got a little bit of a temperature before the Arc, and that’s why she didn’t run. Then she could have run on the English Champions Day, but her bloods weren’t quite 100 per cent. The Breeders’ Cup was always going to be on her agenda at this time of the year.

“She put a big one on the board in the Prince of Wales’s and has freshened up nicely. I was very happy with the race she ran at the Curragh. A good break is important to her out of the gate, and I’ve found in the last few years we are running more out of Ireland in the States and they are breaking better.

“She could go to Hong Kong after this if everything was well.”

Pauline Chehboub, racing manager to Rougir’s owners Haras de la Gousserie, said: “She ran a big race in Paris (winning the Prix de l’Opera) and has had a big season.

“We are happy with her – she is a solid filly and she will love the American pace. That will be an advantage for her, and she goes on soft ground and normal ground, so that is not a problem for her.

“The advantage for her will be the pace – and she has a good draw (four), which is important here. We are confident she will run a big race again. She is in very good form and looks very happy, which is a good point for the end of the season.”

Andrew Balding’s Queen Supreme and Hugo Palmer’s Ocean Road complete the British challenge.

The latter, who has raced just once since struggling in a soft-ground Oaks at Epsom in June, is out in stall 10.

“I was a bit disappointed by her draw,” said Palmer.

“She’s got quite a lot to find on ratings, but she’s been running well in England without winning Stakes races. Stepping up into Breeders’ Cup company and a $2million race is a big ask, but she’s shipped over really well and finished third in a Group Three the other day on her first run for a long time.

“She is drawn a bit wide, but if (jockey) Oisin (Murphy) is able to work her into a nice position, she could run a really good race.”

Blues bids for victorious swansong in Breeders’ Cup Mile

Space Blues bids to add his name to an illustrious list of European-trained winners of the Breeders’ Cup Mile when he leads a two-pronged attack from Charlie Appleby on the Del Mar showpiece.

The Prix de la Foret victor is joined by stablemate Master Of The Seas, who was runner-up to Poetic Flare in the 2000 Guineas but has been restricted to just two outings since that effort on the Rowley Mile.

Having won his maiden over a mile as a two-year-old, Saturday’s distance is not quite an unknown for Space Blues – but he has not run over it since his third career start, and has made his name as a crack six and seven-furlong performer.

Appleby said: “We’ve been delighted with his last two starts when winning both the (City Of) York Stakes and then the Foret. This will be the last run of his career; I’d imagine we’ll be retiring him after this. He’s done us proud.

“I feel a sharp mile round Del Mar will suit him. As we’ve all seen, he’s a great traveller. It’ll be quicker ground than he’s run on in his last two starts, but it doesn’t worry me becaue he won in Saudi Arabia on quick ground, and at Deauville. He’s a very versatile horse.

“He’ll travel for fun around there – and if the gaps appear he’s got the acceleration.”

Master Of The Seas returned to action with a creditable third place in the Joel Stakes at Newmarket in September, before finishing seventh in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot – where the ground was not in his favour.

With William Buick aboard Space Blues, James Doyle takes the mount on Master Of The Seas.

Appleby said: “We probably saw him at his best when he was just touched off in the Guineas on quick ground. He won the Craven Stakes before that Guineas second, then met with a setback.

“I was delighted with his comeback run in the Joel Stakes. He’s most definitely come forward from it fitness-wise. On Champions Day the ground was just too soft for him. I was keen, though, to get another run into him because he’d missed a large chunk of the summer. He’s come out of that race well, and I think back at a mile on quick ground will suit him.”

Aidan O’Brien won the race for the first time last year, when Order Of Australia led home a one-two-three for Ballydoyle.

His representative this time is 1000 Guineas heroine Mother Earth, a filly who has barely put a foot wrong but has not always enjoyed the best of luck – as witnessed by the trouble in running she suffered in the Matron Stakes at Leopardstown.

