Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf: Pick six score makes decision a little easier for Aotearoa's owner

Since Aotearoa’s upset win over Diamond Bachelor in the $100,000 Zuma Beach at Santa Anita on Oct. 6, trainer Leonard Powell and owner Paul Viskovich have been debating whether to pay the $120,000 it would cost to supplement the homebred gelding to the Grade 1, $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf. Their decision got a little easier when Viskovich hit the pick six at Santa Anita on Monday. The payout of $130,373 is more than enough to cover the entry fees.

“The money is in my bank account now, but hitting the pick six does seem like a bit of an omen,” Viskovich said. “It certainly makes it easier to cough up the $120,000.”

Viskovich said he used two singles on his ticket and it cost him “about $1,200.”

“I spent $1,800, but I made the bet in the morning and there were a couple of late scratches,” he said.

Another factor influencing Viskovich’s possible decision to enter Aotearoa in the Juvenile Turf is how hot he and Powell have been lately.

“I think we’ve won with six of our last eight starters,” Viskovich said. “We claimed Soi Phet for $16,000, and he won four straight and finished third in the Grade 1 Awesome Again in his last start. We’re on a bit of a roll right now.”

[BREEDERS’ CUP 2013: See DRF’s top contenders]

Viskovich is originally from New Zealand. He said that Aotearoa is from the Maori language and means “the land of the long white cloud.”

Powell grew up in France, where his father, David Powell, taught him how to read Daily Racing Form at an early age.

“My father was the European Racing Form correspondent and later became a bloodstock agent,” Powell said.

One of Powell’s big concerns regarding the Juvenile Turf is who is coming from Europe.

“Europeans have won the last two, so we know whoever comes over is going to be tough,” he said.

Trainer Aidan O’Brien won the Juvenile Turf with George Vancouver last year and Wrote in 2011. According to Josh Christian, director of racing for Breeders’ Cup, O’Brien is seriously considering bringing Wilshire Boulevard and Giovanni Boldini this year.

Wilshire Boulevard won the Group 3 Anglesey Stakes at The Curragh and is coming off a fourth-place finish in the Group 1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere on Oct. 6 at Longchamp.

Giovanni Boldini won two races on Polytrack at Dundalk and finished third in the Group 1 Vincent O’Brien National Stakes in his only race on turf at The Curragh. He could end up running in the Juvenile.