DEL MAR, Calif. – Balantina was strides from an upset win in Friday’s $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Del Mar when full-throated cheers erupted from a small group assembled in the front row of a grandstand viewing area. The moment Balantina reached the wire, winning trainer Donnacha O’Brien hugged his girlfriend, Rachael Hickey, and then turned to his left and embraced his father, a fella named Aidan O’Brien. Donnacha O’Brien joined his famous father, as well as his brother Joseph, as a Breeders’ Cup winning trainer. Donnacha O’Brien grew up attending the Breeders’ Cup with his family, and was winless with two mounts at the 2016 Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita during his riding career. As a trainer, Donnacha O’Brien’s Porta Fortuna was second in the 2023 BC Juvenile Fillies Turf. After Balantina’s win, he was bound for the winner’s circle as a winning trainer. “It’s incredible,” Donnacha O’Brien said of Friday’s win. “We came here a lot of times when we were babies. It’s nice to get aboard” and have a win. The BC Juvenile Fillies Turf was expected to go to Aidan O’Brien’s Precise, a three-time group stakes winner who was withdrawn on Friday morning because of illness. The absence of Precise made the Juvenile Fillies Turf a more competitive race. Even so, Balantina was largely ignored. She was the 10th choice in a field of 12. While Balantina lacked appealing recent form, she did have a world-class rider in in Oisin Murphy, who won his fifth British riding title this year. Murphy rode a patient race on Balantina, his second Breeders’ Cup victory. ON SALE NOW: DRF Breeders' Cup Packages! Get everything you need to win and save big. Balantina, who started from post 10, was quickly on the rail before the field reached the first turn. Murphy kept Balantina on the inside on the backstretch, racing in eighth. On the turn, Balantina was briefly ninth and then quickly was within a few lengths of the front. Turning into the stretch, Murphy moved Balantina between Celebrity Warrior and stretch leader Ground Support and aimed for the inside. Balantina caught Ground Support in the final sixteenth to win by 1 1/4 lengths. “She’s a great athlete and that’s why she was able to handle the track so well,” Murphy said. “I had the right horse. “I know on a tight track at Del Mar the way to win is to save ground.” Balantina ($43.20) was timed in 1:35.07 and earned an 84 Beyer Speed Figure. Pacific Mission, who broke slowly from post 12, closed from 11th in the final quarter-mile to finish second under jockey Colin Keane. “It was a tremendous run,” trainer Andrew Balding said. “Our hands were a little tied with the draw. Colin did a wonderful job under the circumstances.” Ground Support (24-1) held third, finishing a head behind Pacific Mission. Ground Support stalked the early pace. “I think we had a great trip,” said Kelsey Danner, who trains Ground Support. “She got caught late.” Ground Support, winner of the Grade 2 Miss Grillo Stakes at Aqueduct on Oct. 4, was beaten for the first time in her third start. Imaginationthelady finished fourth, followed by Ultimate Love, Infinite Sky, Queen of Hawaii, Celebrity Warrior, Final Accord, Time to Dream, Switch in Love, and Brave Deb. Imaginationthelady won the Grade 2 Jessamine Stakes at Keeneland on Oct. 3 and was beaten for the first time in the BC Juvenile Fillies Turf in her third start, losing by 2 1/2 lengths. “She’s a big filly,” jockey Frankie Dettori said. “I had to urge her a little early to keep my spot. She got a little unbalanced. She’s a 3-year-old in the making.” Ultimate Love was the 7-2 favorite, and lost by three lengths, her first defeat in four starts. Balantina, an Irish-bred filly by the No Nay Never stallion Ten Sovereigns, races for the partnership of Medallion Racing, Parkland Thoroughbreds, Reeves Thoroughbreds, and Lissa Ann McNulty. The BC Juvenile Fillies Turf was Balantina’s first stakes win in her sixth start. Balantina won her second start, with Murphy aboard, in a maiden race at The Curragh on May 25 in the first race on the Irish 1000 Guineas program. Balantina was third in the Group 3 Albany Stakes at Royal Ascot in June, and was beaten a nose by Green Spirit in the Group 3 Prix Six Perfections at Deauville, France, on Aug. 3. Green Spirit was one of France’s leading 2-year-old fillies this year. Balantina had one more start in Ireland in the summer, finishing fifth of six in the Group 2 Debutante Stakes on good turf at The Curragh on Aug. 23. Donnacha O’Brien said on Friday that race conditions were against Balantina that day. “Her form was good in the early part of the year,” he said. “When we ran her at The Curragh, we probably shouldn’t have. They had a shower a half-hour before the race and the ground went soft.” Steve Weston, who races as Parkland Thoroughbreds, urged Donnacha O’Brien to point Balantina toward the BC Juvenile Fillies Turf. “Our goal ever year is to make it to the Breeders’ Cup with a 2-year-old,” Weston said. O’Brien said Balantina had trained “exceptional” in the weeks before the trip to California. “We gave her a bit of time” after the Debutante,” O’Brien said. “We came here and thought we were overpriced and that we had a shot.” Balantina performed as O’Brien expected and allowed him to join his father and brother as a Breeders’ Cup winner. Joseph O’Brien, who trains Queen of Hawaii, won the 2019 BC Filly and Mare Turf with Iridessa. About 90 minutes after Balantina’s victory, Aidan O’Brien won a record-breaking 21st Breeders’ Cup race with Gstaad in the BC Juvenile Turf. Aidan O’Brien began Friday tied with the late D. Wayne Lukas with 20 career wins. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.