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Moore Race By Race Breeders Cup Comments

 

Ryan Moore provides a horse-by-horse guide to his rides at the 2020 Breeders’ Cup, featuring Magical and Peaceful.

4 NOV 2020

LIPIZZANER – BREEDERS’ CUP JUVENILE TURF SPRINT

21:30 Keeneland, Friday

Norfolk Stakes runner-up Golden Pal is the pick of the home team form-wise after what he did last time but clearly he has been done no favours by the draw, and we can’t complain too much with how we have fared in that department on Friday. Guts got Lipizzaner home in very bad ground at Doncaster last time rather than his class and, while he handles soft, I would like to think he is a more potent force on a better surface. He should get that here – we are expecting good ground, maybe on the quicker side, and he had an excellent run behind Lucky Vega on quick ground at Naas earlier in the season – and he travels well in the early part of his races, as he showed in the Middle Park, so hopefully he can break and get a good position from stall three. I think he has a good each-way chance at what I gather is a double-figure price, but it is always tricky for our juveniles taking on the Americans around a bend.

BATTLEGROUND – BREEDERS’ CUP JUVENILE TURF

22:10 Keeneland, Friday

The Europeans look to hold a pretty strong hand in this with the likes of New Mandate, Cadillac and Sealiway, and hopefully Battleground can prove the best of them. We haven’t seen him for a while as he had to miss the National Stakes back in September with a cough, but at least he comes here a fresh horse as a result and I loved the way he went about his business in winning at Ascot and Goodwood earlier in the summer. He is a straightforward, uncomplicated and willing horse, and he has clearly inherited those traits from his dam Found, who I was fortunate enough to win the Turf on here in 2015. If he gets the breaks from his midfield draw in nine, I think he has the class to take a big hand, while the step up to 1m looks sure to suit him in a race we have been lucky enough to win a few times in recent years. He’d be just as classy as any of those winners, though this does look a strong renewal with plenty of depth. However, I do like my horse.

MOTHER EARTH – BREEDERS’ CUP JUVENILE FILLIES TURF

23:30 Keeneland, Friday

Campanelle probably brings the best form to the table here – though I imagine some may dispute that given the level of course winner Aunt Pearl’s victories – but the issue with her is will she stay the mile? On pedigree you would say maybe not, but on run-style you would give her every chance around here, as she has been finishing off her races very strongly. Anyway, she has to be greatly respected, but my filly is not far behind her form-wise and she has no stamina concerns. Bringing an experienced juvenile to this meeting is often a big plus – as we saw with Declarationofpeace in the Sprint back in 2017 – and she also comes here after a career-best third in the Fillies’ Mile last time. Clearly, her best form has come with plenty of dig in the ground but she finished an excellent third in a very strong maiden on the only occasion she has encountered a quick surface. Of course, she will need luck from stall eight but she should give me a good spin if getting a relatively clean run through. I think this test around here could suit her. Again, though, this race has plenty of depth and a there are a fair few you can give chances to.

PEACEFUL – MAKER’S MARK BREEDERS’ CUP FILLY & MARE TURF

20:57 Keeneland, Saturday

Chad Brown has four in here and Rushing Fall is probably the one to beat after giving weight and a head beating to Mean Mary in the Diana Stakes at Saratoga last time, but she doesn’t hold outstanding claims by any means. Terebellum has a strong form chance on her narrow second to Circus Maximus in the Queen Anne but maybe the 3yo fillies, getting 4lb, could be bigger factors here. Cayenne Pepper has a very likeable profile but not the ideal draw, and Peaceful probably boasts just the better form credentials, anyway. Clearly, she has to bounce back from a very disappointing run when last in the Sun Chariot last time but that is easily explained by the heavy ground – you can stick a line straight through that run – and her earlier Irish 1,000 Guineas win on good to firm and narrow defeats in the French Oaks and Matron Stakes prove her class in this grade. She is well drawn in three and her mile pace, over a longer trip we know she gets strongly, should serve her well. I can see her being very competitive. She should go well.

CIRCUS MAXIMUS – FANDUEL BREEDERS’ CUP MILE

22:15 Keeneland, Saturday

One day it will all fall right for Lope Y Fernandez and maybe it will be here over a tight 1m from a low draw on decent ground, but he hasn’t quite hit the Group 1-winning heights of Circus Maximus yet. My horse missed the kick from his midfield draw and could never get to the front when fourth in this race at Santa Anita last season but he is clearly well placed in one if he can break better and get on, or near, the lead. He obviously wasn’t at his best in deep ground at Ascot last time but we know what a talented and gutsy horse he is when on his A-game, as his three Group 1 wins underline, and I see no reason why he shouldn’t run his race on this better ground. I see he is a 16/1 chance and that looks a big each-way price to me, as I think he has a lot in favour, apart from that latest below-par run at Ascot obviously, where you just hope it was the ground that was the reason. The likes of Kameko and Siskin, drawn just outside me, both have good set-ups and are obvious dangers, and last year’s winner Uni is probably the American horse to be feared, though she hasn’t got lucky with stall 12.

MAGICAL – LONGINES BREEDERS’ CUP TURF

23:33 Keeneland, Saturday

This promises to take a fair bit of winning this year, and the fact that some good horses are available at big prices hammers that home. Mogul could have obviously drawn better but he must have good prospects after what he did when beating the Arc second and fourth so easily on quick ground in the Grand Prix de Paris last time. He is coming to his peak at the right time and has turned the corner, it seems. He is probably my biggest threat. Tarnawa has also looked top class when winning the Vermeille and Opera on her last two starts, and that pair alone will make life tough for my mare. Tarnawa probably has to improve a little to win this but I fully respect her chances. Magical may not have been quite at her best when not getting an ideal trip at Ascot last time but we know how well she takes her races and she constantly delivers at this level, and one of her better efforts came when she was a ¾ length second to Enable in this race in 2018. She always gives her best and she will not be far away, for all I acknowledge you can make a fair case for three or four in here. Lord North has claims on his wide-margin win in the Prince Of Wales’s and one I would mention at a big price is Mehdaayih, who I thought ran far better than her final position suggests at Ascot after a break. She could well outrun her odds. 

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