Talking Horses: Big Evs leads the way for European stars at Breeders’ Cup

IIt won’t get the praise and attention that Europe’s Ryder Cup team enjoyed when they defeated the Americans in September, but five wins from the seven grass races at the 2023 Breeders’ Cup over the weekend was an impressive result. Some £4.2 million in prize money alone will find its way back into the British and Irish racing ecosystems, and while it’s undoubtedly true that most winning owners aren’t exactly strapped for cash, Big Evs’ success will in Friday’s Juvenile Turf The sprint was one for the little boys.

And money aside, most European stars, both human and equine, performed at their best and made a vital and invaluable contribution to the spectacle. Mawj, the winner of the 1,000 Guineas, got a great ride from Oisin Murphy in the Mile before being nailed by an even better ride from William Buick on Master Of The Seas. Likewise, Warm Heart, in the Filly & Mare Turf, did everything right before Frankie Dettori and Inspiral shut her down.

Ryan Moore’s lap around the inside rail on Derby winner Auguste Rodin was also breathtaking, although he was typically Moore-esque when asked if he had been the difference between winning and losing. “No,” he said. “I think my horse had a bad trip, and I think he won because he is so good. I made the right decision, but it could also have been the wrong decision. But because I had so many horses, he was able to overcome things. For me, he won even though things didn’t go as smoothly as they should. I think this makes him a good horse.”

Exactly how good it is may or may not become clear next season, as all options remain open for Auguste Rodin’s future.

A son of Deep Impact, he would certainly add some variety to the Coolmore Stud stallion list, while his three-year-old season of four wins and two all-out blowouts suggests a four-year-old campaign could be one of the two. ways. But there was also talk of a tilt at the Classic on dirt at Del Mar next year, so there is still some thinking to be done and it might help that Ace Impact, the three-year-old Arc winner, has already been sent off to stud.

However, Inspiral will certainly remain in training next season, while Adam West, whose Live In The Dream faded late in the Turf Sprint after taking the lead at home, is already looking forward to meeting Big Evs in Del Mar in November next year.

The fierce and exciting competition on the grass field on Saturday provided an interesting contrast to at least some of the action on the field, where three of the five races were won by the defending champion from Keeneland 12 months ago. Cody’s Wish, Goodnight Olive and Elite Power all left as cheap favorites and won with plenty to spare, which was worthwhile for their loyal supporter groups but didn’t say much about the current depth of their respective divisions.

It was also a bit surreal, amid American racing’s continued attempts to clean up its act on doping and medication, to see Richard E Dutrow Jr. in the winners’ enclosure after White Abarrio’s victory in the Classic.

Once upon a time in America – in 2011, a time when what seemed to European eyes quite scandalous violations of doping protocols were often punished with fairly minor suspensions – Dutrow managed to get himself banned by the New York for no less than ten years Racing Authority. The charge sheet was long and inglorious, and investigators even found so-called “loaded syringes” in the drawers of his desk.

A decade later, Dutrow received the nod after his second career victory in the Classic, and just 24 hours after Jessica Harrington, a hugely respected trainer with an unquestionable record on the Flat and over jumps, found herself trying to out to journalists explain why The Breeders’ Cup vets had pulled Givemethebeatboys from the Juvenile Turf Sprint.

Both Harrington and Aidan O’Brien, who won the Juvenile Turf with Unquestionable after River Tiber, his main contender for the race, failed to pass the vet, were clearly upset by the implication that they would consider entering an unsound horse to run a salesperson. let alone a grade one on fast terrain.

It would be enough to make any trainer think twice about the considerable effort and expense of getting a horse from Europe to the west coast of America. The simple, sad fact, however, is that they paid for the sins of several generations of American trainers, some of whom at least saw the loaded syringe as the easiest way to get a wounded horse onto the track.

However, American racing is trying to move on, and as the global racing caravan made the move from California to Melbourne next week and to Hong Kong in December, there was a sense that the significance of the Breeders’ Cup for owners, trainers and jockeys is just as great is as always. Santa Anita sees this event at its peak, but Del Mar, where the surf meets the grass, will also exert a magnetic pull twelve months from now.