Tag: Breeders’ Cup

Breeders’ Cup First-Timer O’Callaghan Has ‘Monster’ Twilight Jet Ready For Juvenile Turf Sprint

Most of the time when Michael O'Callaghan sees a horse he selected at the sales go on to top-level success, it's been with another trainer's name on the racing program. This year, the 33-year-old Irishman has found himself along for the ride as Twilight Jet headed overseas to contest the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint. 

“Ever since I got into horse racing at about 15, which is what, 18 years ago, the Breeders' Cup has always been up here,” O'Callaghan said Thursday morning. “It's above everything. It just kind of grabbed my imagination early on, so just to be here with a horse that deserves to be here, no matter what he does on Friday, will be a bonus.”

The colt impressed onlookers with a quick jump-out from the Del Mar gates on Nov. 2, showing off his impressive strides down the stretch.


Twilight Jet will be the first starter at the World Championships for O'Callaghan, whose resume includes the selection of classic-placed horses like Blue De Vega and Now or Never, who each also won Group races, Group 2 winner Bodhicitta, as well as the more recent G3 winner Steel Bull. 

O'Callaghan and his partners' business model is to select horses primarily at the 2-year-old sales, then to develop those at his base at The Curragh. The goal is then to sell those young horses to an international market, either at public horses-of-racing-age sales or privately. 

Twilight Jet, a colt sired by the two-time Group 1 winner Twilight Son, was a $292,503 purchase at the Goffs UK Breeze Up Sale earlier this year. The most expensive juvenile O'Callaghan and his partners have ever purchased, the colt has paid dividends on that risk. Through 10 starts this season, including a last-out victory in the G3 Cornwallis Stakes at Newmarket, Twilight Jet has compiled a record of two wins and three thirds while regularly finishing well against top company.

“He's danced every dance,” said O'Callaghan. “Every time he's come out of his race, I've been thinking of giving him a little bit of a break, and he's just like, 'No, I gotta go again!' It's not just his attitude, it's everything physically. He puts on weight after the runs, gets stronger, moves better. He's just a monster.”

A Tweet O'Callaghan posted shortly after the Cornwallis win, indicating the Breeders' Cup was the colt's next target, saw owner Michael Iavarone reach out to purchase a 50 percent share. Twilight Jet will run in Iavarone's colors this Friday at Del Mar, then will remain in O'Callaghan's care for the 2022 season.

“By all accounts, we're going to have one hell of a party Friday night, win, lose, or draw,” O'Callaghan said. “So we're looking forward to that! To be here is a bonus after the season we've had with this guy.”

Though this is his first Breeders' Cup starter, O'Callaghan has long been planning how he'd prepare a horse to run on American soil.

“I always had in my head that if I ever had one running out here, I'd want to get them used to the bell because the first time they hear the bell, if that's gonna be on race day they might just pause,” he explained. “The majority of the time, the European horses aren't as quick as the American horses here out of the gates, but he's got a lot of natural speed early. He's very quick out of the gate; he's very switched on. We've done plenty of practice at home with the bell, so he knows the bell means to go.”

It's a clever method for the horseman who grew up well outside the sphere of horse racing. O'Callaghan only became interested in the sport through his grandfather's weekend wagers, and eventually started to push to learn more.

“I've no direct connection with horse racing, through family background,” said O'Callaghan. “I didn't have any intention of going to a traditional college, so I had to put my own sort of college together.”

O'Callaghan amassed great experience in the industry working for the likes of Tom Cooper, Coolmore, and Castlehyde Stud. He is also an award-winning graduate of the Irish National Stud Course.

That education has helped O'Callaghan to slowly build his own training resume each season, and 2021 is his best year yet in terms of prize money earned. The trip to Del Mar with Twilight Jet is hopefully the beginning of his new presence at the top of the European racing scene, as O'Callaghan hopes to target a Group 1 with the colt in 2022.

“He's making our life easy, training well, improving every day,” the trainer said. “You could arguably say he's better now than he was on Monday. 

“I'm trying not to get too excited, but I'm looking forward to Friday.”

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Breeders’ Cup Classic Notes: ‘Things Have Lined Up’ For Maturing Max Player

Art Collector – Bruce Lunsford's homebred 4-year-old colt Art Collector galloped about a mile and a quarter on the Del Mar main track Thursday morning at just past 8:45 with Neil Poznansky aboard. The Bill Mott pupil will attempt to give the conditioner a third victory in the $6 million Longines Breeders' Cup Classic.

