‘How Lucky are We?’ Mill Ridge and the Breeders’ Cup

Celebrating 40 Years of the Breeders' Cup with Living Legends

It wasn't so long ago that the magnificent sire Gone West held court at Mill Ridge Farm near Lexington. From 22 crops, all while at Mill Ridge, he netted a mouth-watering 9% black-type winners from starters, including Breeders' Cup winners Da Hoss (twice), Johar, and Speightstown, all back in the days when the Breeders' Cup was still a single day and there were far fewer races.

The son of Mr. Prospector passed away in 2009, but his influence on the Breeders' Cup was not done and neither was Mill Ridge's. Among Gone West's sire sons are Speightstown, who has sired two Breeders' Cup winners, and Elusive Quality, who has sired three. His grandsons include Quality Road, sire of four Breeders' Cup winners. And among the major runners out of his daughters is another Breeders' Cup winner in Awesome Feather.

The Mill Ridge team hasn't stopped there. Eight Breeders' Cup winners have been bred, raised, and/or sold by the Central Kentucky farm. Additionally, Mill Ridge's involvement in Horse Country has created an extra ripple effect of the Breeders' Cup's impact on farms big and small, as well as on the fans who visit those farms. And now, the two young sires who are standing at Mill Ridge are both Breeders' Cup winners.

Oscar Performance on a Horse Country tour along with Mill Ridge's tour guide Ryn Harris and managing partner Headley Bell. Earl the Corgi is quite popular on the tours and on social media. | Sarah Andrew

Oscar Performance won the GI Juvenile Turf in 2016, while Aloha West won the GI Sprint in 2021.

“That's like starting two full teams for the University of Kentucky basketball team,” said Price Bell, Jr., general manager of Mill Ridge, with a laugh about the eight Breeders' Cup winners combined with the two additional championship day winners in the stud barn. “That's the beauty of the Breeders' Cup. How lucky are we to have been able to associate with this many horses on Breeders' Cup days?

“We'll often have visitors say, 'Well, don't you have an unfair advantage because you get to watch them in the field and then watch them win?' We know how special it is to get to do this.”

From the start, Oscar Performance had the Bell family's fingerprints all over him. Fittingly, he was raised on the farm and has now returned to the place of his birth to stand. He is also the sire of Sunday's GIII Zuma Beach S. winner Endlessly from his second crop of 2-year-olds. Endlessly is an unbeaten dual graded winner–for the same connections as his sire–who will try to emulate his sire in the Nov. 3 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf.

“We raised Oscar Performance for the Amermans and helped with the mating. Now for a horse for the same connections to go on and keep that dream alive is very special.

“We feel so lucky and blessed to associate with so many incredible people and breeders and clients and horses,” said Bell. “The Breeders' Cup is what we're all striving for and dreaming about as soon as you do a mating. We feel so blessed to have gotten there and want to keep going.”

Sarah Andrew

Mill Ridge is a popular spot on the Horse Country tours and Oscar Performance has become a showman.

“To connect him with guests is so special,” said Bell. “People have just fallen in love with him. We've really enjoyed sharing him with people and seeing the way he's become a fan favorite. It has been very meaningful as we share that he was the best 2-year-old on the turf in his generation, the best 3-year-old on the turf, and that he set the world record at a mile. One of those three things often sticks with people. To be able to share him with fans is really special.”

As a racehorse, Oscar Performance had a devastating kick.

“What I found so brilliant in his Breeders' Cup is that he had broken from the 13 hole, yet was able to clear the field,” said Bell. “To break from the 13th post to get clear and over at Santa Anita is a big thing. I remember very vividly where I was when he broke his maiden [at Saratoga in August of 2016]. And then his Breeders' Cup, we sat and watched it at the office with my dad because my wife and I had a 15-month-old. It was our son's first Grade I and one we certainly remember as a family. It would be so memorable if Endlessly could do it, too. We're so blessed to have those relationships.”