O’Brien said: “She’s been unlucky probably her last twice. The horses who beat her at Leopardstown she beat four or five lengths the next time, but when that happens (trouble in running) you lose Group Ones – and you never like that.

“I thought her last run at Ascot (fifth in the QEII) could be her best, because she clocked the final two furlongs better than any other horse’s time in the race. She seems well so far, and we’re looking forward to seeing her run. If there is a decent pace, she will run well.”

O’Brien added of the Breeders’ Cup in general: “It’s a special event at the end of our season. It’s great that the horses can come together and be compared across the world, at various distances and ages. It’s great prize-money; the racing is competitive, and everybody is looked after very well. I think at this time of year it’s where everybody likes to be with a horse good enough to compete in those championship races.”

The Paddy Twomey-trained Pearls Galore is another contender for Europe with strong credentials, after finishing second in the Matron and occupying the same spot in the Foret.

Dangers abound among the home squad, notably Mo Forza (Peter Miller/Flavien Prat), Smooth Like Strait (Mike McCarthy/Umberto Rispoli) and In Love (Paulo Lobo/Alexis Achard).

Of Smooth Like Strait, Rispoli said in his blog for XB Net: “Although his front-running style will always leave him potentially vulnerable to a fast finisher, a win in this super competitive heat will make up for a season where he’s only been a whisker shy of greatness.

“His work sectionals have been sharp, and this race has been the plan all year. Hopefully, we can pull it off together from the front end. It will take a Herculean effort against the likes of Space Blues and In Love, but I couldn’t ask for a more willing or talented partner.”

Weld anticipating a tough task as Tarnawa chases Turf double

Dermot Weld is under no illusions about the task facing Tarnawa as she bids to become only the third back-to-back winner of the Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf.

The Rosewell House handler is no stranger to international success, making his mark Stateside when becoming the first European to win a Triple Crown race with Go And Go in the 1990 Belmont Stakes.

Weld also has two Melbourne Cups and a whole host of other races on the world stage on his illustrious CV, but a Breeders’ Cup win had eluded him until Tarnawa’s brilliant display under Colin Keane at Keeneland 12 months ago.

The trainer himself did not make the trip to Kentucky due to coronavirus restrictions, but nevertheless enjoyed the success from his home in County Kildare.

“It was a special occasion. My son Mark was there, and I watched the race with my wife Mary and my second son Kris,” said Weld, who has travelled to California this year.

“We were expecting a good run, but winning was an extra bonus. It was exciting – it was late in the evening, and we enjoyed it immensely.

“I’ve always enjoyed the challenge (of travelling horses) – in the early days, I probably was one of the first to travel horses across the world. We won the first international race run in Hong Kong and then we were very fortunate and won two Melbourne Cups.”

Tarnawa was completing a top-level hat-trick at Keeneland last season, following a pair of Group One triumphs at ParisLongchamp.

A year on, the daughter of Shamardal will defend her crown after successive defeats – although she has lost little in finishing second in both the Irish Champion Stakes and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, just being denied by Torquator Tasso in the latter.

Weld added: “She’s a very brave filly, very tough and genuine and she gives 110 per cent every time she runs. She was tired for a week after Paris, so we let her have a nice easy time and freshened her up.

“A win in the Arc would have been special. She fought like a lioness, and unfortunately we just came up short. I don’t think the ground beat us in the Arc. She ran a superb race. I just think she had very little room to manoeuvre – and a very, very good horse beat us on the day. But he got a clearer run on the outside than we did.

“I think she’s equally good (as last season). I actually think she could be a slightly better mare this year – she’s developed every year and is training a couple of kilos heavier than last year.”

Tarnawa will start from stall 11 as she tries to follow in the hoofprints of previous dual winners High Chaparral and Conduit, with Weld admitting the prospect of a very fast surface is a worry.

He said: “I’m well aware what (ground) we are going to face is going to be a lot quicker (than last year), and it is a concern. I think it’s what makes a really true champion – if they can defend their crown on different surfaces a year apart.

