2021 Breeders' Cup Classic: 'Every race a highlight,' Saez says of Essential Quality
DEL MAR, Calif. - Trainer Brad Cox made it a point to briefly leave the raucous winner’s circle festivities following Knicks Go’s victory on Saturday in the Breeders’ Cup Classic to walk over to his other horse in the race, Essential Quality, and give him a little pat on the head. It was a quick acknowledgement of just how much the dynamic colt has meant to Cox before he leaves his barn and heads off to begin his next career standing stud at Darley’s Jonabell Farm in Kentucky.
Essential Quality finished third, beaten 3 1/2 lengths by wire-to-wire winner Knicks Go in the Classic, capping off a tremendous but all-too-brief career that saw him win eight of 10 starts. Four of those victories came in Grade 1 races, including the 2020 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and the Belmont and Travers earlier this year. His lone setback prior to Saturday came in the Kentucky Derby, with a fourth-place finish as the 5-2 favorite when beaten just a length by Medina Spirit when his chances were severely compromised by a troubled start and a wide trip.
“I’ll go back to the barn tonight and give him some mints, he loves them,” an emotional Cox said. “I thought he ran a big race today. When Knicks Go cleared off and I saw the other horses all bunched behind him, I thought they weren’t going that quick and Essential had only one or two beat at that point and he was going to have a hard time catching them. To his credit, he stayed on and finished up well. It was a big third-place effort, capping off a big year, one I’m hopeful is worthy of a championship, a 3-year-old Eclipse, that he can add to his other list of accomplishments.”
Luis Saez has been Essential Quality’s regular rider since guiding him to an easy victory in his second lifetime start in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity last fall at Keeneland. The pair next combined to capture the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile with a furious late run that carried Essential Quality to a three-quarter-length decision over Hot Rod Charlie in the first of many exciting confrontations to come between the two rivals.
“It was an amazing year, an amazing run riding him,” Saez said after the Classic. “Today I never expected the pace to be that slow. The plan was to sit still and make one move. There really wasn’t anything we could do, but, like always, he tried hard. He always tried hard.”
When asked which of his many victories aboard Essential Quality stood out the most, Saez said he really couldn’t pick one over another.
“Every one of his races was a highlight for me,” Saez said. “I’ll really miss riding him in the future, but I’m really excited for him to be going on to a new career.”
Essential Quality was looking to cap off a tremendous weekend for owner-breeder Godolphin LLC, which had already won three Breeders’ Cup races including a pair earlier on Saturday’s card.
“It’s just great to be a participant in these championship events and great to have a chance in the Classic like we did. He ran hard, it just wasn’t his day,” said Jimmy Bell, president and racing manager for Godolphin, who is also set to retire at the end of the year. “He just keeps coming and keeps trying, but sometimes these races unfold a little different; they don’t always go to game plan, but that’s racing. He’s a 3-year-old going up against a tough bunch and his effort today was no disgrace, he’s done everybody proud and completed a fantastic day for us (Godolphin), Charlie (Appleby), William (Buick) and the whole team from England.”
As for Cox, he said it will be hard to say goodbye when Essential Quality finally leaves the barn for the last time in the near future.
“He really has meant so much to me, he took me to my first Kentucky Derby, as the favorite no less,” Cox said. “He really was my first big colt, and winning the championship last year means a lot to me as well. I’m happy that he’ll be going off to stud, and I’m looking forward to training lots of his babies in the future.”