2021 Breeders' Cup Turf: Tarnawa favored to join elite club; Domestic Spending, United scratched
DEL MAR, Calif. - The Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Turf, annually a gathering of top European and American-based runners, is not an easy race to win once, let alone twice.
High Chaparral was the first two-time winner in 2002 and 2003, finishing in a dead-heat with Johar at Santa Anita in the latter year. Conduit won consecutive runnings at Santa Anita in 2008 and 2009.
No one has done it since, although five have tried.
Tarnawa, the 5-year-old Irish-bred mare, has a chance to join the exclusive group of two-time winners in the $4 million BC Turf at 1 1/2 miles at Del Mar on Saturday. Her list of rivals changed significantly on Thursday with the defection of top American hope Domestic Spending as well as United, a mainstay in distance turf races in California who was second in the 2019 BC Turf. Both have been sidelined with minor injuries.
With their absences, Bolshoi Ballet, winner of the Grade 1 Belmont Derby at Belmont Park in July, and Channel Maker, third behind Tarnawa in the 2020 BC Turf in his third career appearance in the race, have joined the 14-runner BC Turf field from the also-eligible list.
The scratch of Domestic Spending leaves top American trainer Chad Brown with two candidates – the 2021 Grade 1 winners Rockemperor and Tribhuvan.
Rockemperor, the attractive winner of the Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic at 1 1/2 miles at Belmont Park on Oct. 9, is a threat from off the pace.
“The way he won impressively surprised me,” Brown said earlier this week. “He’s a horse that’s coming along well. I think he can get a piece.”
Tarnawa will be favored, a status strengthened by the loss of Domestic Spending, who would have certainly drawn considerable support.
This year, Tarnawa has had only three starts for trainer Dermot Weld, winning the Group 3 Ballyroan Stakes at 1 1/2 miles at Leopardstown on Aug. 5 in her 2021 debut.
The next two races did not go as well. Tarnawa was second in the Group 1 Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown on Sept. 11, a finish that was subject to a lengthy inquiry regarding an incident in which she was carried out in the stretch. No change was made.
In the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in Paris on Oct. 3, Tarnawa had a less-than-ideal trip on the inside and still reached contention before finishing second to the outside Torquator Tasso on heavy turf she did not appear to fancy.
Conditions will be firm at Del Mar, a slight issue for Weld.
“The main concern I have is the ground,” Weld said. “I am well aware of what we face will be a lot quicker.
However, Weld rates Tarnawa as the sort of mare who can overcame a change in surface from the Arc.
“I think that is what makes a really true champion, if they can defend their crown on different surfaces a year apart,” Weld said. “This will be a bigger challenge for her than last year, mostly because of the ground.”
Of the 14 runners in the reconstituted field, eight have raced overseas this year.
Bolshoi Ballet was the beaten favorite at 6-5 in the Group 1 English Derby in June, emerging from the race with a cut on a leg.
Trained by Aidan O’Brien, Bolshoi Ballet had made his last three starts in the United States. Following the win in the Belmont Derby, Bolshoi Ballet was fourth in the Grade 1 Saratoga Derby on Aug. 7, and fourth behind BC Turf hopeful Yibir in the Jockey Club Derby at Belmont Park on Sept. 18.
The extensive travel to the United States will benefit the colt, O’Brien said on Thursday after news of the scratches emerged.
“He’s in good order,” O’Brien said. “He’s had the races here. I think it’s a big help. I wouldn’t ignore him.”
Aside from Bolshoi Ballet and Tarnawa, the European-based runners Broome, Sisfahan, Teona, Walton Street, and Yibir have run appealing races.
Teona won the Group 1 Prix de l’Opera for fillies and mares at 1 1/8 miles at Longchamp on Oct. 3. Sisfahan won the Group 1 German Derby in July and was second and third in two Group 1 races against older horses in Germany in September.
Broome, who won the Group 1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud in Paris in July, and Japan, who had had two trips to the United States this year without a win, are trained by O’Brien, who still has the 2020 Group 1 winner Mogul on the also-eligible list.
O’Brien has won the BC Turf a record six times, most recently in 2016.
Walton Street and Yibir are trained in England by Charlie Appleby and won major stakes in North America in their last starts.
Walton Street gave the best performance of his 19-race career in the Grade 1 Canadian International at 1 1/2 miles at Woodbine on Sept. 18. Walton Street closed from second to win by 5 3/4 lengths as the 4-5 favorite.
“Everyone can say what they’d like about the actual race and what he beat, but you couldn’t be any more impressed about the way he did it,” Appleby said. “He’s in the peak of his condition and he won’t look out of place in the lineup. One thing is he brings tons of experience.”
Yibir was gelded in the summer, and has since won 3 of 4 starts, a span that includes the Jockey Club Derby. Yibir was last under Jamie Spencer and rallied wide to win by 2 1/2 lengths.
“Halfway through the race, you wouldn’t have been sitting quite so comfortable with your winning ticket,” Appleby said. “He had the acceleration.”
Tarnawa is the runner Appleby fears.
“We have to respect Tarnawa,” Appleby said. “She’s got to falter for us to beat her at the end of the day. If she turns up anywhere close to her A game, we’re all running for second.”
Aside from the Brown-trained runners, the other domestic hopes include Gufo, winner of the Grade 1 Sword Dancer Stakes at Saratoga; Acclimate, second in the Grade 2 John Henry Turf Championship at Santa Anita on Oct. 2; and Astronaut, who won the Grade 2 Del Mar Handicap at 1 3/8 miles here on Aug. 21.
Astronaut was a maiden race winner on March 26 and will be a longshot in the BC Turf. But trainer John Shirreffs said course experience could be invaluable for the improving 4-year-old colt.
“Because he has the ability to close at the end, if he gets a good trip, it would be possible for him to hit the board,” Shirreffs said. “The one thing California horses do have is experience around tight turns.”