The Breeders’ Cup is one of the biggest meetings on the worldwide flat calendar, but despite that, Willie Mullins managed to once again put his name in the headlines.
Known for his dominance in Irish jumps racing, and in the UK for that matter, it was a different continent, and a different code, but in the end, the same old result, and that was victory for Team Mullins.
Ethical Diamond Lands Breeders’ Cup Turf
Ethical Diamond was the horse to bring success for Mullins this time, landing one of the biggest races on Saturday, the Breeders’ Cup Turf, with the winner taking home more than £2 million.
A good horse, but not this good, was the original thought for me, and I’m sure others, when looking at this horse pre-race. But of course, I forgot just how good Willie Mullins is, and you should never discount anything he runs.
Sent off with an SP of 28/1, plenty more allowed this runner to go under the radar before watching a magical performance unfold.
Held up right at the back of the field by Dylan McMonagle, the breaks came at precisely the right time, and the jockey timed his burst to perfection. Yes, everything went right, and being on an outsider, there was no fear in the ride, but you can’t help but admire it still.
The horse would take it up and go away to win by a length and a quarter. The Charlie Appleby-trained Rebel’s Romance was in second, while the favourite Minni Hauk disappointed and could only finish 6th.
Ethical Diamond didn’t just win the Breeders’ Cup Turf, though. We all know how Willie Mullins likes to go above and beyond, so did his horse. A lightning early pace played into the horse’s hands, being held up, and it also set up for a good time on the clock.
It wasn’t just good, it was great. Ethical Diamond broke the track record when crossing the line to take this.
Further British and Irish Winners on Breeders’ Cup Card
There were two victories for Britain and Ireland on the Friday night card at the Breeders’ Cup, where juvenile races take centre stage.
The turf races saw plenty of runners towards the head of the betting from Britain and Ireland, and two of them came back to our shores.
It was a winner for O’Brien as the first of them, although not the one you’d expect. Instead, it was Donnacha O’Brien, who landed the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf race with Balantina.
But of course, it wouldn’t be long until dad Aiden got involved. He would win the last race of the night with his promising juvenile Gstaad, who took the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf.
On Saturday, it was more of the same, with two winners for the British and Irish trainers.
Alongside Ethical Diamond landing a win for Team Mullins, we also saw the Charlie Appleby-trained Notable Speech win the Breeders’ Cup Mile as the well-backed favourite.
Of course, the Saturday was also a farewell day, as Frankie Dettori retired from US racing to go and end his career with some rides in South America.
The Italian hasn’t had a great deal of success in the States and couldn’t find the fairytale win to send him off into the sunset on Breeders’ Cup weekend.
I thought we had two excellent nights of racing, and we all know how difficult it is to win in the States. But at the same time, four wins on the board felt like the minimum we should have come away with.
You can’t help but feel we could have had more, were it not for a few disappointments across the two days. Having said that, we’ll take it, and hopefully go back again next year with an even stronger team to go to war with.
