Big Day for Europe? That’s Unquestionable  

ARCADIA, USA — A clean sweep for Europe in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint. How about that to start the Breeders' Cup? And then for the closing act, a one-two for Aidan O'Brien in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf after the drama of the early-morning scratching of race favourite River Tiber (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}).

For the curtain up, Big Evs (Ire) (Blue Point {Ire}), named to honour a fallen friend, paid the best possible tribute to the late Paul Evans in giving his British owners Paul and Rachael Teasdale an extraordinary introduction to racing on the other side of the world.

“This is absolutely fantastic for Paul. It's a year on Wednesday since he died, so it's very fitting for a great guy with a great horse. It couldn't be any better,” said Paul Teasdale.

“This is what it's all about. We came here knowing that it was going to be a tough race and that we were racing against the best in the world, but we have a little saying that we wanted to be brave and to be among the best, and that's what the guy who this horse is named for would have said. It's a tribute to him with an amazing horse.”

Big Evs, trained by Breeders' Cup debutant Mick Appleby, is the stand-out performer from a strong first crop of runners by European champion freshman sire-elect Blue Point. He had been picked up for 50,000gns as a yearling by breeze-up pinhooker Micky Cleere, but was withdrawn from his intended appearance at the Tattersalls Craven Breeze-up Sale when sold privately.

Teasdale continued, “I bought the horse in March of this year and didn't necessarily plan to call him Big Evs, which was Paul's nickname, but when Mick called me and said he was going to enter him and we needed a name it just seemed the natural thing to do.

“He was a personal friend for 40 years and we went racing together for 25 years. He was diagnosed last year with lung cancer and he died after a short illness.”

Since winning the Listed Windsor Castle S. at Royal Ascot on only his second start, Big Evs has been in the sights of plenty of potential purchasers. As he added the G3 Molecomb S. and G2 Flying Childers S. to his burgeoning resume, the offers kept coming and the price kept rising. So was Teasdale ever tempted to sell his horse with such an emotional connection for him?

“Absolutely not,” he replied without a moment's hesitation. “We're delighted with what he's done. We didn't have to do any soul searching, we just turned them down.”

For Tom Marquand, it was a case of one and done, as he triumphed on his first ever Breeders' Cup ride and heads off now to Australia for the Melbourne Cup Carnival and on to Japan for a winter in which his international profile can only continue to be enhanced.

“That's his run style at home but English gate speed is different to American gate speed and we were just hoping that he would be fast enough to get a good pitch,” said the jockey. “I think he's tough as well because he did break half a length slower than some of them and he needed that top gear, but he trucked along. I'd say he was learning around the bend, he wasn't the smoothest but he got the hang of it. To be perfectly honest for as much confidence that you have that you're going to win, he just felt that there were two gears left all the way.”

In behind Big Evs and closing fast was another Royal Ascot winner, Amo Racing's Valiant Force (Malibu Moon), with champion jockey William Buick aboard, while Frankie Dettori and Starlust (GB) (Zoustar {Aus}) claimed third for Ralph Beckett and Jim and Fitri Hay to give Britain and Ireland the trifecta in the opening contest.

A Ballydoyle one-two is nothing out of the ordinary, even at this exalted level, but the team could well have been left wondering whether they might have had the first three home in the Juvenile Turf but for the withdrawal on the insistence of the veterinary team at Santa Anita that River Tiber be stood down from the race. In his place, Unquestionable (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) was an emphatic winner – O'Brien's sixth in this contest – with Mountain Bear (Ire) (No Nay Never) the valiant runner-up sustaining a non-displaced condylar fracture of his cannon bone in running. 

“We thought that he might be a miler as a three-year-old so we thought that we would get away with a mile around here now,” said O'Brien of Unquestionable. “We hope he might be a French Guineas horse.”

On Mountain Bear's injury, he added, “[The fracture] is not displaced, so that's good. He'll get a cast on it for four weeks and he should be fine. He's back at the barn and settled in now. They were unbelievably quick to pick him up and bring him down so he did no damage.”

O'Brien also said that he felt prior to Friday morning that Unquestionable would have finished behind River Tiber.