Aloha West, whose first foals will be born in 2024, took a different route to Mill Ridge.

“He was raised by our friends at Nursery Place by John Mayer,” said Bell. “I think for his Breeders' Cup, what was so telling, is that was the ninth race he had had that year. He'd showed some ability at two, had some shins, hurt himself at three. They were really patient with him. [He debuted at four], broke his maiden in February culminating with a Breeders' Cup win. He danced every dance, had nine starts that year, no real break. He was sort of the clever horse on the backside; people had a lot of chatter about him going into the Breeders' Cup. And then he showed that will to win.”

Halter tag keychains, including one of Breeders' Cup winner Life Is Sweet, in Mill Ridge's Horse Country gift shop | Sarah Andrew

In addition to their two Breeders' Cup-winning stallions, one of whom they had also raised, Mill Ridge has been intimately involved with 2000 Distaff winner Spain, 2003 Turf dead-heater Johar (one of Gone West's winners), 2004 Juvenile Fillies winner Sweet Catomine, 2005 Mile winner Artie Schiller, 2006 Distaff winner Round Pond, 2009 Ladies' Classic winner Life Is Sweet, and 2013 Juvenile Fillies winner Ria Antonia. For those keeping score, that was four consecutive winners from 2003-06 and six in that decade alone.

Winning the Breeders' Cup doesn't get old though. On the contrary, it leaves one hungry for more.

“Once you've been there, you want to experience it again,” said Bell. “You want to do it again and again and again and again.”

Bell has distinct memories of every winner. Some stood out early.

“I often put Sweet Catomine as the one that everyone on the farm thought was very special. For her to culminate as champion and the way she had done it was wonderful. Sometimes you do see something when they're young and it's very gratifying.”

Some stand out because of the relationships with the breeders.

“Artie Schiller was awesome because Leroidesanimaux (Brz) was the overwhelming favorite and he beat him handily, squarely, no excuses. He ran by him like he was standing still. It was a great culmination of the relationship we had with the Moussacs [breeders of Artie Schiller]. A great celebration.”

But one of the Breeders' Cup wins that is most memorable to Bell is for an out-of-the-ordinary reason and ties in to the farm's involvement with Horse Country.

“I remember Spain was a classic [D. Wayne] Lukas move. Lukas put them to sleep. She got a phenomenal ride [from Victor Espinoza]. It was Lukas taking a shot and then he wins at 56-1.

“But what I really remember when I think of her now is on one of our tours there was a gentleman who was about my age. He loved Spain. He was in the hospital at the time she won, in a children's cancer ward, and he'd told all the nurses to bet her.

“Here's a horse that we both had great memories of for very different reasons. It was our first Breeders' Cup winner while he's a kid fighting cancer. It meant a lot to both of us, was an inspiration for both of us. Horses touch people in different ways and sometimes we don't even know it.”

A Horse Country tour sign at Mill Ridge | Sarah Andrew

Perhaps that is why Bell and Mill Ridge are so bullish on the non-profit Horse Country, which Bell was instrumental in co-founding and which also has Breeders' Cup roots. It's his way of giving back to the industry and connecting the wider public to our sport.

“We launched Horse Country tours the same year [2015] as the first Breeders' Cup at Keeneland. It coincided with American Pharoah and that was kind of what got us going. We had set a timeline of the Breeders' Cup date and it gave us a starting gate. We were committed. It has taken a lot of iterations between then and now, but we're big believers in it. We love doing it and sharing what we do.

“The tours have welcomed 200,000 people since then, 25,000 of those at Mill Ridge. We're the number two thing to do on Trip Advisor in Lexington. It feels like it's our part in trying to connect people to racing.

“We're all inspired by the horses and tours are people's best opportunity to meet a horse. Farms create a great opportunity for that. It's meaningful for people to share that, just like the gentleman who had a relationship with Spain from his hospital bed.”

