The Breeders' Cup success of European trainer Charlie Appleby continued in 2022 as the event kicked off at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky. Beginning with the first of 14 championship races, Friday's Grade 1, $1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint, Appleby sent out Godolphin homebred Mischief Magic for a dramatic, come-from behind victory under champion jockey William Buick. Appleby's overall Breeders' Cup record now stands at seven wins from 12 starts, while Buick was recorded his sixth Breeders' Cup win.
The 2-year-old son of Exceed and Excel ran 5 1/2 furlongs over the firm turf in a stakes-record 1:02.41, paying $15.84 for the victory. Mischief Magic defeated the filly Dramatised by a length, with Private Creed and Persian Force filling out the superfecta.
“I have to say I knew they were going to go hard (early),” Appleby said. “From the gate, William is riding in such great form and has so much confidence in his horses. I can see what he was doing. He was just going to get him on his lead. But he made a lovely run (up the backside) and he was trying to angle out and just got pushed back (inside). He didn't do the horse any harm as I said to William, the one thing he wants is to give him gaps. Give him daylight and the old bugger just might have a second chance. Fantastic ride by William and great effort by all the team. Great to be back.”
Post-time favorite Love Reigns (3-1) was part of the early pace scenario and faded to finish eighth, while morning-line favorite The Platinum Queen (off at 6-1) did not handle the bend and finished 11th.. Fan favorite Tyler's Tribe was eased to finish 12th and pulled up by jockey Kylee Jordan, then loaded onto the horse ambulance to be given a ride back to the stable area. The American Association of Equine Practitioners' on-call veterinarian Al Ruggles reported on the NBC/USA Network telecast that Tyler's Tribe had suffered an episode of epistaxis, or bleeding in the lungs.
Tyler's Tribe and Speed Boat Beach vied for the early lead as Mischief Magic broke slowest of the 12-horse field. Buick allowed his mount the first eighth of mile to settle into stride, and crept closer along the rail heading into the far turn. As Mischief Magic started to rally, Buick had nowhere to go and had to wait until the top of the stretch to find racing room.
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Ultimately Buick guided Mischief Magic to the outside, avoiding a five-wide wall of horses, and then split rivals in the center of the track to burst clear in the final 100 yards.
“I expected to him to be outpaced early,” Buick said. “He's a comfortable closer at six furlongs at home. I knew the 5 ½ furlongs here with the speed in the race would catch him out early. I knew if I got behind a horse that would take me into the straight, he would finish off real good. He felt super.”
Dramatised ran a winning race in defeat, fending off the challenge of Private Creed by a neck. Persian Force was another 2 lengths back in fourth. The remaining order of finish was as follows: Lady Hollywood, American Apple, Sharp Asa Tack, Love Reigns, Speed Boat Beach, Oxymore, The Platinum Queen, and Tyler's Tribe.
Mischief Magic was bred in Ireland by Godolphin out of the Elusive Quality mare Veil of Silence. The colt ran third on debut, then won three straight races including the Group 3 Sirenia Stakes at Kempton before finishing fourth in the Group 1 Middle Park Stakes after being held up early. Overall, Michief Magic has improved his resume to four wins from six starts and earnings of $607,317.
REPLAY: Mischief Magic wins the $1 Million #BreedersCup Juvenile Turf Sprint on #FutureStarsFriday at @keenelandracing! Congrats to all of the connections! pic.twitter.com/NB0JfvywZ4
— Breeders' Cup (@BreedersCup) November 4, 2022
The post Mischief Magic Jumpstarts Appleby’s Breeders’ Cup With Last-To-First Victory In Juvenile Turf Sprint appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
