Aidan O'Brien's Battleground and Mother Earth close seconds at Breeders' Cup meeting

[ASFN Admin]

It was an evening of near-misses at the Breeders’ Cup for European horses in Keeneland on Friday night. Aidan O’Brien and Ryan Moore had a brace of seconds with Battleground in the Juvenile Turf and Mother Earth in the Juvenile Fillies Turf. The Juvenile Turf, won by 33-1 outsider Fire At Will, was a rough race with one jockey nearly unseated in the scrum to get a position in the short run to the first bend. New Mandate could not be switched off after being rushed up to the front under Frankie Dettori but Battleground ran on well from an unpromising position turning in to finish a three length second. It was a similar story with Mother Earth who stayed on well to finish second but the winner, Aunt Pearl, who made all the running, had long since flown. Wesley Ward’s Queen Mary and Morny winner Campanelle, ridden by Dettori, appeared not to stay the mile. Earlier Ward’s red-hot favourite Golden Pal ran out an impressive winner of the Juvenile Turf Sprint but, after being left a few lengths at the start, Nigel Tinkler’s Ubetterbelieveit, a 16-1 shot, ran a terrific race in third. Rowan Scott, his jockey, said: “He got a good run round there. He was just a little bit slow away. He picked up well but the first two were away and gone. He ran a blinder. It’s been some experience. I’m made up.” Hollie Doyle’s first Breeders Cup mount Mighty Gurkha struggled going that speed round the bend. The winner has been ear-marked for Ascot’s Commonwealth Cup by Ward. Meanwhile, Oisin Murphy can celebrate a second domestic jockey’s title on Saturday by winning his first race at the Breeders’ Cup on Kameko in the Mile, one of the highlights of what the American’s bill as racing’s ‘World Championships’ at Keeneland in Kentucky.

Continue reading...