'Time after time he produces' - O'Brien claims $5m Breeders’ Cup Turf as Benvenuto Cellini triumphs
BOOTING UP: Benvenuto Cellini and Ryan Moore win for trainer Aidan O'Brien. Pic: Healy Racing
Ryan Moore produced a little bit of Stateside magic as he delivered Benvenuto Cellini with perfection to claim the Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf at Keeneland.
It may have surprised some that the Coolmore number one had elected to ride the Irish Derby hero over stablemate and Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe third Diamond Necklace, but his decision was vindicated as the son of Frankel demonstrated a blistering turn of foot when it mattered most.
Ridden with patience in mid-division, Benvenuto Cellini – whose dam Newspaperofrecord herself dazzled at the Breeders’ Cup in 2018 – was still on the rail with plenty in front of him turning for home.
However, Moore waited for the precise moment to strike and once the gaps opened, his mount answered his urgings to power home ahead of Francis-Henri Graffard’s Map Of Stars who was another to finish well from a position in rear for second.
Aidan O’Brien, who was winning the Turf for a record-extending eighth time, also secured third with the aforementioned Diamond Necklace, while the victory gave Moore a record sixth success in the $5million feature.
Benvenuto Cellini had only been ninth in Arc, but O’Brien – who was equalling his own record of 28 top-level victories in a calendar year – was insistent that run was better than his placing suggested, saying: “He was a little slowly away (in the Arc), but came home strong and only beaten two and a half lengths by the filly.
“He’s a horse that showed a lot of class. Ryan was calm and relaxed on him and let it happen. He was brilliant on him. He did it again, he had to come out and come round.
“Time after time he produces on the day. He accepted early he let them go, but he had one bullet to fire which he executed perfectly.” “It’s so special that everyone is here. It’s a special day.” Co-owner Peter Brant said: “Aidan has been telling me this is a Breeders’ Cup horse for quite a long time. The mare (Newspaperofrecord) was a Breeders’ Cup winner at a mile in the (Juvenile Fillies Turf) and we’ve been fortunate to keep breeding from her. I couldn’t believe at the sixteenth pole where he had no chance, but all of a sudden there was this big burst of speed and ‘boom’.”