“All's good,” Mott said. “He galloped today and he's good. He was strong and full of himself.”

Mott also touched on the news of champion turf horse Channel Maker, third in the Longines Turf in 2020, making it into the race after the Thursday defections of Domestic Spending and United: “We've got to be in to have a chance to win.”

Art Collector is a son of 2006 Classic runner-up Bernardini and 2011 Filly & Mare Turf fourth Distorted Legacy and will be his owner-breeder's eighth Breeders' Cup chance. His closest finish was when favorite First Samurai was third after a troubled trip in the 2005 Juvenile at Belmont Park.

“I've been in the business 33 years and don't own a horse farm,” Lunsford said. “I am in it to race and enjoy the experience. I would say it would clearly be the biggest win of my career if he could win. I own the mare and siblings and I have a half-brother, so that's great. With his dam, we only got beat a head and neck for second and she ran a huge race. We bred to Bernardini at a not-too-exorbitant price and obviously it's worked out well.

“As far as the 10-furlong distance, I think Bill's pretty comfortable with him, since he's won three at 9 furlongs and a lot of others haven't run or won at a mile and a quarter yet,” Lunsford continued. “It'll be an interesting race because of the pace.

“The reason we moved him to Bill is because of all the big races in New York. (Previous trainer) Tom (Drury) and I have a long history together and will continue to do so, just like I have had with Bill. Bill has this great ability to work his way around the New York races and my only (stipulation) with Bill was that if he's going to take him, I want him right outside his office. Bill is really happy with the horse. (Art Collector) is like a pet now and he's a good horse who I think can get better.”

Lunsford reflected on his most disappointing loss with the aforementioned First Samurai, who has gone on to become a credible stallion for Claiborne Farm.

“We obviously had a great trainer with Frankie (Brothers) and the best rider with (Jerry) Bailey that day, but he just had trouble at the gate and had to work his way to the front,” he said. “He got tired at the end and we got beat by a horse (Stevie Wonderboy) who never won again and a horse we beat in the Champagne, Henny Hughes. In the end, I think we were the best 2-year-old that year, along with Henny Hughes.”

Essential Quality/Knicks Go – Keeping to their same routine, Essential Quality went out before the break and Knicks Go was the last of the deep Brad Cox-trained arsenal to train Thursday morning. The two grays have both kept strong campaigns in 2021 in hopes of making it to the Classic at the end of the year. Knicks Go, the 5-2 morning line favorite, could sew up Champion Older Male honors with the win, while Essential Quality, the 3-1 second choice, could secure Champion 3-Year-Old honors with a good showing.

“It's been a great year for both horses and, obviously, they both performed well the second half of last year. Both horses have stayed in good form for the most part. Knicks Go had a little bit of a setback obviously. We felt like we may have rushed him a little bit with the Pegasus with the quick turnaround shipping halfway across the world or to the other side of the world for the Saudi Cup and then the Met Mile. But aside from those two bumps in the road, he's been ultra-consistent and proud of what he's accomplished. Essential has never missed a beat. He ran a big race in the Derby. His only defeat in his career and we could argue that he'd probably ran the best race that day, one of the better races, to end up fourth. But, both horses have had great years and hopefully we can add to their resume at Breeders' Cup Saturday.”

Express Train – Following his customary pattern, Express Train galloped his standard 1 1/2 miles this morning, with Amy Vasco aboard, in preparation for the Classic.

Trainer John Shirreffs supervised the exercise from the backstretch viewing stand.

“He likes this track a lot and he's doing well,” Shirreffs said. “This race looks like there'll be a lot of speed. If so, ideally, I'd like to see him break running, then follow the leaders in the second flight of horses. He likes to be outside of horses. That was how he won the San Diego Handicap here this summer.”

Hot Rod Charlie – Roadrunner Racing, William Strauss, Boat Racing and Gainesway Stable's Pennsylvania Derby (G1) winner Hot Rod Charlie left trainer Doug O'Neill's Barn Y just before after 8 o'clock and galloped about 1 ½ miles, two days before the Classic in which he is considered a serious contender. The Belmont Stakes and 2020 Breeders' Cup Juvenile runner-up drew post three and is listed as the 4-1 co-third choice in the Classic.

While the focus right now is the Classic, the fact that Hot Rod Charlie has steadily increased his speed figures and general performance level over the past year has his connections excited beyond the big race.

“The goal is to keep him in training next year,” O'Neill said. “We have a great group of owners and Gainesway is in, as well, so as long as he stays injury-free, we will have a chance to compete next year. Races like the ($12 million Dubai) World Cup and ($20 million) Saudi (Cup) could definitely on the horizon, if things work out well.”