“It will be a big challenge – a bigger challenge than last year, I believe. But equally she is a really, really good racemare that responds to every challenge she gets. She’s a very professional racehorse with a wonderful constitution, and that’s what enables me to travel her to different countries – her strong mental attitude and great constitution.

“I actually think luck in running will decide this race – if Colin can manoeuvre from where he’s drawn, that will be our biggest challenge. We’ve just got to get lucky, get the breaks and things go her way.”

Tarnawa leads a European challenge that also includes Roger Varian’s Teona, who missed the Arc on account of the testing conditions in Paris.

As a result, the daughter of Sea The Stars – who is drawn in stall 10 – will be making her first competitive appearance since inflicting a shock defeat on Snowfall in September’s Prix Vermeille.

“Her races didn’t go to plan earlier in the year,” said Varian.

“She ran in heavy ground and had traffic problems, but we left her alone – and she’s come back very strongly. She’s in great form and comes out here peaking at this time of year – she didn’t have a busy summer. She’s a fresh filly – she hasn’t run since the Vermeille and proved herself to be a very good filly there.

“It’s all a bit of an unknown quantity after they hit the gates, but the good thing about her is she’s a natural athlete and she travels. She’s capable of staying on the bridle, and that counts for a lot.

“The Turf is obviously a very strong race, but I think she is fully deserving of her place and we’re looking forward to it. Hopefully she can get a good position, and we’ll take it from there.”

Aidan O’Brien has won the Turf on a record six occasions, with High Chaparral’s successive wins followed by victories for St Nicholas Abbey, Magician, Found and Highland Reel.

The Ballydoyle handler declared four for this year’s renewal, with Japan and Broome making the initial cut and first reserve Bolshoi Ballet getting a run after the well-fancied Domestic Spending was withdrawn. Mogul remains on the reserve list.

Japan’s last two starts have been in America, with a runner-up effort in the Sword Dancer Stakes at Saratoga followed by a sixth-placed finish in Belmont’s Turf Classic.

O’Brien said: “We’re delighted with him. His last two runs were very good, and he just got chopped off in his last two races. He’s very well, and we’re very happy with him and we’d be looking forward to seeing him run.

“Broome won his Group One in France and has been very consistent really through the season. He needs to break well, because we would be very happy to lead. The thing about Bolshoi Ballet is he’s got plenty of experience out here.”

Charlie Appleby also saddles two runners who have experience of North American racing, with Jockey Club Derby victor Yibir joined by Canadian International-winning stablemate Walton Street.

“Walton Street is at the grand age of seven now and he’s one of the yard favourites,” said the Moulton Paddocks handler.

“He put up a good performance in Germany on his first start after a break, finishing just behind the eventual Arc winner Torquator Tasso, and then put up a dominant performance in Canada. He deserves to be there; he might not be good enough to win it, but he won’t look out of place.

“Yibir started the season running in Classic trials and running well, but not running the most straightforward races you’d like to see. He was gelded before the summer and won the Bahrain Trophy. He then disappointed us again at Goodwood, so we changed our tactics and and left the hood on at York, where he won the Great Voltigeur.

“The plan after that was always to head to New York for the Jockey Club Derby, and he won it well. That was a ‘Win and You’re In’ race to the Breeders’ Cup Turf. He goes there as one of the youngsters – but if he brings his A game, he’s going to be very competitive.”

Cox pair may hold key to Classic

Brad Cox is likely to need his eyes in more than one place when the stalls open for the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar.

Cox sent out a record-equalling four winners at the meeting last year – with his Classic pair doing their bit, as Knicks Go took the Dirt Mile and Essential Quality the Juvenile.

Tactics for Knicks Go will be no secret on Saturday, because he will go from the front. Quite how far Essential Quality sits off the pace will depend on how fast his stablemate goes – and that could be very quick, because front-running Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit is in the field, not to mention Hot Rod Charlie.

