Tag: Breeders’ Cup

Grade 1 winner Domestic Spending has been diagnosed with a pelvic fracture after pulling up during his bid in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Mile at Keeneland on Nov. 5.

Jockey Flavien Prat pulled up the gelding going into the final turn of the turf course and brought him to the outside rail before unsaddling quickly. The horse was taken back to his barn in the equine ambulance and veterinarians expressed concern about a possible injury to his left hind leg. The lower part of the left hind leg later radiographed clean and trainer Chad Brown tweeted later that the horse was found to have a pelvic fracture.

Domestic Spending was vanned to nearby Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital, where he is receiving treatment. Brown indicated he would provide further updates when they are available.

Domestic Spending suffered a serious pelvic fracture during the running of the BC Mile. He is currently stable and getting the best care/evaluation at Rood and Riddle equine hospital. I will provide updates when they are available.

— Chad C. Brown (@TheRealChadCBr1) November 5, 2022

Pelvic fractures in racehorses can happen as the result of a traumatic event, but can also be associated with repetitive stress, sometimes in relation to breaking from a starting gate.

Read more about pelvic fractures in racehorses in this story from 2017.

Prior to Breeders' Cup day, Domestic Spending had never finished off the board and has wins in the G1 Manhattan, G1 Turf Classic, G1 Hollywood Derby and the Saratoga Derby Invitational to his credit. His last race was a second in the G1 Mr. D Stakes at Arlington Park in August 2021.

He had been training towards a Breeders' Cup start in 2021 but suffered a suspensory ligament injury in the days ahead of the race.

Brown conditions the 5-year-old for owner Klaravich Stables (Seth Klarman). He was bred in England by Rabbah Bloodstock and is by Kingman, out of Street Cry mare Urban Castle.

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It was special. Truth be told, the roar of the crowd was louder when Flightline returned to the winner's circle than it was when he kicked away to an 8 1/4-length victory in this year's $6 million Breeders' Cup Classic; it was almost like those present needed those minutes to process the performance they'd just witnessed.

“This is one of the great horses of all-time,” said trainer John Sadler. “Most trainers don't get a horse like this, so I'm just feeling very blessed.”

The 4-year-old son of Tapit came into the race undefeated, a winner of his five lifetime starts by a combined 62 3/4 lengths. Favored at 2-5, Flightline was still facing the toughest group he'd faced thus far, and Life Is Good gave the favorite no quarter from the get-go, but it just didn't matter.

Life Is Good led early, but Flightline took command at the head of the lane and was never challenged. Jockey Flavien Prat took a look over his shoulder at the sixteenth pole, and saw no one coming as he and Flightline cruised under the wire and into the history books. The final time for 1 1/4 miles over Keeneland's fast main track was 2:00.05.

“We were expecting a great run from him,” Prat said. “I thought it was one of the deepest fields, but he was an old pro.”

At the finish, Flightline was ahead of his closest rival, Olympiad, by 8 1/4 lengths. Taiba got up to finish third, with Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike fourth and Life Is Good fading to fifth.

Flightline's ownership group met him at the winner's circle: breeder/co-owner Jane Lyon (Summer Wind Farm), Kosta Hronis (Hronis Racing), Terry Finley with his West Point Thoroughbreds partnership group, Anthony Manganaro (Siena Farm), and W.S. Farish, Jr. (Woodford Racing).

Unfortunately, the race was marred by an injury to the second-favorite Epicenter (6-1), trained by Steve Asmussen. The 3-year-old winner of the Travers was pulled up on the backstretch. Dr. Alan Ruggles, on-call veterinarian for the AAEP, reported that the colt had been fitted with a protective splint on his right front leg for a perceived injury to his fetlock. Epicenter walked into the ambulance under his own power, and further radiographs were to be taken back at his stable.

Flightline was cool and collected throughout the post parade, and took a moment apart from the rest of the field and away from the crowd with his pony to stand and observe the scene. Called to the gate by the bugler, Prat guided Flightline into line to face the toughest field of his career.

Life Is Good broke on top, and Irad Ortiz, Jr. guided him out to the center of the track, pushing Flightline wide into the first turn. Prat never panicked, allowing Flightline to track Life Is Good through early fractions of :22.55, :45.47, and 1:09.62. They remained well off the rail down the backstretch, about a length apart, but the leading pair pulled away from the rest of the field by more than 10 lengths.

Hot Rod Charlie led the second group, with Olympiad, Epicenter, and Taiba in behind. Rich Strike came next, and Happy Saver brought up the rear.

Though Ortiz again took Life Is Good wide around the far turn, carrying out Flightline to nearly the five-path, Ortiz was already having to ask his mount for more.

As it turned out, the extra ground proved no challenge for the undefeated colt; Flightline ranged up alongside Life Is Good just as the pair turned for home, and the race was over. Galloping down the Keeneland stretch all alone, Flightline pulled away for the dominating victory.

Olympiad got up to finish second, while Taiba fended off a late challenge from Rich Strike to finish third. Life Is Good faded to fifth.

“It was the coolest thing all week to be in town and around,” said Finley. “People just had a sparkle in their eye when they talked about Flightline.”

Bred in Kentucky by co-owner Jane Lyon, Flightline is out of the multiple Grade 1-placed Indian Charlie mare Feathered. Lyon purchased the mare for $2,350,000 at the 2016 Keeneland November sale, and Flightline was sold in the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select sale for $1,000,000.

The post ‘One Of The Great Horses Of All-Time’: Flightline Runs Away With Breeders’ Cup Classic. appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Putting an exclamation mark on a near sweep by Irish-breds in the seven Grade 1 Breeders' Cup world championship races over the Keeneland grass course, Godolphin homebred Rebel's Romance swung wide into the stretch and unleashed a powerful stretch kick under James Doyle to win Saturday's $4-million Longines Turf in Lexington, Ky.