Co-owner Strauss was very much on the same page: “As we think ahead and he continues to grow and develop and mature, we are definitely excited about next year with him. After we finished second in the Breeders' Cup (Juvenile) last year, we then plotted out how to get to the (Kentucky) Derby; how to get there and what prep races. After that, we plotted how to get to the Breeders' Cup Classic. When this is over, we're going to go and set our goal for next year. There's no obvious Derby-type race, but there are so many big races like Dubai and Saudi. Next week, the ownership group will get together with Doug and his team and strategize.”

Max Player – The connections of Max Player are seeing their patience rewarded in 2021 as they head into the Breeders' Cup Classic with a horse who appears to be peaking at the right time after winning his past two races.

The Honor Code colt, owned by George Hall and SportsBLX Thoroughbred Corp and trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, was considered a top 3-year-old last year after thirds in the Belmont Stakes and Travers Stakes, but lost some luster when he finished fifth in the both the rescheduled Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes last fall and then performed poorly in the Saudi Cup to begin this year. He started to make amends by winning the Suburban and followed that with a strong victory in the Jockey Club Gold Cup.

“The horse has matured as expected pedigree wise, and he has stayed extremely sound,” Asmussen said. “He's very good. And, I think things have lined up with where he is with the draw (post nine), the way the racetrack's playing, and how he's doing right now. We expect him to show who he is Saturday.”

Max Player galloped once around the track Thursday.

Medina Spirit – Classic winner Medina Spirit stretched his legs this morning with two trips around Del Mar's main track this morning as he winds down his preparation for the Classic. The sophomore colt, trained by Bob Baffert, is looking to collect his fifth stakes victory of the year in the 10-furlong championship race.

Stilleto Boy – With owner Steve Moger looking on, Stilleto Boy galloped 1 1/2 miles under exercise rider Jose Sandoval early Thursday morning at Del Mar.

Winner of the Iowa Derby for previous ownership, Stilleto Boy will be making his fourth start for Moger and his brother, trainer Ed Moger Jr.

Stilleto Boy debuted for the Mogers at Del Mar in the La Jolla Handicap going 1 1/16 miles on the grass.

“We thought we would try him on grass,” Ed Moger Jr. said. “He ran good on it (finishing fifth beaten 2 ½ lengths in his lone turf try) and he will probably run on it again at some point.”

Tripoli – Pacific Classic winner Tripoli galloped Thursday morning with assistant trainer Juan Leyva aboard. Trainer John Sadler is expected to drive down from his Santa Anita Park base Thursday.

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Domestic Spending and United Out of Breeders’ Cup

MGISW Domestic Spending (GB) (Kingman {GB}) and MGSW United (Giant's Causeway) have both been scratched from the Saturday's GI Breeders' Cup Turf at Del Mar, according to tweets from the Breeders' Cup. This moves GISW Bolshoi Ballet (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and champion Channel Maker (English Channel) into the field off the also eligible list.

The 4-1 second choice on the morning line, Domestic Spending was withdrawn by trainer Chad Brown after developing swelling in his left, front leg.

“When I came in this morning, he unfortunately had some new and acute inflammation in his left fore,” Brown said. “He's sound, but I'm not comfortable with it and I want to do more diagnostics on this horse and it's just unfortunate timing. We want to get him back to Kentucky and do some evaluation on this limb and see what's causing it and how much time we need. The more I looked at it, the more I didn't like where the inflammation is.”

Trainer Richard Mandella reported that United was out of the race due to a swollen suspensory.

“He'd shown a little swelling over the past four or five days, so we scanned the leg as a precaution and the result was negative,” the Hall of Famer said. “Today, we gave him a good, strong gallop and the swelling returned.  We scanned him again and it was clean.  We're not going to take any chances with him.”

Mandella continued, “He's been going pretty steadily for the past two and a half years.  The good news is that we'll just give him a rest and bring him back next year.”

United's owner, Jaime Roth of LNJ Foxwoods, tweeted, “At times a brutal sport. Devastated most for United and the [Richard] Mandella barn, but also for my family and his fans/supporters. I can confidently say United was going to fire a huge race. His last work one mile in 1:37.20 was phenomenal, one of the best of his career. Trying my best to be positive and focus on amazing race moments we've been lucky enough to enjoy. Love you big boy, you'll be back soon.”