Cox said: “They’re not going to get in each other’s way, which is good for me!

“There’s some other speed in the race (apart from Knicks Go), just looking at the other horses. (But) I think he is the speed of the speed, and we’re not going to take that away from him. We’re going to ask him to run out of there and establish a position early, and what anyone else does is up to them.

“But we are going to be very aggressive, hopefully he gets the lead going into the first turn and he’s able to clear off. I think that gives him his best opportunity to win.”

On the pace in the race, and whether Knicks Go will be hassled by Medina Spirit, Cox said: “If they’re head and head and going 46 (seconds, for the first half-mile), up there going that fast that early, there’s a possibility that one or both of them could back up and that could play to Essential Quality.

“The one thing about him is he’s shown his ability to adapt to pace – if it’s hot he can sit off and come running, and if it’s a soft pace he can sit close. It’s probably not going to be a soft pace, so we’re thinking they’re probably going to get away from him in the early part and he’ll be running around the turn and down the lane."

Cox is rightly proud of both of his contenders, who will be very difficult to keep out of the Horse of the Year picture should either be triumphant.

He said: “Obviously they both performed well in the last quarter of 2020, and it’s been a great year. Both horses have stayed in good form for the most part.

“Knicks Go, I felt like we may have rushed him a little bit after the Pegasus (World Cup), shipping him to the other side of the world for the Saudi Cup and then the Met Mile, but aside from those two bumps in the road he’s been ultra consistent – and we’re proud of what he’s accomplished.

“Essential Quality has never missed a beat. He ran a big race in the Derby, the only defeat of his career, and you could argue he ran one of the better races that day (having raced wide and covering more ground than virtually the whole field). Both horses have had great years.”

A Grade One winner in his juvenile days, Knicks Go rediscovered himself when joining the Cox barn as a four-year-old.

His trainer said: “I don’t know if it’s anything we did in regards to training him, I think he’s just developed. We got him, and he’d come off a little bit of a freshening – he was a happy, sound horse, and we were able to win a second level allowance and then he had a setback. He had an injury, and they talked about retiring him – but breeding season had already started, and it was going to be no good retiring him at the point.

“So we brought him back, and if he hadn’t been doing well we were going to retire him, but he was training better than ever. He’s been a good horse from the beginning – his Grade One win at two was not a fluke, and he followed it up with a big race at the Breeders’ Cup. I think what he did was he was able to catch his breath, get a breather and develop. Horses are supposed to get faster at four and five, and he was a really fast two-year-old.

“I think he’s just developed – I don’t know if it was any one thing we did with him. We don’t really train him any different than we do our other horses – he’s able to take more training and breeze faster and work faster, because he’s better than a lot of them. We allow him to really stretch his legs and do what he likes to do – he likes to train.

“He’s always been a very good horse, he’s just developed with time as an older horse. Lots of times when horses go from two to three, or three to four, and there’s an improvement there’s normally a gap – they don’t all of a sudden get better.

“It allows the horse to mature and recover from the rigours of training and racing, and they come back and their body catches up physically and they move forward.

“It was an amazing achievement for him to be able to win the Dirt Mile, running as fast as he did, and I think if he wins the Classic he’d be up close or on the lead and run some solid fractions the first part and finish up well. We’ll see how it goes, but it would definitely go down as one of the best accomplishments at the Breeders’ Cup.”

Third in the Kentucky Derby and just behind Essential Quality in the Belmont Stakes, Hot Rod Charlie has answered every call for Doug O’Neill.

“He’s very versatile – the race looks very competitive, and there’s a lot of speed signed up in there,” said O’Neill.

“That being said, I love the continuity of having Flavien Prat back on him and having the versatility in being able to come from off it if the pace is too hot and we’re not able to make the lead, or go and go – we’ve got options. There’d be nothing better than winning the Classic and being in that (Horse of the Year) conversation. I’m just very proud of him.”

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