“We felt that River Tiber was in a different place to where he's been for his last two runs. His work had been excellent and everything had been very good with him,” he said. 

“We were sorry to see him go out. But the rules are the rules. We thought he was ready to run but the vets didn't agree, and it's their job. Whatever the authorities decide happens, and we accept that. It's just the way it was.”

While this was essentially a victory for an Irish-Qatari partnership, Unquestionable, who runs in the colours of Al Shaqab Racing, is a member of the final crop of Wootton Bassett to be conceived in France. Nobody at Santa Anita had bigger smiles on their faces than Guillaume and Camille Vitse, who bred the colt with their daughters Valentine and Axel at their “boutique” farm in France.

“It's just amazing. It's something we couldn't even think about when we started our operation five years ago,” said Vitse, the former manager of Haras de Colleville who started the family business, Normandie Breeding.

“Being here at the Breeders' Cup is amazing enough but winning is just like a dream. I have had that dream for 35 years now, since I was a kid, so I'm over the moon.”

He added, “There was so much pressure when River Tiber came out and Unquestionable became favourite, and when it goes like that it often doesn't happen, but today everything went fine. It's unbelievable.”

Wootton Bassett adding yet another string to his bow with a juvenile Grade I winner in North America will have delighted the Coolmore team that purchased him three years ago. Having already been represented by Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf winner Audarya (Fr) in 2020, he could yet add to that record with his son King Of Steel being one of the leading fancies in the Breeders' Cup Turf on Saturday. 

But really this was a day for two of the most exciting young stallions on either side of the Atlantic. Blue Point is uncatchable in Europe, and then there's Justify, who is fast becoming an international sire sensation. His first crop are now three, and that vintage includes the GI Belmont Oaks winner Aspen Grove and GI Woody Stephens S. winner Arabian Lion. It is Justify's second crop that has really caught the imagination, however. He has arguably the best juvenile colt and filly in Europe in City Of Troy and Opera Singer, and in the space of 40 minutes on a roasting Friday afternoon, he added two juvenile Breeders' Cup winners, on dirt and turf, to the list in Just F Y I and Hard To Justify. It's a record which is all the more impressive when one considers that Justify didn't even see a racecourse until he was three. His career lasted for four short months but it included a Triple Crown. 

This is the Breeders' Cup, and one breeder in particular who will surely be sending mares back to Justify is Leopoldo Fernandez Pujals of Yeguada Centurion, who produced the Juvenile Fillies Turf winner Hard To Justify from the Quality Road mare Instant Reflex. Pujals has also been represented as breeder this year by the Justify filly Ramatuelle, who was runner-up to Vandeek (GB) in the G1 Prix Morny, and in his own colours the breeder has two of the best three-year-olds in France in the Christopher Head-trained duo of Blue Rose Cen (Ire) (Churchill {Ire}) and Big Rock (Ire) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}). 

They call this meeting the World Championships, and it starts with the breeders. After day one, breeders from Dubai, France, Spain, and of course America have already seen their labours rewarded with success at the big show. There's plenty more excitement to come. 

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Big Evs Proves Equal To The Task in the Juvenile Turf Sprint

RP Racing's Big Evs (Ire) (Blue Point {Ire}) came into Friday's GI Breeders' Juvenile Turf Sprint carrying great expectation. The 2-year-old's trainer, Mick Appleby, was making his Breeders' Cup debut, as was jockey Tom Marquand. Far from newcomers in their respective bases in the UK, the duo had to travel a long way for this year's World Championships at Santa Anita, but the voyage proved worth their while as the Irish-bred proved best in a blistering renewal of the five-furlong turf test.

“I'm still gobsmacked,” said a visibly moved Appleby following his first North American graded victory. “I can't believe it. He's been an absolute superstar all year and to come here and put in a performance like that is unreal.”