It was the second consecutive Turf win for the Godolphin-Charles Appleby team following Yibir's victory in the 2021 running at Del Mar. It also continued the trainer's hot hand in the Breeders' Cup: Appleby won Friday's Juvenile Turf Sprint with Mischief Magic and earlier on Saturday's program won the Mile with Modern Games. All of the wins were for  Godolphin, which also won the  G1 Dirt Mile with Bill Mott-trained Cody's Wish.

Appleby now has a Breeders' Cup record of nine wins from 20 starts.

Three of the other grass races in the two-day Breeders' Cup were won by Aidan O'Brien: the Juvenile Fillies Turf with Meditate and the Juvenile Turf with Victoria Road on Friday and the Filly & Mare Turf on Saturday with a horse named Tuesday.

All six were Irish-breds. The other Breeders' Cup grass race, the Turf Sprint, was won by the Brad Cox-trained Caravel, a Pennsylvania-bred.

Rebel's Romance covered 1 1/2 miles on firm turf in 2:26.35. A 4-year-old gelding by Dubawi, he paid $13.92 for a $2 win wager.

Stone Age, another Irish-bred trained by O'Brien, finished second, beaten 2 1/4 lengths. War Like  Goddess, an English Channel mare trained by Mott and favored for much of the wagering, was another three-quarters of a length back in third. Mishriff fourth and Godolphin/Appleby's Nations Pride, the 5-2 favorite, was fifth. The order of finish was completed by Broome, Channel Maker, Master Piece, Bye Bye Melvin, Gold Phoenix, Red Knight, Highland Chief, and Nautilus.

Bye Bye Melvin, as expected, set the pace under Feargal Lynch, going :24.91 for the opening quarter mile, :49.42 for the half and 1:14.15 for six furlongs in the race that began on Keeneland's backstretch and went 1 1/2 times around the course. He was tracked by 8-year-old Channel Maker, who was making his sixth appearance in a Breeders' Cup race dating back to 2016 when he participated in the Juvenile Turf.

Bye Bye Melvin raced past the mile marker in 1:38.92 while Doyle, aboard Rebel's Romance, waited patiently well behind in 10th position in the run down the backstretch. Rebel's Romance commenced his move on the final turn and was swung out eight or nine wide at the top of the stretch.

Channel Maker momentarily hit the front as Bye Bye Melvin began to retreat when the field straightened away with less than a quarter mile to run, but Stone Age had began his move and War Like Goddess also began to surge toward the leaders after waiting for racing room. But Rebel's Romance had all the momentum, hitting the front at the furlong pole and drawing away for the victory.

“It was a tremendous performance,” said Doyle. “Being back on fast ground suited him. He can be a quirky horse in the preliminaries, but he was good today. He was very relaxed and having the pony helped. The guys who look after him obviously, Charlie but also Rob Fitzpatrick who rides him out every day have once again done a great job. It's a great result to have a winner here as obviously my sister Sophie has been based out here as a jockey for a while now and I've let her down before at this meeting but I hope she's proud.”

The win was the ninth from 12 starts for Rebel's Romance, who was produced from the Street Cry mare Minidress. His two wins leading up to the Breeders' Cup came in Group 1 races in Germany, in the Grosser Preis von Berlin in August and the Preis von Europa in September. As a 3-year-old in 2021, Rebel's Romance won the G2 UAE Derby on dirt at Meydan in Dubai by 5 1/4 lengths.

“I am delighted to finish the meeting off with a winner,” said Appleby. “From the whole team's point of view, it's great to have James get first Breeders' Cup win and I'm delighted for him. Over the moon for him. It's been a great meeting. The horse has turned himself around, to be fair. You may think it was the switch to the turf, but I watched him train on the dirt here and I almost wished I was running him on the dirt here. Physically, you can just see that time has helped him. I don't want to repeat myself too much, but it's another son of Dubawi—what more can I say. I'm privileged to be associated with them.”

Of the others, Mott was pleased with the effort by War Like Goddess, who was facing males for the second consecutive race, having won the G1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic in October at the Belmont at the Big A meet at Aqueduct.

“She ran good,” said Mott. “He (jockey Joel Rosario) had to wait a while to produce her. He was in the stretch before he got to let her run. If he could have let her run maybe a little bit around the turn it might have been helpful, but she ran well. Take nothing away from her. I would have liked to see her start her run just a tick earlier. She saved a lot of ground but she had to wait a little bit. When you are on the inside, that's what happens.”

John Gosden, trainer of Mishriff, called the 5-year-old “an extraordinary horse. Throughout the lockdown years, he was winning French Derbies and Saudi Cups and then he's won the Juddmonte International. His best distance is a mile and a quarter – that (12 furlongs) stretched him today – particularly going three- or four-wide. I tried to sharpen him with the blinkers, but it didn't make any difference. Still, he's a lovely horse and done nothing, but be consistent in his career.”

Hugh Anderson, managing director for Godolphin in the UK and Dubai, tried to put Appleby's success at the Breeders' Cup into perspective: “It's actually quite difficult to find words,” he said.  “It's exceeded our wildest expectations. It's just a simple reality that Charlie has a brilliant track record at this meeting and he plans it a long way out. He is absolutely brought it home in spades. I'm so pleased for him. You also have to love the Cody's Wish win—it couldn't have been a better two days for Godolphin and I'm delighted for the whole team. He's turned Rebel's Romance around immensely and done an exceptional job with him.”

REPLAY: Rebel's Romance wins the $4 Million @LonginesEq #BreedersCup Turf! Congrats to all connections! #BC22 pic.twitter.com/qIYRHvWCCh

— Breeders' Cup (@BreedersCup) November 5, 2022

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