Breeders' Cup Turf: O’Brien knows best; Moore guides Benvenuto Cellini to masterful win
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LEXINGTON, Ky. – Benvenuto Cellini won the Breeders’ Cup Turf on Saturday at Keeneland, and Aidan O’Brien, the winning-most trainer in Breeders’ Cup history, called the shot.
O’Brien earlier this week revealed that he’d set the Turf as Benvenuto’s autumn objective sometime during the summer. Peter Brant, a part-owner of the colt, suggested O’Brien had pegged Benvenuto Cellini a Breeders’ Cup Turf horse even earlier than that.
Winner of the Irish Derby on June 28, Benvenuto Cellini finished a bang-up third trying tough older rivals in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes on July 25. The colt appeared to lose his way in the Prix Niel, finishing fifth at 2-5 on Sept. 6, but his ninth in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, O’Brien pointed out all week here, was a better performance that might superficially have seemed to be the case.
And as well as Benvenuto ran in the King George, O’Brien was dead on – the horse is a perfect fit for 1 1/2-mile turf racing American style. Agile and nifty, Benvenuto Cellini has a quicksilver turn of foot, and that won him the Turf – that, and Ryan Moore.
Moore delivered a masterpiece, steering sharply off heels when blocked by a wall of horses past the three-sixteenths marker. Even as Moore made a hard right turn to clear the tiring traffic, he had picked out a gap that hadn’t even quite opened yet, splitting his stablemate, Diamond Necklace, and Tiffany, bursting to the front and on to a three-quarters length victory.
Map of Stars threatened to blow up the Turf at 40-1. An also-eligible who only drew into the Turf after Test Score contracted a virus and had to be scratched, Map of Stars broke from post 14, and with a short run to the first of three turns, jockey James Doyle had no choice but to drop over to the rail, race from last, and take his chances. With a hot pace boiling over, it almost worked: Map of Stars, closing furiously, looked like a winner past the eighth pole – until Moore found a path for his mount and Benvenuto Cellini flew home.
“He’s a very nice horse. I don’t like being second. The winner had the stronger turn of foot the last furlong,” said trainer Francis-Henri Graffard.
A rematch is in the cards: The top two finishers are penciled in to meet again in the Hong Kong Vase in December.
The 3-year-old filly Diamond Necklace finished third, three-quarters of a length behind Map of Stars, and had her chance, too, another deep closer in a race that fell apart late. Diamond Necklace – third in the Arc, a couple lengths better than Benvenuto Cellini – surged in upper stretch and was right there at eighth pole before losing steam.
“She traveled very well all the way, she came really strong into the entrance to the stretch, and just got a little bit tired the last 200 yards,” jockey Christophe Soumillon said.
Diamond Necklace, O’Brien said, will be cut back in distance to her more natural trip, 1 1/4 miles.
Tiffany, winner of the Kentucky Turf Cup at Kentucky Downs, raced closest to the pace among the top six home but lacked the acceleration of the first and second while checking in a good fourth. She was just in front of another mare, Survie, who had only Map of Stars behind her for much of the trip before closing with interest on the far outside. Bay City Roller, who did not have a good trip, was sixth, and Hotazhell, who pretty much ran to form but does not stay 1 1/2 miles, completed a European sweep of the top seven placings. Minaret Station led the North Americans in eighth, one length better than 2025 BC Turf winner Ethical Diamond, who failed to land a blow this year. Johanna Walsh, Far Bridge, Burnham Square, El Cordobes, and Deep Monster completed the order of finish.
It was Deep Monster responsible for the taxing tempo. He broke from post 13 and came flying up to grab the lead from Johanna Walsh and Far Bridge into the first turn, the opening quarter going in 23.87, the first half in 47.82, much too fast for a 1 1/2-mile race. Moore had Benvenuto Cellini seventh in the early stages before being shuffled back to 12th before the third turn – which turned out to be a good thing.
Benvenuto Cellini is by Frankel out of the Lope de Vega mare Newspaperofrecord, a Breeders’ Cup winner Brant owned during her racing career, and whom he urged the Coolmore connections to acquire as a broodmare. Benvenuto Cellini, Newspaperofrecord’s second foal, campaigns for Westerberg, Brant, Mrs. John Magnier, Derrick Smith, and Michael Tabor. He clocked 2:29.73 over a firm but loose grass course Saturday and paid $8.52 as a very well-backed favorite.
O’Brien, with three winners here the last two days, now has saddled 24 Breeders’ Cup winners, more than any other trainer. He has won the Turf a remarkable eight times – and saw this one coming long before anyone else.
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