Yibir, Loves Only You Claim Turf Titles

Yibir (GB) capped a sensational weekend for Godolphin when he rolled from the clouds down the Del Mar stretch and collared Broome in the final strides of the Nov. 6 Longines Breeders' Cup Turf (G1T), giving the operation it's third winner in the 2021 World Championships. The 4-year-old son of Dubawi (IRE) becomes the first European-trained champion turf male since Cape Blanco (IRE) graced the title in 2011. Godolphin's last champion turf male recipient was Fantastic Light in 2001, who was proceeded by Daylami. Although twice a winner as a juvenile, trainer Charlie Appleby parlayed the One Thousand Guineas (G1) and Derby (G1) with the Godolphin homebred after he began his sophomore campaign with a third in the Bet365 Classic Trial Stakes (G3) at Sandown Park. Stretched out to 1 5/8 miles in his fourth start of 2021 in the Bahrain Trophy Stakes (G3), the rangy chestnut flourished over the route of ground and dashed to a 2 1/4-length victory. After a sixth on soft ground in a group 3 at Goodwood, Yibir wouldn't taste defeat again for the rest of the season, beginning his three-race win streak with a score in the Sky Bet Great Voltigeur Stakes (G2) at York before setting his sights on North America. Making his North American debut in the $1,000,000 Jockey Club Derby Invitational Stakes at Belmont Park, Yibir trailed near the back of the field early on and closed powerfully on his way to a 2 1/2-length score, leaving Belmont Derby Invitational (G1T) hero Bolshoi Ballet (IRE) reeling far behind him. The gelding earned a commendable 116 Equibase Speed Figure for his effort. While the Jockey Club Derby was impressive, the gelding saved his best performance for last in the Breeders' Cup. Tackling a field that included the 2020 Longines Breeders' Cup Turf (G1T) winner Tarnawa (IRE) and 2020 champion turf male Channel Maker, Yibir and jockey William Buick took full advantage of the pace meltdown on the front end, circling the field seven-wide around the turn and devouring the leaders late in a final time that set a new track record of 2:25.90 for 1 1/2 miles at Del Mar. "(Yibir has) an amazing turn of foot and I couldn't pull him up after the line," said Buick after the Breeders' Cup. "Amazing horse, and I think he did something today that not many horses can do, so all credit to him." Yibir netted a 118 Equibase Speed Figure for his Breeders' Cup triumph. At the end of his 2021 campaign, the gelding had compiled a record of 8-4-1-1 and bankrolled more than $2.8 million. International Standout Loves Only You Grabs Eclipse The first Japan-based horse to win a Breeders' Cup race is now the first Japan-based horse to earn an Eclipse Award. Loves Only You (JPN), who delivered a furious rally in the final sixteenth of a mile under jockey Yuga Kawada to earn a half-length victory in the Maker's Mark Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1T) at Del Mar, is the champion turf female for 2021. As it turned out, Japan was just getting started on that Nov. 6 Breeders' Cup card as three races later Marche Lorraine (JPN) would upset the Longines Distaff (G1). While the Breeders' Cup marked the lone North American start in 2021 for Loves Only You, the then-5-year-old daughter of Deep Impact (JPN) defeated War Like Goddess in the Filly & Mare Turf. War Like Goddess was the divisional favorite going into that Breeders' Cup test, where she led into the stretch but faded to third. The fact that Loves Only You proved an international standout—typically competing against males—also helped her Eclipse cause. Bred in Japan by Northern Farm, Loves Only You won the Kyoto Kinen (G2) and finished second in the Sapporo Kinen (G2) in Japan. She finished third in the Longines Dubai Sheema Classic (G1) at Meydan, and scored a pair of group 1 wins in Hong Kong: the FWD Queen Elizabeth II Cup and the Longines Hong Kong Cup. (The only race restricted to females she contested in 2021 was the Filly & Mare Turf.) Trainer Yoshito Yahagi, who plotted that impressive 2021 race schedule, celebrated the mare's landmark Breeders' Cup victory. "The race seemed like a very competitive race; it was a very tough race," Yahagi said after the win. "But before the race we thought our horse was number one. We believed it. She won this great race and so I like to respect my horse." Speaking through an interpreter after Breeders' Cup, DMM Dream Club director Takumi Nomoto predicted that U.S. racing would see more Japan-based horses in Breeders' Cup and beyond in the coming years. "We made history. We won the Breeders' Cup," Nomoto said. "So this is making all the Japanese horse racing industry (consider) the Breeders' Cup challenge. I think winning will open Breeders' Cup to Japanese racing." And Nomoto said that before Marche Lorraine's victory.