DEL MAR, Calif. - Much was expected from the contingent of 19 horses sent here from Japan for the Breeders’ Cup, but those expectations fell short as the Japanese failed to win a race.
With the Saturday morning scratch of Awesome Result from the BC Distaff, only 18 horses ran. Rousham Park’s neck loss to Rebel’s Romance in the $5 million Turf was Japan’s best finish. Shahryar finished third in the Turf.
Forever Young, favored for most of the wagering in the BC Classic, ultimately went off the 4-1 third choice behind Fierceness and City of Troy and finished third in the Classic. Derma Sotogake, part of a hot early pace, finished 13th in the Classic while Ushba Tesoro finished 10th.
The shortest-priced horse of the Japanese group was Ecoro Sieg, who finished eighth as the 5-2 favorite in Friday’s Juvenile Turf Sprint.
“I wouldn’t consider it a failure as much as a learning opportunity for future success,” Kate Hunter, the Japanese liaison for the Breeders’ Cup, said.
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The 19-horse contingent from Japan was the largest from that country at the Breeders’ Cup. Japanese horses won the Breeders’ Cup Distaff and Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf in 2021.
Hunter said she expects the Japanese to be well represented at next year’s Breeders’ Cup, though perhaps with fewer horses.
Brown still high on Chancer McPatrick
Sierra Leone gave trainer Chad Brown his lone win from nine Breeders’ Cup starters and while Brown had some other horses run well - Raging Sea was second in the Distaff, Domestic Product third in the Dirt Mile - there were a few notable disappointments.
Chief among them was Chancer McPatrick, who finished sixth as the 2-1 second choice in Friday’s $2 million Juvenile under Flavien Prat.
“He never looked like he was getting a hold of the track,” Brown said. “Down the backside, he was never really taking the jockey anywhere, Prat felt the same. He also said he seemed a bit confused by the second turn. Most of my horses take to two turns right away, he might have needed a start to figure it out. He started to come off the bridle coming off the last turn, he thought the race was over, then [Prat] got after him and he galloped out okay.”
Brown said he still views Chancer McPatrick, winner of the Grade 1 Hopeful and Grade 1 Champagne, as “a good candidate for the Kentucky Derby.”
Raging Sea, second to Thorpedo Anna in the Distaff, is scheduled to return in 2025, Brown said. Carl Spackler, sixth in the Mile, and Ways and Means, fifth in the Filly and Mare Sprint, are likely to return as well.
Domestic Product, third in the Dirt Mile, is being retired and will stand at stud at Ashford. Chili Flag (seventh in the Mile) and Fluffy Socks (8th in the Goldikova Stakes) were catalogued to be sold at Fasig-Tipton’s Night of Stars sale on Monday.
Brown’s other Breeders’ Cup 2-year-old runners, Virgin Colada (13th in the Juvenile Fillies Turf) and Zulu Kingdom (seventh in the Juvenile Turf), will run in 2025.
“All in all, coming home with the big prize, it was a very successful Breeders’ Cup for our team,” Brown said.
Sierra Leone’s win in the Classic was the 19th Breeders’ Cup victory for Brown, which ties him with Bob Baffert, who got his 19th win when Citizen Bull won the Juvenile.
Aidan O’Brien’s two victories - with Lake Victoria in the Juvenile Fillies Turf and Henri Matisse in the Juvenile Turf - give him 20 wins, tied for the most with D. Wayne Lukas.
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