The post Domestic Spending and United Out of Breeders’ Cup appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Favorite Jack Christopher Scratched From Juvenile; Domestic Spending, United Out Of Turf, Hit The Road Out Of Mile

Grade 1 Champagne Stakes winner Jack Christopher, unbeaten in two starts, has been scratched from Friday's $2 million, Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile because of a reported shin problem. The 9-5 morning line favorite in the 1 1/16-mile contest, the Munnings colt is owned by Jim Bakke, Gerald Isbister, Coolmore Stud and Peter Brant and trained by Chad Brown.

This was the second devastating blow for Brown, who earlier on Thursday told Breeders' Cup officials that three-time G1 winner Domestic Spending would be unable to compete in the $4-million, G1 Turf because of inflammation in a foreleg.

News about Jack Christopher was first reported Thursday evening on Twitter by television racing analyst Michelle Yu and confirmed by Breeders' Cup. Brown did not respond to text messages after the news broke.

Bloodstock agent Bradley Weisbord, racing manager for Bakke, said in a Tweet Thursday evening that Jack Christopher, who earned a 102 Beyer Speed Figure while winning the Champagne by 2 3/4 lengths on Oct. 2, would return to the races as a 3-year-old.

Weisbord later told Thoroughbred Daily News Jack Christopher was scratched on the advice of veterinarians working for Breeders' Cup.

 Favoritism in the Juvenile now falls on Bob Baffert-trained Corniche, who like Jack Christopher is unbeaten in two starts. The son of Quality Road won the G1 American Pharoah last out under Mike Smith, earning an 85 Beyer Speed Figure. He was installed the 5-2 second choice behind Jack Christopher in the morning line after drawing the outside post position in what is now a field of 11 2-year-old colts.

Meanwhile, the field for Saturday's $4-million Breeders' Cup Turf took a significant turn on Thursday morning with the news that Domestic Spending, second choice on the morning line at 4-1, and 2019 Turf runner-up United were both scratched because of inflammation.

Klaravich Stable's Domestic Spending is out after trainer Chad Brown said the 4-year-old gelding by Kingman showed inflammation in his left foreleg. Brown told TVG's Christine Blacker the three-time Grade 1 winner did not go to the track Thursday morning and was resting comfortably in his stall. He will be sent to Kentucky for further diagnostics.

Domestic Spending was coming off a second-place finish to Two Emmys in the G1 Mr. D Stakes (formerly the Arlington Million) at Arlington Park on Aug. 14. That ended a four-race win streak dating back to the Saratoga Derby Invitational in August 2020. He followed that with three consecutive G1 wins in the Hollywood Derby at Del Mar last November and this year's Turf Classic at Churchill Downs on Kentucky Derby Day and the Manhattan Stakes at Belmont Park on Belmont Stakes Day.

Domestic Spending galloping at Del Mar on Wednesday

LNJ Foxwoods' United also had swelling in a leg that trainer Richard Mandella had been monitoring over the last several days

“United a few days had a little swelling over a suspensory ligament,” Mandella told TVG's Michelle Yu. “We scanned it and it was clean. We thought maybe he just hit it. We worked on it a few days and today it was looking good but I thought with the race coming up I'm not going to go in wondering if he's going to be alright or not. So I let him have a strong two-minute lick for a mile, and afterwards there was more swelling there than there had been. So that answered the question: we're not going to take a chance.  The good news is it scans clean so there's no real damage, but there's some kind of strain going on and we can't take a risk.”

United, a 6-year-old gelding by Giant's Causeway, was coming off a nose victory in the G2 John Henry Turf Championship at Santa Anita on Oct. 2, his 10th victory in 22 lifetime starts. This would have been United's third run in the Breeders' Cup Turf, having come up a head short of Bricks and Mortar when second in 2019 and eighth behind Tarnawa last year.

United, who was to be ridden by John Velazquez, was 20-1 on the morning line. Flavien Prat, who had been United's regular rider, opted instead to ride Domestic Spending.

The two defections put also-eligibles Bolshoi Ballet from the Aidan O'Brien stable and Bill Mott-trained Channel Maker in the starting field.

On Friday morning, trainer Dan Blacker tweeted the news that Hit The Road had spiked a fever and would be a scratch from the Breeders' Cup Mile.

“Unbelievably bad timing and bad luck,” wrote Blacker. “We will get him healthy, regroup and point for the next race.”

Hit The Road had a 15-1 morning line and was coming to the race after a third-place effort in the G2 City of Hope Mile. Earlier this year he won the G1 Kilroe and the G3 Thunder Road. John Velazquez had the mount.

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