Ben Linfoot previews Friday night’s Breeders’ Cup action at Del Mar and he has one selection for the juvenile races.
Soumillon looks right at home on Brussels
Aidan O’Brien’s juveniles have been taking all before them after the weekend just gone when Hawk Mountain, Puerto Rico and Pierre Bonnard all landed Group 1 victories in England and France.
The excellent run could well extend to California on Friday night where O’Brien has short-priced favourites in both the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies’ Turf with Precise and the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf with Gstaad on day one of the Del Mar carnival.
O’Brien has won those two events a combined nine times including the Juvenile Fillies’ Turf in two of the last three years and the Juvenile Turf the last three years, so he has tightened a vice-like grip on those prizes.
Judging by how his juveniles have been running it could be tough for any horse to wrestle those trophies away from him even accounting for the very wide draws for both Precise (stall 13) and Gstaad (stall 14).
Del Mar is a very tight track and such starting berths are far from ideal, but both horses are running over a mile and have plenty of time to organise themselves before mounting a late challenge in the short straight.
They both look to have a significant class edge on their rivals and I’m not sure they’ll even have to be right on their A-game to win as long as they get a clear shot at things.
The one that could give Precise most to do is Joseph O’Brien’s Queen Of Hawaii, as she could easily have a much better run of things from stall two under Dylan Browne McMonagle, and she looked to be improving quickly the last time we saw her at the end of August.
Owned by American trainer Philip Antonacci, you can imagine the Breeders’ Cup has been the aim for her ever since she was purchased for €250,000 and she looks sure to be suited by this speedy mile.
Beating Precise will be tough, though, even accounting for the draw, and I wouldn’t want to be laying either of the big two from Ballydoyle on Friday night.
The turf race where I think the bookies could get some sort of result is the opening Breeders’ Cup contest of the meeting, the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint at 21.45 GMT, where O’Brien again has the market leader in True Love.
The daughter of No Nay Never is also drawn wide in stall nine, but this could be more problematic for her over five furlongs as she could be trapped wide throughout and I do think five furlongs around here could be a bit of a culture shock for her.
She has been racing at six furlongs on her last three starts after all and she was strong at the line in the Cheveley Park, so much so that if it wasn’t for Precise I think she may well have gone out in trip to a mile in the Juvenile Fillies’ Turf.
As it is she’s in the sprinting slot and looks vulnerable at around 7/2, even if the big American-trained hope Schwarzenegger from the Wesley Ward barn is drawn even wider in 11.
O’Brien has a strong hand in here, though, and I do think odds around 8/1 about his BRUSSELS look very fair indeed as he could get the run of things from the one stall.
I thought he coped with dropping to five furlongs admirably in a lightning-quick Cornwallis Stakes at Newmarket last time where the winner Beckford’s Folly set a new juvenile course record a nose ahead of Brussels who looked in control of the race 75 yards from home.
He couldn’t deny the late thrust of the winner on the far side but everything about the performance suggested he had the gears for a race like this and he’s taken his form to another level since the tongue-tie went on.
He’s clearly got better with racing, too, and while Christophe Soumillon would struggle to do the weight on True Love I’m not surprised to see him pick this horse over Mission Central who is probably a quirkier individual.
This could work out very nicely very quickly for Soumillon if he gets in the dream pocket just behind the leaders on the rail and with Aspect Island and Obliteration looking likely to go quickly from stalls four and five such a scenario could play out.
The Verdict: Back BRUSSELS in the 9.45 Del Mar
Preview posted at 1700 GMT on 30/10/25
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