One guest at a time, Mill Ridge and Horse Country are changing the wider public's perception of racing. If meeting a Breeders' Cup-winning stallion brings one more person over to the beauty of our sport, it's a win. If it shows another person how well we take care of our horses and how much they mean to us, it's a win. And if it gets one more person to watch the Breeders' Cup, feeling they have a connection because they've feed a carrot to the sire of one of the runners or have walked over the same land where one was raised, it's a win.

“The better we can show guests what we do, the better we all are,” said Bell. “It feels like the right thing to do. We get so much from the guests and the experience. It's a great reminder of how lucky we are.

“Mill Ridge is just one small piece in it, but we've jumped all the way in. It's very doable. And it's beautiful. At the end of the day, we get so much out of committing to it.

“I feel like we get more out of it than we give.”

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Italy Hit Hardest As EPC Cuts 25 Black-Type Races From Flat Programme

Italy's major races will see the most significant downgrades among European countries after the European Pattern Committee announced alterations to the 2023 Flat programme Wednesday, as a host of that country's major races are set to be demoted in status.

There will be 827 black-type races run in Europe this year, compared to the 852 in 2022, while group races have been cut by 13 to 412 and listed races drop to 415 from 427.

One of the most significant changes to the Irish programme comes in the case of the seven-furlong 2000 Guineas Trial, run at Leopardstown in April, being upgraded to a Group 3 from listed status. Ireland will also stage a new listed race for fillies and mares aged three years and older over eight furlongs at Navan in June.

Germany will stage two new listed races in 2023, both with a view to strengthening the stayers' black-type programme in that country. The first will be a race for 3-year-olds and older over 3000m at Hannover in July and the other will be a race for 2-year-olds over a distance of 2000m, also at Hannover, and scheduled for October.

However, the Italian racing programme has largely been downgraded, with the G2 Milano and G2 Federico Tesio, changed to Group 3s while the G3 Tudini, G3 Umbria and G3 Sergio Cumani all demoted to listed events.

Speaking about the changes, Jason Morris, the Chairman of the European Pattern Committee, said, “2023 will see a significant reduction in the number of Flat group and listed races staged within Europe, with 25 less black-type races to be staged overall. This reflects the voluntary downgrades that Britain has already announced for this year to aid the competitiveness of their Pattern race programme as part of an ongoing strategic review.

“Downgrades were also applied by the European Pattern Committee to a number of Group 2, Group 3 and listed races under ground rules which strictly enforce the highest standards of international quality control with underperforming races facing automatic demotion.

“At the same time the committee remains keen to encourage the development of the sport in the smaller racing jurisdictions throughout Europe, and Poland will now become the 11th country with a black-type race in 2023 (Britain, France, Germany and Ireland are full EPC members; Italy, Scandinavia (representing Denmark, Norway and Sweden) and Turkey are associate members; while Spain and Poland are emerging nations with one listed race each).”

 

Boost for Polish and Swedish Programme

While the Italian fixture list has been hit with a number of downgrades, the Eastern European programme in Poland and the Scandinavian division in Sweden has been boosted by a number of upgrades.

Sweden will stage a new black-type race in 2023, with the Challenge S. at Bro Park over seven furlongs for 3-year-olds and older being upgraded to listed status.

The EPC also agreed to upgrade Poland's flagship race, the Wielka Warszawska, to listed status as part of the committee's support of the emerging racing nations in the European and Mediterranean Horseracing Federation. The race will be run at Sluzewiec in Warsaw on the first Sunday of October, over a distance of 2600m for 3-year-olds and older.

Other changes were some alterations in dates for notable Pattern races in Europe in 2023. In France, the G1 Prix Saint-Alary at ParisLongchamp will move from late May to the Poule d'Essai fixture on May 14. The G1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud will move back by a week to Saint Cloud's evening fixture on July 8.

In Ireland, the G2 Curragh Cup will move from the Irish Derby weekend in late June to the Irish Oaks weekend on 22 July.

Across Europe, a total of 11 Pattern races have been downgraded in 2023, with a further eight listed races losing that status.

