Henri Matisse flashed past the post and Aidan O’Brien did what he always does: shook hands with those closest to him.
It all seemed very routine, with a Ballydoyle horse landing a big race, but then a statistic emerged that put this win in a very different context. O’Brien was now the joint winningest trainer in Breeders Cup history.
A figure that started ticking when the great-grandfather of Johannesburg – City Of Troy reached 20 in Southern California with the Juvenile at Belmont Park in New York in 2001, when Henri Matisse landed the Juvenile Turf.
O’Brien is now tied with D Wayne Lukas, but the question now is when, rather than if, he goes clear on his own. What a way for the stars to align if City Of Troy delivers the coveted success in the Classic, but this was enough for now.
“Aidan says it’s all teamwork,” said Ryan Moore, his big-time racing jockey. ‘But Aidan has been doing this for 23 years, I remember sitting at home as a child watching Johannesburg. What he has done is incredible.”
Henri Matisse, ridden by Ryan Moore, gave Aidan O’Brien a 20th Breeders Cup victory
Matisse has made O’Brien the joint-winningest trainer in Breeders Cup history
Moore isn’t one to use words to make headlines, so the fact that he chose to say “incredible” was the biggest endorsement of this achievement you could ask for; Of course he has access to excellent bloodlines, but these horses still need training.
Put another way, would Manchester City have the same success with the same players without Pep Guardiola in charge? The answer is no. O’Brien is as meticulous with his attention to detail as the Catalan and the results are there for all to see.
Henri Matisse looks as stunning as any of the masterpieces produced by the man he’s named after and while he was only a neck above Iron Man Cal, it didn’t do justice to his authority.
The same went for Lake Victoria, O’Brien’s 19th winner at these world championships, after she rushed the Juvenile Fillies Turf to end her season with an unblemished record from five starts after five wins.
Moore earned his fee here by nudging and chasing Frankel’s daughter away before speeding through a gap and keeping pursuers at bay. If she progresses as the connections hope, she will have to make a number of stops in the 1000 Guineas next year.
“She’s very unusual,” said Lake Victoria’s Moore, who has won Group 1 races over six furlongs, seven furlongs and now a mile. ‘It was just a matter of driving clear and she was too good for them. To do what she did is very unique.”
The same went for Ger Lyons, who fought back tears after Magnum Force was delivered with impeccable timing by Colin Keane to land the Juvenile Turf Sprint at odds of 14/1.
O’Brien – pictured in 2021 – has an impact on par with Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola
Lyons is a trainer, a man to be feared whenever he does anything in Group 1, and his jockey is also excellent. He has only four Breeders Cup rides in his career and has now landed two after Tarnawa won the Turf in 2020.
“He is the most underrated Champion Jockey in the world,” Lyons said of Keane, who was Ireland’s leading rider six times. ‘I would like to see him on the big stage more. I need the world to wake up to him. If he has the ammo, he will deliver.”
Keane didn’t have a chance to celebrate as he drove back to San Diego airport so he could catch a flight back to Dublin. He will ride at The Curragh on Sunday, where he will receive his jockey title.
“The atmosphere was incredible,” he said, smiling. His other victory, at Tarnawa, had taken place during Covid, when there were no spectators on the track. ‘Nothing compares to this.’