Accustomed to getting his way early against his fellow European rivals in four of five prior starts, Big Evs was given a crash course  in 'American' speed as 6-1 shot Crimson Advocate (Nyquist) blasted to the front, streaking through an eye-popping quarter in :20.71. Unrelenting, the 3-1 chance was not going to let her get away from him, pressing her relentlessly through a half in :43.65. Ready to pounce on the game front-runner leaving the quarter pole, Big Evs collared the gallant filly in early stretch, scooted clear through the lane and had enough to hold off the fast-closing longshot–G2 Norfolk S. winner Valiant Force (Malibu Moon)–by a half length. Group 3 scorer Starlust (GB) (Zoustar {Aus}), partnered by Frankie Dettori, rounded out the trifecta for European-based horses, finishing 3/4 of a length behind the runner up at odds of 24-1.

“Just amazing. Once he got out the gates and we got in an early position, I knew we wouldn't be far away,” said Marquand, who was realizing his first Breeders' Cup win in his first attempt. “Turning for home nothing was going to catch him. He put his head down and galloped all the way to the line.”

“To ride a Breeders' Cup winner is a dream come true. He's just an exceptional horse.”

Hardly a surprise here, Big Evs has proven remarkably consistent overseas, having finished better than second in four of five starts. Runner up in his career debut at Redcar in May, the son of Freshman sire Blue Point reeled off a pair of wins in the Windsor Castle S. at Royal Ascot before eking out a front-running neck win in the Aug. 2 G3 Molecomb S. at Glorious Goodwood. Well supported for the G1 Nunthorpe S. at York Aug. 25, the colt faded to 14th behind winner Live In the Dream (Ire) (Prince Of Lir {Ire})–a contender in Saturday's GI Turf Sprint–behind  bounced back to take the G2 Flying Childers S. at Doncaster Sept. 15.

“Going into the race, I thought he had an outstanding chance, and when Tom rode him in a breeze earlier in the week he couldn't have been more bullish,” explained Appleby. “We'll enjoy it as it's a dream to be here never mind go and win. Hopefully he comes out the race in good order then we'll make a plan for next season. He really is a horse of a lifetime for us. I can't thank the team at home enough for all their hard work.”

Much to the dismay of trainer Jessica Harrington, Group 3 winner Givemethebeatboys (Ire) (Bungle Inthejungle {GB}) was a vet scratch Friday. Third in the G1 Phoenix S. at the Curragh in August, he finished fourth last time out in the Sept. 30 G1 Middle Park S.

Pedigree Notes:
Darley's Blue Point continued his scintillating season while earning his second top-level winner at Santa Anita Friday. The sire of Rosallion (Ire), winner of the Oct. 1 G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere at ParisLongchamp, Blue Point is responsible for no less than 41 thus far. The leading First season sire with over $1.7 million in earnings, the son of Shamardal currently ranks second overall among European-based sire with their juvenile offspring.

The winner's dam, Hana Lina (GB), is a daughter of European champion 2-year-old Filly and English Highweight juvenile filly Queen's Logic (Ire) (Grand Lodge), a half-sister to European Horse of the Year and $6.6-million earner Dylan Thomas (Ire) (Danehill) and Classic winner and English Highweight 3-year-old filly Homecoming Queen (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}). The latter is responsible for Highweight English and Irish juvenile filly Shale (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). Queen's Logic also proved successful in the breeding shed, producing Lady Of The Desert (Rahy), herself a 3-year-old highweight at 5-7 furlongs.

Subsequent to her first black-type winner, Hana Lina foaled a Ribchester (Ire) filly last season and followed up with a colt by Earthlight (Ire) this term.

 

 