Meanwhile, as previously announced earlier this year, Britain took the decision to voluntarily downgrade 11 black-type (three Pattern races and eight listed races) for 2023, as part of a wider–and ongoing–strategic review of the Pattern and listed programme. A total of 48 Pattern and listed races will be at risk of potential downgrade in 2024 depending on their performance this year.

The full list of changes made to the European programme are as follows:

 

France

  • G2 Greffulhe downgraded to Group 3
  • G2 Hocquart downgraded to Group 3

 

Germany

 

  • G2 Badener Meile downgraded to Group 3
  • G3 Von Lotto Hamburg downgraded to listed
  • Listed Grosser Preis Von Meravis loses listed status
  • Listed Grosser Preis der Sparkasse Hannover loses listed status
  • Listed Sparkassenpreis loses listed status
  • Listed Dusseldorfer Stutenpreis loses listed status

 

Ireland

 

  • G2 Kilboy Estate downgraded to Group 3
  • G3 Concorde downgraded to listed

 

Italy

 

  • G2 Milano downgraded to Group 3
  • G2 Federico Tesio downgraded to Group 3
  • G3 Tudini downgraded to listed
  • G3 Sergio Cumani downgraded to listed
  • G3 Umbria downgraded to listed
  • Listed Criterium Nazionale loses listed status
  • Listed Gardone loses listed status
  • Listed Bersaglio loses listed status
  • Listed Unire loses listed status

 

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Real Madrid Star Odriozola: “My Dream is to Own a Horse of a Lifetime”

After a brief hiatus during Royal Ascot, TDN Europe's weekly Q&A series is back with Real Madrid and Spanish football star Alvaro Odriozola telling Brian Sheerin all about his endeavours in racing so far, his friendship with Joseph O'Brien and his ambitions to own a “horse of a lifetime.” 

At just 25 years of age, Odriozola has already enjoyed a hugely successful career as a footballer and revealed how he adopts a similar mindset to racehorse ownership and breeding by saying “you have to dream big in order to get what you want in life”. 

Already a winning owner in Ireland, after Gaheris won at Leopardstown last year, Odriozola shares the steps he is taking towards becoming a successful owner-breeder in this unmissable interview. 

Brian Sheerin: What is your philosophy to racehorse ownership?

Alvaro Odriozola: My dream is to own a horse of a lifetime. You have to dream big in order to get what you want in life. I have always dreamt big in life and I ended up signing for the greatest football club in the world in Real Madrid so why not? You have to dream it and go for it, so my aim in horse racing is to have a horse of a lifetime. What I am trying to do right now is to focus on the breeding side of things. Normally, the most special racehorses are owner-bred, not bought at the sales, so I am in the process of starting my breeding operation. For me, that is the area I am most passionate about. I just love it. My goal right now is to breed that horse. To create your own horse, from picking the stallion and choosing the right cross, that's the most beautiful thing. I started focussing on buying mostly fillies last year. The plan is to race them and, hopefully, if they are good enough, they will become broodmares. I am only 25 years old so I have my whole life. I have a lot of patience and my end goal is to have three or four very good mares to breed from and hopefully I will get my horse of a lifetime. 

BS: Do you have any broodmares at the moment?

AO: Not at the moment. Up until now, I have only really been buying colts, as it started out as fun. I grew up going racing in San Sebastian Racecourse, which is the town where I come from, and a beautiful place where I would urge everyone to come and visit. I bought my first filly as a foal at Goffs. She's a 2-year-old now and is in training with Carlos Laffon-Parias in Chantilly in France. I bought a Frankel (GB) yearling filly last year and she's in training with Joseph O'Brien in Ireland. I also have a Nathaniel (Ire) filly (signed for by Justin Casse) who is in training in Spain. I bought her at Tattersalls. Those are my three fillies at the moment and they all have beautiful pedigrees so hopefully I will have success with them. I spoke with Joseph and Justin last year and he told me that, if I want to breed, I need to breed with a good racing mare with nice pedigrees. As they say, breed the best to the best and hope for the best. 

