It is difficult enough for an owner or breeder to have one charge develop into a starter at the Breeders' Cup World Championships. Consider, then, Stud Rio Dois Irmaos (Stud RDI) and Bonne Chance Farm, which will have two homebred Breeders' Cup competitors Nov. 6 at Del Mar.
The Brazilian-based breeding and racing operation, whose North American arm is centered at Bonne Chance Farm in Woodford County outside Lexington, is enjoying a banner season in the U.S. with homebred turf runners In Love and Ivar, both ticketed for the FanDuel Breeders' Cup Mile Presented by PDJF (G1T). The group also pre-entered Imperador for the Longines Breeders' Cup Turf (G1T), but withdrew him from consideration Oct. 28.
The operation's success in North America is a bounty of riches well appreciated by chief executive officer Alberto Figueiredo, who manages bloodstock for the partners.
"It is a dream come true for all of us—the team here and the owners and the team in Brazil and Argentina," Figueiredo said of reaching the Breeders' Cup with two horses and even arriving at the pre-entry stage with three. "It is really difficult to put into words what we are feeling. Who would ever dream to have three horses together in the same year? We never know when this could happen again, so we must enjoy it."
With 30 mares in Argentina and Brazil, Stud RDI mainly races in Argentina with its best stock. If those horses show enough talent, they are brought to North America to continue their careers. This concept has been around for decades, and Figueiredo was involved in a similar plan when with Rio Clara Thoroughbreds, which sent top-shelf performers such as Siphon and Romarin to achieve elite status in the care of California conditioner Richard Mandella.
Stud RDI has itself enjoyed previous success Stateside with Baruta, a homebred Crimson Tide mare who took the 2015 Senator Ken Maddy Stakes (G3T) with Mandella, and with Editore, a homebred Redattore gelding who was a group 1 winner in Brazil before winning the 2017 and 2018 Berkeley Handicap (G3) with trainer Paulo Lobo.
"We know these things are possible if things are properly done," noted Figueiredo. "We are not inventing the wheel, but are trying to copy other farms that have done this. We are lucky that the success has traveled to us."
In Love, an Agnes Gold gelding riding a three-race win streak into the Mile, heads the duo of 5-year-olds, both trained by Lobo. Ironically, he was second to Imperador in the first lifetime race for each in Argentina. After a 10-month break last year, he won his second U.S. start, but has really come to hand this season with victories in the TVG Stakes at Kentucky Downs and the Keeneland Turf Mile Stakes (G1T). He has won half of his eight U.S. starts and banked $729,700 lifetime to date.
"We got In Love here in America last year in April," Lobo said. "His first start was last year at Churchill. He ran very good; he missed the break, came from way off the pace, and finished third. We went to Keeneland and he won very impressively that day. Then we stopped our horses in the winter. They didn't have any problems, we just rested them.
"When he came back last April, he wasn't the same horse that showed up here in the first two races. We ran him at Keeneland on the dirt, he didn't run well. We ran at Churchill in an allowance, he ran good, then we went to the graded stakes, he failed, and then talking with Alberto, we decided let's try Chicago, maybe a softer spot over there. And then he won, but he won and if you saw him at the three-eighths pole, he was going to pass by them easily, and he did but he kind of stopped and waited for the horse inside. Then we decided to put him in blinkers, and maybe it's the key. He went to Kentucky Downs and won very easily and his next race, the Keeneland Mile, he was very, very impressive."
Challenging In Love in the Mile is Ivar, also by Agnes Gold. Ivar was far more accomplished than his stablemate in Argentina, where he won the Gran Criterium (G1) and Estrellas Juvenile (G1) before heading north for the 2020 race season. Following an 11-month break, Ivar took his second U.S. start in allowance optional claiming company and his fourth in the Shadwell Turf Mile Stakes (G1T) at Keeneland. He ran a good fourth in last year's Breeders' Cup Mile and was most recently fourth behind In Love in the Keeneland Turf Mile. For his career, he has banked a tick below $727,000.
"We gave him a winter break (after the Breeders' Cup) and brought him back in the (Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic, G1T), and he came out with a problem from that race (after finishing sixth). He was 4 years old and had a splint bone. It's not normal, but it was minute. We treated him, we gave him two months off, and then we spoke in the middle of the year and said, 'Let's try the Breeders' Cup,' but we needed a race for him.
"I didn't want to ship him, he was coming from a long layoff. We ran in the Keeneland Mile and he ran a very good race. He had a little trouble turning for home; the horse inside bumped the horse in the middle and the horse in the middle bumped my horse, probably could have cost me the second place that day. But we were glad he came back in perfect shape, eating, very happy. He enjoyed this race back in Keeneland. I think (his form is) going up."
Both horses ship Nov. 1 to Del Mar, and although they have made names for themselves in Kentucky, racing in California for the Breeders' Cup should carry with it optimism. South American imports have historically thrived in the Golden State while in the care of trainers like Mandella, Charlie Whittingham, Ron McAnally, and Bobby Frankel.
"The weather over there is very similar to South America," noted Figueiredo. "The horses are used to it."
Another key to their success is the break given to them as they acclimate to North America. Figueiredo noted that while a minimum rest of six months is required, often South American runners will show their best efforts after a year in North America.
"There are adjustments," he said. "The stretches are much shorter here than in Argentina and Brazil. The system of training and daily routine are different. They need time to get better."
Just because all the two are excelling on grass doesn't mean they will stay on that surface. Ivar's group 1 wins in South America came on dirt, and he, in particular, may receive another chance on the main track.
"You don't want to change when they're so successful on turf, but it is in our plans maybe next year to try Ivar and In Love on dirt," said Figueiredo. "That can change a lot of ideas as to them being stallion prospects."
With 27 mares based in Kentucky at Bonne Chance (the former Hopewell Farm on Pisgah Pike), the operation takes most of its yearlings to auction, but is happy to race those that don't bring enough money, as well as certain female lines it wishes to perpetuate.
"We are trying to do a bit of everything," Figueiredo said.
They are doing all of it extraordinarily well.
