Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf: A Euro should win, but which one?
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The question probably is not “if” but “who.”
A European horse has won the last three renewals of Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, five of the last seven, and one among the seven of them selected to start this year likely wins Nov. 1 at Del Mar.
The “who” leads to a less certain answer – no standouts among the Euro septet.
Aidan O’Brien won the race the last two years, has six Juvenile Turf wins overall, and pre-entered the pair of Henri Matisse and Monumental.
At first impression, Henri Matisse brings considerably stronger credentials. Henri Matisse’s two defeats following three wins to begin his career do little to dull his shine. He finished a good, closing second in the Group 1 National Stakes, and soft turf at Longchamp might have negated the effect of blinkers O’Brien added for the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere, where Henri Matisse was fifth.
Monumental has won once from five starts and finished a well-beaten third last out in the Group 3 Tattersalls.
The Tattersalls winner, The Waco Kid, is one of two pre-entered by England-based trainer Hugo Palmer. Seagulls Eleven, a no-excuse third in the National, also found a place among the 14 selected starters.
Aomori City finished a close fourth in the National and is one of two pre-entered by Godolphin and trainer Charlie Appleby, winners of the 2021 Juvenile Turf at Del Mar with Modern Games. Stable rider William Buick piloted Aomori City in his last three starts and also rode Appleby’s second entrant, Al Qudra, in his last four outings, most recently a second-place finish in the Summer Stakes at Woodbine.
Al Qudra at even money lost the Summer by 1 1/2 lengths to his fellow England shipper New Century, another pre-entrant. New Century races for trainer Andrew Balding, whose top finisher from three Breeders’ Cup runners was Kameko, seventh in the 2020 Mile.
New Century is one of three Breeders’ Cup Challenge race winners along with Minaret Station and Zulu Kingdom. French import Zulu Kingdom in two American starts for trainer Chad Brown won the With Anticipation at Saratoga and narrowly proved best in the Pilgrim at Aqueduct.
Noble Confessor, a troubled second in the Pilgrim, heads the list of nine pre-entries not selected to start in the Mile. He’s trained by Todd Pletcher, as is Mentee, who was selected to start and is a certain pace factor coming out of sprint races. Pletcher also trains selected runner Tenacious Leader, who returns to turf following a disappointing dirt experiment in the Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland after his narrow With Anticipation defeat.
Minaret Station posted a 38-1 upset in another Challenge Series race, the Bourbon at Keeneland. Trainer Will Walden makes his Breeders’ Cup debut.
A third-place Summer finish from Dream On, who has won no more than a maiden race, led to his selection into the field. Rounding out the North American contingent is Iron Man Cal, placed first via disqualification in the Zuma Beach at Santa Anita.
Satono Carnaval ships from Japan with wins in his first two races, and reportedly will be ridden by Rachel King, the first Australia-based jockey with a Breeders’ Cup mount.
Were King on a European, she might even win the thing.