Trio of Breeders' Cup Starters Gives Weaver a Huge Lift

George Weaver spent about a dozen years working as an assistant trainer for Hall of Famers D. Wayne Lukas and then Todd Pletcher, a couple of stints that will pay a dividend Nov. 3. Since becoming a trainer in 2002, Weaver has started just five horses in Breeders' Cup races, with just a third to his credit. But on Friday, Weaver will be rather busy in the paddock before the $1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G1T) at Santa Anita Park, taking care of the saddling and talking to the jockeys of not one, not two, but three starters in the race. "I've worked for Todd and Wayne for many years handling multiple entries and everything goes smoothly. Saddling the horses in the paddock isn't a problem. That's the easy part of it," Weaver said. "Talking to the jockeys can be a little scattered, but it's all about preparing your horse for the race, not putting the saddle on them." Of course, for Weaver having three horses in one race means that—unless there's a repeat of the 1944 Carter Handicap (G1)—only one of them can win and hand him an initial triumph at the World Championships, but he knows that's better than the alternative situation. "It's uncomfortable to run that many horses in the same race," he said. "You hate to beat yourself in a race, but I guess I rather have three than none." Best of all, each of the three are 8-1 or less in the morning line for the five-furlong test with a field of 12. "All three are live contenders. Not one of them is a pretender," Weaver said. "Each of them has a good chance to win the race." Having a trio of Breeders' Cup starters in a single race puts an exclamation point on an uplifting year for the Weaver stable after 2022 was overshadowed by tragedy. Aside from collecting seven stakes wins this year on turf with the trio of juvenile runners, two of them took Weaver to Royal Ascot where, with the 52-year-old trainer attired in top hat and tails, the Nyquist filly Crimson Advocate hung on in a field of 26 by a nose to win the Queen Mary Stakes (G2). "We've had a great year. It's fun to have horses good enough to go to the Breeders' Cup and Royal Ascot," Weaver said. "It's exciting. Hopefully we get some good luck and a nice trip and win a Breeders' Cup race. We got into this game looking for horses capable of running in the Breeders' Cup. Just like any other sport, it excites you when you have a top tier racehorse. It's fun to watch them run and see them develop. I'm fortunate enough to have three in this race so we'll let the chips fall where they may. We've been doing this for a long while, so when we get a good one, we know what to do with it." It has already been a banner year for Weaver with 50 wins and career-best earnings of $3,931,032, which are already nearly $1 million more than his 2022 total. But most importantly, this year has seen Weaver's wife, Cindy Hutter, continue to make heart-warming progress after suffering a serious brain injury in a July 3, 2022 fall when a filly she was exercising suffered a fatal heart attack. Weaver was devastated by his wife's injury and there were deep concerns about her recovery, but Hutter has courageously made significant progress and was healthy enough to join her husband and his team at both Royal Ascot and the Breeders' Cup. "Looking back at her when it first happened, she's doing terrific. It's a miraculous story and we're happy to have her with us. She's a big supporter of our stable and she's enjoying the success. All things considered, she is doing terrific," Weaver said about his wife. "She's a very determined person and luckily it didn't change her personality, which can happen with an injury like this. We're glad Cindy is back doing well and we're in a good spot. She still has to deal with the ramifications of it and she's doing therapy. You don't see a big change day-to-day, but when you look back 30 days you can see improvements. She can't ride racehorses and that's something she won't be able to do in the future, but part of that is because she is in her 50's already." As uplifting as his wife's progress has been for Weaver, Hutter, who received the Bill Mooney Courage Award from the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters Nov. 1, has been delighted with the stable's recent wave of success. "It's nice that we had a good year, It keeps the wind at everyone's sails. Having to go through such a tragedy and trudge through that, if the barn was having a bad year it would be doubly discouraging. So, I feel fortunate that we have some nice horses to work with. We're grateful to the people who have supported us." Crimson Advocate, bred by Whitehall Lane out of the Proud Citizen mare Citizen Advocate and bought for $100,000 from the Beth Bayer consignment at the OBS October Yearling Sale, gave the stable its biggest lift. The filly owned by Wathnan Racing has not raced since her heroics at Royal Ascot and will break from the rail as the 4-1 co-second choice. "She's been training very well," Weaver said. "I couldn't ask for more. We gave her a little break and she stepped back into it better than ever." The other 4-1 second choice is also trained by Weaver and will break next to Crimson Advocate from post two. No Nay Mets (IRE) also traveled to Royal Ascot but finished ninth for the ownership group of Houston Astros star Alex Bregman and WWBD in the Norfolk Stakes (G2). Winner of the Royal Palm Juvenile at Gulfstream Park to punch his ticket to England (Crimson Advocate won the distaff version of the qualifying stakes), he has won the Rosie's Stakes at Colonial Downs and Tyro Stakes at Monmouth Park since returning to the United States. "You can put a strike through the Ascot race. He's a much better horse than he showed over there and he's come back here and proved it," Weaver said. With the Major League Baseball season at an end, Weaver said he expects Bregman to be on hand at Santa Anita for Friday's Breeders' Cup race. "Alex is so excited about this horse," said Weaver, who trains three horses for the third baseman's Bregman Family Racing. "He loves the game. He's a well-paid athlete who can enjoy the game and be successful. He's great for the game." Bred in Ireland by Coolmore out of the War Front mare Etoile, the front-running son of No Nay Never was sold for $1,205,796 at the Goffs London Sale a few days before the Norfolk with Bregman maintaining a majority interest and Weaver staying on as trainer. Amidst Waves (8-1), a 2-year-old daughter of Midshipman, won three races against fillies on turf—two of them in stakes—before she tackled the boys Oct. 8 at Keeneland in the Indian Summer Stakes and lost by a nose to Juvenile Sprint starter Committee of One. "She's put together a nice resume," Weaver said about the filly bred by Woods Edge Farm out of the Into Mischief mare Troublesome and bought for $100,000 from the Eaton Sales consignment at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale. "In the Indian Summer she got away bad and had a rough trip and lost by a nose. She's a very live contender. She got into the race through a defection, but I was surprised she was not in the main body of the race. She belongs." The same can be said of George Weaver and his wife, Cindy. After all she has endured in the past 16 months, they surely belong at an event known as the World Championships.