Friday, Santa Anita
BREEDERS' CUP JUVENILE TURF SPRINT-GI, $920,000, Santa Anita, 11-3, 2yo, 5fT, :55.31, fm.
1–BIG EVS (IRE), 122, c, 2, by Blue Point (Ire)
         1st Dam: Hana Lina (GB), by Oasis Dream (GB)
         2nd Dam: Queen's Logic (Ire), by Grand Lodge
         3rd Dam: Lagrion, by Diesis (GB)
1ST GRADE I WIN. (50,000gns Ylg '22 TATOCT). O-RP Racing Ltd; B-Rabbah Bloodstock Limited (Ire); T-Michael Appleby; J-Tom Marquand. $520,000. Lifetime Record: MGSW-Eng, 6-4-1-0, $748,283. Werk Nick Rating: A++. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Valiant Force, 122, c, 2, Malibu Moon–Vigui's Heart, by Quality Road. 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. ($75,000 Wlg '21 KEENOV; $100,000 Ylg '22 KEESEP). O-Amo Racing USA; B-Ramon Horta Rangel & Spendthrift Farm (KY); T-Adrian Murray. $170,000.
3–Starlust (GB), 122, c, 2, Zoustar (Aus)–Beyond Desire (GB), by Invincible Spirit (Ire). 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. (55,000gns Ylg '22 TATOCT). O-Mrs. Fitriani Hay; B-Branton Court Stud LLP (GB); T-Ralph Beckett. $90,000.
Margins: HF, 3/4, NK. Odds: 3.20, 23.10, 24.00.
Also Ran: No Nay Mets (Ire), Shards, Crimson Advocate, Committee of One, Cherry Blossom (Ire), Slider, Amidst Waves, Asean (Ire), Tiger Belle (Ire). Scratched: April Vintage, Givemethebeatboys (Ire), Hedwig.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

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Big Up for Big Evs

ARCADIA, USA — Tom Marquand arrived at Santa Anita on Wednesday morning in the company of his wife Hollie Doyle, and while she has been ruled out of riding Bradsell (GB) (Tasleet {GB}) in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint through a suspension incurred at home, Marquand is relishing his participation aboard Big Evs (Ire).

The GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint favourite has shot straight to the top of the class among an exciting batch of first-crop runners for the top sprinter Blue Point (Ire). The son appeared to be made very much in his father's mould as he sped along the turf under Marquand as the sun was coming up, and the jockey was ebullient in his praise of the youngster on his return to the quarantine barn.

Marquand said, “It's my first time here and I've just been trying to take it all in. It's one of the most picturesque tracks in the world. I've always loved Goodwood, but this is a bit different. It's great to be here, especially with a horse like him. He looks in great shape and feels in great shape. He'll have to be fast but he is fast.”

Big Evs is also the first Breeders' Cup starter for his trainer Michael Appleby, who has prepared the colt beautifully for his debut season, in which he broke his maiden when winning the Listed Windsor Castle S. at Royal Ascot after finishing runner-up on debut at Redcar at the end of May. From Ascot he landed the G3 Molecomb S. at Glorious Goodwood before one disappointing run when down the field against his elders in the G1 Nunthorpe S. However, he bounced back three weeks later to post a decisive victory in the G2 Flying Childers S.

Appleby is set to appear at Santa Anita on Thursday morning, and Marquand's post-breeze report will surely have been music to his ears while he was en route to America.

The jockey added, “You almost want to try to pick a hole in a horse when you ride them, but to be honest you can't really. He looks to have taken the travel well and he's taken it all in his stride. He has a good draw and he'll have to be very good to win, but he is very good. That's the reality. 

“Obviously we've a couple of days to go but he's absolutely where you'd want him to be.”

 

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Mickey Cleere: ‘I Was Never As Nervous – Big Evs Is The Fastest I’ve Ridden’

Top breeze-up handler Mickey Cleere has shared how he breathed a huge sigh of relief after Big Evs (Ire) (Blue Point {Ire}), a horse he describes as the fastest he has ridden, bounced right back to form to run away with the G2 Flying Childers S. at Doncaster. 

That win provided Cleere with an added pep to his step ahead of the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale, where he picked up the similarly smart juvenile Ballymount Boy (Ire) (Camacho {GB}) for just €8,000, before turning him into a €110,000 breezer some eight months later.

But the Mick Appleby-trained Big Evs is something out of the ordinary in the eyes of Cleere. And that is saying something given the talented operator prepared 2019 G2 Norfolk S. winner A'Ali (Ire) (Society Rock {Ire}) for the breeze-ups on behalf of Star Bloodstock. 

“I've never been as nervous,” an ecstatic Cleere admitted after the race on Friday. “It was such a bad run in the Nunthorpe, I was only hoping that he could bounce back to what I thought he could do, and it's just great that he showed people what he's made of.”

He added, “Big Evs is the fastest horse I have ever been associated with and I breezed A'Ali for Star Bloodstock. It's fantastic to have been involved with a horse as good as him. It's the best feeling in the world. I can't even describe how good it is to have been involved with a two-year-old as good as Big Evs. 

