For a moment, it appeared Bregman Family Racing and Swinbank Stables' Governor Sam might run away with the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G1T) Nov. 1 at Del Mar. The son of Improbable jumped out to an early lead before losing steam mere strides from the wire and finishing third to late-surging Magnum Force and Arizona Blaze.
Despite the third, trainer George Weaver is proud of the effort given by his student.
"He's an honest horse, he wants to win," Weaver said.
After coming up short on debut in early May, the colt out of the Into Mischief mare I'm Betty G reeled off four consecutive wins including the listed Indian Summer Stakes at Keeneland last time out.
Making Governor Sam's effort stand out is in the field of 12, seven were Europeans and the 2-year-old colt was not only the highest-finishing horse bred in the United States—he also prevented a clean sweep by the European runners who took all but third among the top seven spots.
"I respect the Europeans—a lot. It's racing. Our horse has won four in a row. We don't know what we're running against (because they run in Europe). ... They've got good horses. There's no shame in our race today."
Flying Under The Radar
After Magnum Force won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G1T), trainer Ger Lyons praised jockey Colin Keane. The champion Irish jockey had just won his second Breeders' Cup in his fifth start at the World Championships, having piloted Tarnawa to victory in the 2020 Breeders' Cup Turf (G1T).
"Once you leg that man up, the job is easy," Lyons said. "He's the most understated man—he doesn't shout; he's humble. But he's the most underrated champion jockey on planet Earth. He's come over here, he's won two Breeders' Cups, and still nobody knows about him.
"He's a little bit like his trainer in that the two of us like to stay at home on our farm, walk our dogs, and mind our own business. But when he comes out and he gets the right ammunition, he can deliver, and he's proven that more than once. I personally would love to see him on the big stage more. Unfortunately, I can't feed him with that ammo to do that."
Nevertheless, Lyons had just done exactly that. One of the ways the trainer prepared Magnum Force was by training him around a turn not unlike American turf courses.
"My track where I train at home is similar to your turf track except mine is all-weather chippings," Lyons said. "A very prominent owner once took horses off me because he said no man can train winners on a circle track like that. I think we've trained enough winners to prove that we can."
Immersive Emulates Sire Nyquist With Breeders' Cup Win
In winning the Nov. 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1), Godolphin's Immersive became a three-time grade 1 winner during an unbeaten 2-year-old campaign—just as her sire, the 2015 Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1)-winning Nyquist , was nine years ago. Soon, in a couple of months, she will undoubtedly become a champion like Nyquist when Eclipse Award winners are announced in a ceremony in South Florida.
Though Godolphin did not race Nyquist, Godolphin's stallion division, Darley America, stands him in Kentucky, where he entered racing Breeders' Cup Friday as the 17th-leading sire in North America by progeny earnings—and likely to climb further before the weekend is over. In addition to Godolphin's homebred Immersive, Nyquist will be represented Nov. 2 in Breeders' Cup races by Johannes in the Breeders' Cup Mile (G1T).
Due to these influential races, Darley America reported they would announce his stud fee after the Breeders' Cup. He stood for $85,000 in 2024.
Speaking during a press conference after the victory from the Brad Cox-trained Immersive, Michael Banahan, director of bloodstock for Godolphin USA, said: "Being by Nyquist, as well, made it extra special for us today. We're so grateful for Godolphin's founder, Sheikh Mohammed (bin Rashid Al Maktoum), to put us in a position to where we can raise horses like that for him, Brad to train horses like that for him, as well."
The Godolphin team and Cox can now look to the future with Immersive, most certainly eyeing next spring's Kentucky Oaks (G1) at Churchill Downs, where Nyquist captured the 2016 Kentucky Derby (G1) the May after his Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) triumph.
Immersive's dam, Gap Year, was bred and raced by Godolphin, becoming a three-time winner before entering Godolphin's loaded broodmare band. Immersive is her second winner from as many to race.
"Sometimes we've hit peaks, and sometimes we've hit valleys with them, but the good pedigrees always come to the fore again," Banahan said.
Near-Record Handle for Day 1
The all-sources handle Friday of $63,679,944 was the second-highest handle for a Breeders' Cup Friday and the fourth consecutive year the Day 1 handle exceeded $60 million. The record of $66,141,766 was set in 2022 at Keeneland. The on-track handle for Friday's card was $6,683,373.
Meanwhile, attendance at Del Mar for the first day of Breeders' Cup action was 30,982. That is up from 20,536 on Day 1 in 2021, the last time the track hosted the Breeders' Cup. However, it is down from last year at Santa Anita Park when the Future Stars Friday card was witnessed by 43,377.
Quotable
- Jockey Brian Hernandez Jr., on what it is like to ride Thorpedo Anna (Breeders' Cup Distaff): "It's hard to describe. She is so dominant and so powerful in what she does. She just has this presence about her where she seems to know how good she is and she wants to go out there and show it. She is almost like a warrior princess. She gets cranked up in the post parade and, once the gates open, she leaves there and gets in her natural rhythm and she'll jump when I need her to. We are going into this worrying more about how our filly is doing than worry about who we are facing."
- Jockey Manny Franco, on winning his second Breeders' Cup race (Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies): "It means a lot. These are the races we dream of and that's what we're here for."
- Jockey Ryan Moore, on how Lake Victoria (Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf) compares to others who have raced in the same silks: "You couldn't compare her with all the other horses. As far as the 2-year-old fillies go, to do what she's done is very unique. I don't think there would have been one that's done that before."
