Jockey Colin Keane went from the longest Breeders' Cup turf race to the shortest and came away with a second World Championships victory when he piloted Magnum Force to win the five-furlong $1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G1T) at Del Mar Nov. 1. The Irish champion jockey won the 1 1/2-mile Breeders' Cup Turf (G1T) on Tarnawa at Keeneland in 2020.
Unlike most of the earlier renditions of the Juvenile Turf Sprint, Magnum Force didn't win it by setting the pace. Instead, he came from well back, a tricky maneuver in a full field of 12. Governor Sam flew to the lead from post 10, clocking a torrid first quarter in :21.77.
Magnum Force drew post 4, "a good draw," Keane said, and with the scratch of Out On Bail from the rail, he actually came out of post 3.
"We were able to be forward, but there was a lot of pace, though," Keane said. "The first furlong and a half was a little bit rough up in the front. So we kind of sat off them a little bit."
"A little bit" actually was ninth of 12, but Magnum Force responded well when Keane asked him, even when it meant changing course.
Around the turn, they began moving up, and Keane was able to find room on the rail in upper stretch. Governor Sam still had the lead after a half-mile in :44.69. Keane initially thought to go inside of the leader, but then he switched tactics and moved outside of Governor Sam.
Magnum Force had to be quick because others were closing from the outside—and he was. He beat Arizona Blaze and Big Mojo to the punch, drew alongside a gutsy Governor Sam, and passed him to take the lead. Magnum Force got to the wire first by a half-length in :56.36. Arizona Blaze managed to grab second by a half-length over Governor Sam, with Big Mojo third. The winner paid $27.
Ger Lyons trains Magnum Force, a homebred for owner Sheikh Abdulla bin Isa Al-Khalifa. Coming into the Breeders' Cup, Magnum Force had won once in four starts, with two seconds and a third, the latter behind Aesterius and Big Mojo in the Flying Childers Stakes (G2) at Doncaster.
"When they went by the line in Doncaster, I just said them three are going to be knocking heads together for the next year or two as top sprinters in Europe," Lyons said.
Aesterius and Big Mojo headed to Del Mar for the Juvenile Turf Sprint.
"If they are going and I don't travel, I am going to be sick," Lyons said. "My horse had just had a late start to the season. He's a proper 2-year-old. He's thriving. He has a great temperament for the job, wants fast ground, comes off a fast pace. He's rock-solid made for the race."
Bred in Ireland, Magnum Force is out of the Fastnet Rock mare Tropical Rock. He is by Mehmas, a multiple group 2 winner who was Europe's leading first-crop sire in 2020 and leading second-crop sire in 2021. The stallion's runners include millionaire Going Global, a multiple graded winner in California. Mehmas stands at Tally-Ho Stud in County Westmeath, Ireland, his 2025 stud fee to be confirmed.
