2021 Breeders' Cup Turf: Imperador out of race, opens door for Tribhuvan
Imperador, winner of the Grade 2 Calumet Turf Cup at Kentucky Downs last month, will miss the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Del Mar on Nov. 6, trainer Paulo Lobo said on Thursday.
“I did not like the way he galloped,” Lobo said from Kentucky. “He was a little off.”
Lobo said Imperador is scheduled to undergo veterinary tests on Friday with the hope the 5-year-old will remain in training in 2022.
“That’s why we are checking him tomorrow and hope that we can bring him back for next year,” he said.
A 5-year-old Argentine-bred, Imperador earned a fees-paid berth to the BC Turf with the win at Kentucky Downs, his first victory in six starts in the United States. Imperador was a multiple Group 1 winner in Argentina in 2019 and 2020.
The absence of Imperador will likely allow Tribhuvan to join the field. The BC Turf drew 22 pre-entries, but will have a maximum of 14 starters.
Tribhuvan, trained in New York by Chad Brown, was second on the list of also-eligibles published by the Breeders’ Cup on Wednesday.
The list had barely been announced when Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien said the 4-year-old filly Love was more likely to run in the BC Filly and Mare Turf on Nov. 6. Love had a position in the initial field of 14 in the BC Turf. Love’s defection allows stablemate Japan, a two-time Group 1 winner in 2019, to join the BC Turf field. Japan was first alternate for the BC Turf.
Should there be any further defections, O’Brien has the next two candidates for the race in Broome and Bolshoi Ballet.
Broome, 5, won the Group 1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud in Paris in July for his sixth stakes win, but was 11th in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp in Paris on Oct. 3.
Bolshoi Ballet has already had three starts in the United States this year, including a win in the Grade 1 Belmont Derby in July. Bolshoi Ballet was fourth in the Jockey Club Derby at Belmont Park on Sept. 18 behind Yibir, who is part of the BC Turf field.