BS: Speaking of which, I saw that you were in Coolmore last week.

AO: They are always really kind to me when I am in Ireland. I always say that Coolmore, for any racing fan, is the Disneyland of horse racing. I got very lucky because I got to visit Coolmore last year just one month before Galileo (Ire) passed away. I feel very fortunate to have met a horse like him. They told me that, one of the last photos they took of Galileo at Coolmore was with me, so that is pretty special as he is one of the greatest horses of all time. For me, I love the Classics, so to see Camelot (GB) and Australia (GB) last week was amazing. I am really excited about what St Mark's Basilica (Fr) can achieve at stud as well because he has the pedigree and he has the looks. He was also an amazing racehorse. He was in Galileo's box when I visited so hopefully he can be the next great stallion for them.

“Joseph is my trainer but I have stayed in his house for four or five days this year and I would consider him more as a friend than a trainer,” – Alvaro Odriozola.

BS: What attracted you to have horses in training in Ireland and, more specifically, how did your association with Joseph come about?

AO: I was at the Book 2 Tattersalls Sale in October 2019. At the time, I had spoken once or twice with Joseph's brother Donnacha, and remember congratulating him for winning the 2000 Guineas on Magna Grecia (Ire) through Instagram. I bought a Camelot colt to send back to Spain and Donnacha texted me to see if I had a trainer for him. Joseph won the Derby on Camelot and obviously won the Irish Derby with his son Latrobe. I told Donnacha that this horse was to go to Spain but we bought another Camelot the day after to send to Joseph. That turned out to be Gaheris (Ger), who was our first horse in training in Ireland, and he was also our first winner, as he won a Leopardstown maiden last year. 

BS: How did having your colours carried to victory with Gaheris compare with all of your achievements in football?

AO: It's very similar to winning a match or scoring a goal but I guess it's pretty different. When I am on the pitch, I don't get nervous because I am confident about myself and know that I can do it. Obviously, to be successful in racing, it depends on you to buy the horses but, at the end of the day, it really depends on them, which is quite beautiful. The satisfaction of winning a race, you can't compare it with anything. It's a really beautiful moment. 

BS: Joseph is of a similar age [29] to you which makes all of his success even more remarkable. 

AO: Joseph is my trainer but I have stayed in his house for four or five days this year and I would consider him more as a friend than a trainer. He has a great pedigree, and it was obvious that he was going to make a really great trainer but, if I am honest, I think he will be number one some day. The way he thinks about his horses, 24 hours a day, is amazing. He knows every single detail about each horse in his yard and he has an amazing team around him. I think he will be the champion trainer one day and I hope we have a really good horse together.

BS: You have worked with some of the best football managers in the world. Could you draw parallels between the top football managers and racehorse trainers?

AO: When I said Joseph thinks about racing every minute of the day, the top football managers are the same; they live for the game. The top trainers remind me very much of the football managers in that they are responsible for everything. 

BS: You mentioned that you have horses in Spain and France as well as Ireland. What is the total breakdown of your string?

AO: I have five in Spain, three in Ireland and just one in France. For me, the dream is to win the Derby. I was at Epsom in 2019 when Anthony Van Dyck (Ire) won the race and I fell in love with the place. It's a special race. I love Irish Champions Weekend and really enjoyed St Mark's Basilica winning the Irish Champion S. last year as well. My main goal is to have horses good enough to run in those races. I think it's easier to get black type in France, which is why I would like to keep my fillies there, and I continue to have horses in Spain. 

BS: You are clearly very passionate about racing. When you spoke about starting your breeding operation, you obviously have plans to stay in racing for a long time? 

