Yibir has spot in Breeders' Cup Turf, but will he run?
ELMONT, N.Y. - By virtue of his last-to-first victory in Saturday’s $1 million Jockey Club Derby for 3-year-olds at Belmont Park, Yibir earned a free pass into the $4 million Breeders’ Cup Turf at Del Mar on Nov. 6. Now his connections must decide whether they want to use it.
Yibir was scheduled to return to trainer Charlie Appleby’s yard in Newmarket this week and he and the principals of Godolphin Racing will weigh the pros and cons of returning to the U.S. in November for the Breeders’ Cup, in which he would have to take on older horses such as Mishriff, the multi-surface Group 1 winner who most recently won the Juddmonte International by six lengths.
“I feel he’s earning his respect in the division,” Appleby said by phone Sunday. “He has very good 3-year-old middle-distance form both at Newmarket and in the spring. He fits with the better 3-year-olds. Mishriff will be a very worthy favorite and we’ll see what the Coolmore team is bringing over.”
Yibir is by Dubawi and is a full brother to the multiple Group 1-winning mare Wild Illusion, who finished second, beaten a neck, in the 2018 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Churchill Downs. While that pedigree would seemingly make him a valuable stallion prospect, Yibir was his own worst enemy when it came to his racing performance.
The decision was made in late spring to geld Yibir. He has responded with three wins from four starts, including victories in the Group 3 Bahrain Trophy, the Group 2 Voltigeur Stakes and Saturday’s Jockey Club Derby.
“He had his own mind about the job,” Appleby said. "[Gelding him] was very much a discussion. At the end of the day, we knew he had potential but wasn’t fulfilling it with the attitude he had.”
His attitude has improved and it’s allowed him to display his devastating turn of foot, which carried him past all six rivals from the quarter pole to the three-sixteenths pole on Saturday. That enabled him to overcome a slow start, which may have been the result of him having an assistant starter in the gate, something that does not exist in Europe.
“It was his first time with a handler, he was a bit slow to jump,” Appleby said. “It was always our intent to ride him chilly, let him do it the right way.”
Yibir earned a 97 Beyer Speed Figure for the victory.
Soldier Rising, who finished second by a neck over Slicked Back in the Jockey Club Derby, is likely to remain in races against 3-year-olds, trainer Christophe Clement said. Options include the Grade 2, $400,000 Hill Prince at Belmont on Oct. 23, the Grade 2, $200,000 Twilight Derby at Santa Anita on Oct. 31, and the Grade 1, $400,000 Hollywood Derby at Del Mar on Nov. 27.
“I’m a big fan of staying with straight 3-year-olds as long as you can,” said Clement, who added his horse was simply second-best Saturday.