New Century earns BC Juvenile Turf spot with Summer win

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - New Century punched his ticket to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf at Del Mar while beating another runner from England, Al Qudra, in Saturday's Grade 1, $503,000 Summer on the Woodbine Mile undercard.

With Oisin Murphy riding for trainer Andrew Balding, New Century tracked favored Al Qudra under William Buick from the back of the pack before they both rallied down the center of the course in the stretch.

Dream On came from a stalking position to emerge with the lead in the stretch and then drifted out at the eighth pole, intimidating Al Qudra, who bumped New Century.

New Century ($8.10) went on to score by 1 1/4 lengths over Al Qudra, in a time of 1:32.80. Dream On ran third and was followed by First Resort, Cairo Caper, Winterberry, Forty N Five, Special Session, Groot and Coolcollected.

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“William and I tried to have one smooth challenge down the center of the stretch, but we couldn’t do that,” Murphy said. “The inside horse ducked out. It was a brilliant performance. Al Qudra had beaten him at Ascot. I’m delighted for his stallion - Kameko’s first group 1 winner. The Qatar Racing team, with Andrew, found this race, and it obviously made sense timing-wise for the Breeders’ Cup. Now, he’s going to have to be sharper at Del Mar, but he has the class. Hopefully, he can step up again.”

Balding won the 2017 E.P. Taylor Stakes with Blond Me, who was ridden by Murphy, and the 2003 Canadian International with Phoenix Reach.

“He’s done everything right since he’s been here,” Balding assistant Leanne White said. “The ground, although it’s fast, there’s such a good grass covering. They do such a fantastic job with this track. He’s a small horse and he’s fairly light on his feet. He sort of skips over the ground.”

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