Bloodstock agent Justin Casse with Odriozola at a match | courtesy Justin Casse

AO: Exactly. My dream is to breed horses when I retire from football. That's how I see my future and I would love to own my own stud one day. I don't know where that will be but that is my dream. I spent last season on loan at Fiorentina in Italy and learned all about Federico Tesio, who bred Nearco (Ity), the stallion responsible for Northern Dancer (Can) and Sadler's Wells. I love racing but breeding is my passion and, to be able to go back through generation after generation, that's what I love to do most. I must also say that I would really like to offer my condolences to the family of Alec Head. His passion for racing was amazing and he was a true legend of racing. For me, he was an inspirational man and I was sad to see he passed away on Wednesday.

BS: You must be on the road a lot as a footballer so how do you squeeze in the time to go racing and visit your horses?

AO: I am really fortunate to be a footballer. I don't have lots of time on my hands to go and see my horses so, when I take vacation in the month of June, I will go to Ireland, Epsom or to Royal Ascot. I can't go racing or see my horses during the football season but there are other ways of enjoying it. For example, Joseph has a very good app called The Racing Manager and he keeps me updated so it works really well. 

BS: Former NBA star Tony Parker had his colours carried to Classic glory when Mangoustine (Fr) won the French 1,000 Guineas and more recently Antoine Griezmann won the German 1,000 Guineas with Txope (Fr). It has generated a lot of exposure for racing, which is excellent.

AO: The interest in racing is on the up. There are a lot of famous footballers who are interested in racing. It's a healthy hobby and you can enjoy racing by watching and you don't actually have to own a horse to get the benefits. Sports people love the adrenaline involved with winning a match or scoring a goal and, when a horse wins a race, it's pretty similar. Horses are also elite athletes and have to be at peak fitness to win a race. They also suffer injuries like we do and we can relate to them. I try to bring my Real Madrid teammates to the racecourse and they enjoy it a lot. Philippe Couthino is also a very good friend of mine and he is buying horses now as well. Racing is getting more popular in football and it's good to see that because it's a beautiful sport.  

BS: Finally, you wear the all-white strip of Real Madrid, one of the most famous clubs in world football, but your horses carry red and white silks. What is the significance of your racing colours?

AO: I started playing football in school in Spain and our director loved Ajax Football Club so we wore red and white shirts in our matches. So, when I was 12 years of age, we played in white jerseys that had a red stripe in the middle. Those were the colours of my first football team and now they are the colours my horses carry so it's very special. It reminds me of the time I spent playing football with my friends as a kid. Hopefully these colors will bring good fortune for us in the future.

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Arrests in France on Doping, Crime Charges

Twenty-three people remained in custody Tuesday night after searches took place in racing stables throughout France, Italy and Spain, according to a report in Wednesday's Jour de Galop, which reported that those held come from “every racing discipline,” who are being investigated for equine doping, organized crime, and association with criminals, the paper reports.

While the JDG listed several of those arrested, none came from the Thoroughbred discipline, but were all National Hunt or trotting trainers.

They said that the investigation has been ongoing for a year, and was launched at the initiative of the Central Service of Racing and Gaming's specialized interregional entity located in Bordeaux. And while it bears a striking resemblance to the Rossi affair just three months ago, the paper says the two are not linked.

Stephane Piallat, the head of the Central Service of Racing and Gaming, told the JDG that the raids were launched in the early morning hours Tuesday. “The operation, which took place Tuesday beginning at 6 a.m., is unprecedented in its scale. It took place in France, Spain and Italy and is the result of a one-year investigation. Several simultaneous raids were launched, with 80 policemen mobilized. There were several searches,” which yielded results, he said.

“Twenty-one people in France are in custody, and two more in Italy and Spain. The investigation centers around racing—trotting and non. It is too early to say if it also involves (other) equestrian sports. Veterinarian, pharmacists, owners, trainer, jockeys and some of their relatives were arrested.”

The JDG reports that jumps trainers David Cottin, Pascal Journiac, Lub Gabeur, and Junior Gulepa, and trotting trainer Yannick Alain Briand are among those detained. Piallat told the JDG that these cases and the arrests made among the Rossi family in their training center in Marseille in December had “nothing to do with one another,” and were the result of two separate sources.

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