DEL MAR, Ca. – Christophe Soumillon wasn’t feeling sick, was, in fact, asymptomatic when a COVID-19 test administered on Nov. 4, 2020, at Keeneland came back positive the following day. Soumillon, the only one of 55 jockeys set to ride at the Breeders’ Cup to test positive, had to miss rides on Tarnawa in the Filly and Mare Turf and on Order of Australia in the Mile. Probably he did feel sick after both horses went out and won.
Soumillon, at this Breeders’ Cup, has a healthy chance to pick up his first Breeders’ Cup win since 2005, when he piloted Shirocco to victory in the Turf. When a stress fracture in his leg took Ryan Moore out of action this fall, trainer Aidan O’Brien had to find a No. 1 rider to place-hold until Moore returns early in 2026. O’Brien chose Soumillon.
“Look, we were lucky we knew Christophe for a long time,” O’Brien said this week at Del Mar. “He’s ridden for us for a long time, dipping in and dipping out.”
O’Brien needs one winner this week to become the winning-most Breeders’ Cup trainer. He enters the two-day meeting tied at 20 with the late D. Wayne Lukas.
Soumillon rides three O’Brien favorites: Precise in the Juvenile Fillies Turf, Gstaad in the Juvenile Turf, and Minnie Hauk in the Turf. He has The Lion in Winter for the Mile, Bedtime Story for the Filly and Mare Turf, and Brussels for the Juvenile Turf Sprint.
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“To be honest, there is not one of my rides that I can say is not going to finish in the top three,” Soumillon said.
Soumillon, 44, has landed top prizes all over the globe for a wide range of owners and trainers. Twice he has won the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, missing a third by a head on Oct. 5 when Minnie Hauk lost by a head. Soumillon was retained rider for the Aga Khan through September 2022, his contract terminated after an ugly incident during a race at Saint-Cloud, where he came alongside the mount of jockey Rossa Ryan and literally elbowed Ryan out of the saddle. Soumillon had a reputation for hotheadedness and on Thursday morning did not contradict a British interviewer who asserted Soumillon once had been a little crazy.
“I took that from my father,” Soumillon said, adding, “I’ve made mistakes and I’ve learned from my mistakes.”
Booting home live mounts might prove less difficult than losing the weight to ride them. Soumillon has not too long ago gotten down to 121 pounds, but this week he must do 119, about 53 1/2 kilograms.
“Three days ago it would have been very difficult to make it,” he said Thursday morning at Del Mar. “I’m fit, I’m working a lot. I’m a kilo over now and two days to lose it.”
Soumillon has been eating one meal a day. He says he eats bread and cheese and fish, drinks a lot of espresso. He works out for a couple hours and stays busy at a riding academy he opened earlier this year.
“I don’t want to be too dehydrated. I have rides Friday. I feel happy and fresh. It’s a once in a lifetime chance,” Soumillon said.
Soumillon’s most recent Breeders’ Cup ride yielded a third-place finish on Thunder Snow in the 2018 Classic. While his three mounts in Canada yielded wins in the Grade 1 E.P. Taylor and the Grade 1 Canadian International, the 2005 Turf remains his only victory from 30 rides in America.
Precise, and to a slightly lesser extent Gstaad, would look like locks in their respective races, but Precise drew post 13, Gstaad post 14. Here’s what Soumillon had to say about his four top chances.
Precise: “The way she won last time at Newmarket was quite incredible, and I was very impressed also when she won at The Curragh. She showed that she can wait; she had a strong turn of foot. We’re just going to see how she breaks out of the gates, but I saw Ryan riding Henri Matisse [from post 12 in the Juvenile Turf] last year perfectly from the middle of the pack. She’s really good; we just hope the tempo will be nice in the race giving us a chance to make up some ground. If she jumps and breaks the gate better than she did last time we are going to ride her a bit more positive. She looks in great shape; she looks very fresh”
Gstaad: “I was a bit frustrated with him after The Curragh. I think he could have won that race; he was just a little unbalanced the last 200 yards and couldn’t catch the line on the right momentum. Last time in Newmarket he pulled too much in the beginning of the race. He jumps fast out of the gate. He’s going to break very well and try to go to the middle of the pack.
Minnie Hauk: “I have a lot of respect for Rebel’s Romance. I know how good he is and how easy to ride. I think when Minnie Hauk is on top of her form, she’s above these horses. She’s a filly like Enable or Treve. We got a bit unlucky to be beaten on the line in the Arc. I’m sure if the ground wasn’t that heavy, we would have won the race, but listen, she looks great, she’s amazing at the moment. I’ll ride her very confidently. We have a good draw in the middle
The Lion in Winter: “I think he’s coming at the right time, his last run at Ascot showed. When I came and hit the front I was going to win the race, and then we get beat by a 100-1 shot. If he still improves one or two lengths on the run, he can be competitive. The way he breaks, if he can get a good pace, I’m sure he’s going to have a big, big chance.”
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