“Everyone is after a Royal Ascot two-year-old these days and it's a dream to have found one. It makes you trust your own judgment. Hopefully it will be good for business as well. We'll find out next year I suppose.”

Cleere's judgment was bang on the money about Ballymount Boy as well. Despite being light on pedigree, the colt was judged to have been such a looker by Cleere that he rolled the dice on him at Tattersalls Ireland almost a year to the day, and it is a decision that has paid off in spades. 

“We're all basically like sheep in the breeze-up game and are following the fashion. At the same time, you are kind of forced to, aren't you? The day you buy is the day you sell,” – Mickey Cleere

From a humble price tag of just €8,000 from Ridge Manor Stud, Ballymount Boy then fetched €110,000 at the Tattersalls Ireland Goresbridge Breeze-Up Sale in the spring to Danny Hussy on behalf of trainer Adrian Keatley. 

The colt was snapped up on the private market by the emerging force of Wathnan Racing in between runner-up efforts in the G2 Richmond S. and the G3 Acomb S. and will bid to further illustrate Cleere's talents at spotting top-class runners when lining out for the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere at ParisLongchamp.

“I didn't even have Ballymount Boy on the list of horses I wanted to see at the sale last year,” Cleere recalled. “I'd binned him, to be honest, purely because he was by Camacho. They can be hard horses to re-sell in my game. 

“It's completely the wrong way of doing things and I know that. We're all basically like sheep in the breeze-up game and are following the fashion. At the same time, you are kind of forced to, aren't you? The day you buy is the day you sell and you have to be guided by fashion somewhat.”

Cleere added, “One thing I will say about Ballymount Boy is that I went down to look at another horse who was stabled beside him but, when I saw this Camacho colt out showing for a different person, he just caught my eye. I followed him over to his stable door and he was a cracking yearling. 

“I thought he was as good as I saw on the day–a man among boys, really. His pedigree was okay without being savage but I was prepared to go to around €25,000 for him because I liked him so much.”

In many ways, horses like Ballymount Boy capture the philosophy of what Cleere's business model is all about; finding race horses, first and foremost. He has tried following fashion in the past, but to his detriment, and says he is happy to continue to ply his trade as he feels best.”

He explained, “I started out on my own under MC Thoroughbreds in 2019 and I'm trying to go the opposite way to most people by just buying a nice horse, rather than the horses by the nice stallions. 

“I've bought the Kingmans and the ones by fashionable sires and you're just never getting a good enough horse for the money that I want to spend so that's why I am going the other direction now. I'd prefer to forgive the pedigrees a small bit and buy the nicer physicals.”

In Big Evs, Cleere managed to secure a horse by one of the hottest young sires in the business in Blue Point, but the Killenaule man reveals that the speedster required some outside-the-box-thinking at 50,00gns from Houghton Bloodstock at the Tattersalls Book 2 Sale.

Cleere said, “I'd say if Big Evs was a couple of inches bigger I wouldn't have gotten near him. When I bought him, he was handy enough but he was very strong with a good enough walk. For a small horse, he walked like a big horse. He'd have made somewhere between seventy and a hundred grand if he was a bit bigger.”

He added, “I was never so sure about a horse than Big Evs, though, and we got him sold privately without going to any sale. For me, he was quicker than A'Ali, and I was confident of that. I'm just glad he's proving us right.”

With Big Evs and Ballymount Boy among last year's graduates, Cleere could have been forgiven for hitting this year's yearling sales hard. However, he revealed that he has not started shopping yet, and that he plans on adding the first of next year's two-year-olds to the team at Tattersalls Ireland next week. 

He said, “I haven't started shopping yet. I always let them power away early on before jumping in a bit later. I just find it is harder to buy at the earlier sales. There's plenty of early and speedy horses at Fairyhouse and even Book 2 at Tattersalls, so there's no real panic. 

“We hope to get 20 yearlings over the next few weeks and I'm looking forward to Tattersalls Ireland. The place has been very lucky for me. I've bought plenty of winners there and hopefully that continues next week.”

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