DEL MAR ,Calif. – Trainer George Weaver has done great work getting 2-year-olds to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint. Six of the nine horses he’d run in the Breeders’ Cup contested the Juvenile Turf Sprint. He ran three in 2023 and on Friday added two more runners to his ledger. And this time he won.
Cy Fair might be the best 2-year-old Weaver has brought to the Breeders’ Cup, and, providing Weaver his first Breeders’ Cup winner, she was much the best Friday in the $1 million Juvenile Turf Sprint. Putting into practice many lessons from her first three races, mixing them with a world of talent and a textbook ride from Irad Ortiz Jr., Cy Fair bounded home a three-quarters-length winner over Brussels.
“We’ve come a couple times, and they’re really tough races to win,” Weaver said. “You’ve got to bring the right horse, and you’ve got to have some luck.”
That Cy Fair got an ideal trip does not take away from the strength of her performance. The filly, by Not This Time, went to the lead in a smashing debut turf-sprint victory at Saratoga in July, and in August finished second by neck there in the Bolton Landing, a defeat occasioned by her discomfort racing in a tight spot between horses. At Woodbine, in the Oct. 5 Algonquin, Weaver cautioned Cy Fair’s jockey not to get into a speed duel. That he did not. Sitting a couple lengths off the leaders, Cy Fair suddenly dropped back to last going into the turn. She came into the homestretch with much work still to do and cut down her rivals with a vicious kick.
Friday, the filly melded her speed and tractability. Ortiz said he never expected to race as close to the pace as he did, but when Cy Fair broke sharply, Ortiz wasn’t going to take anything away from her in this made five-furlong dash. As Schwarzenegger sprinted off to a clear lead, going an opening quarter-mile in 21.64, Cy Fair, as in the Bolton Landing, found herself plopped between rivals, Obliteration to her inside, Lennilu outside her. This time, she didn’t turn a hair. Ortiz let Cy Fair out a notch going into the turn and she sprinted away from the pair next to her and closed ground on Schwarzenegger.
“She was doing it the right way. She was going fast but she was relaxed,” Ortiz said.
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Cy Fair easily overtook Schwarzenegger after switching leads in the homestretch, opened up a couple lengths in the blink of an eye, and had plenty left to hold clear onrushing Brussels.
Brussels ran very well in defeat. Shipped from Ireland, Brussels drew the rail, got slightly agitated in the gates, according to jockey Christophe Soumillon, and blew the start, taking a split second to decide he’d start racing. That put Soumillon on his back foot with a horse whose connections thought might even lead, but Brussels adapted admirably. With just a few horses behind him swinging into the bend, Brussels knuckled down and began a march forward.
“I was very happy because when I came into the turn he was trying to hang out a bit, but then he started to turn really good halfway around, and when I came into the stretch I could feel he was able to quicken, and he quickened tremendously well,” Soumillon said.
England-based Aspect Island outran his 38-1 odds to finish third, 1 1/4 lengths behind Brussels. Frankie Dettori said he had a fine trip and the video evidence agrees, Aspect Island saving ground from midpack before coming with a solid run. Trained by James Owen, who made his Breeders’ Cup debut, Aspect Island has improved mightily since finishing eighth at 100-1 making his debut in July.
Obliteration held reasonably well for fourth, followed closely by Schwarzenegger and Later Than Planned, who drew in from the also-eligible list after Military Code was scratched by his trainer Friday morning. Then came Lennilu, favored True Love, Intricate Spirit, Mission Central, Royal Testament – Weaver’s second runner – and Havana Anna.
True Love, sent off at 3-1, broke slowly, raced wide and ran the turned poorly, and was spun a dozen paths from the fence into the homestretch.
“It was a bit of culture shock for her,” said jockey Wayne Lordan, who, like True Love, came from Ireland. “Look, she felt fine pulling up. Everything was okay with that. It just didn’t happen today, unfortunately.”
Off a half-mile split of 44.33, Cy Fair clocked 56.02 for the five furlongs over a firm course and paid $12 as the second choice. Cy Fair earned a career-best 88 Beyer Speed Figure.
The filly campaigns for Medallion Racing, Swinbank Stables, Joey Platts, and Mark Stanton. Out of the Arch mare Remarqued, she was bred in Kentucky by Marc Keller.
Cy Fair, named for a section of Houston by part owner Reagen Swinbank, went to a 2-year-old sale this past spring, and while she is listed as being sold for $185,000, Swinbank said she failed to meet her reserve and was purchased after going through the ring.
Weaver said he likes to put 2-year-old-in-training purchases right to work when they arrive at the track. The ones who need to get their heads together will get a break, but those ready for the rigors of being a racehorse go on. That was Cy Fair, a beautifully athletic and well-balanced filly who nearly got ready quick enough to be considered for Royal Ascot in June. Weaver in 2023 won the Queen Mary Stakes there with Crimson Advocate.
“She was very forward,” Weaver said. “Early on, I said I might be able to make Ascot with her. And she was wanting to be a little witchy at the gate, and she wasn’t tolerating me moving that quickly with her. So, I had to take my time with her, do this horse-training thing, be patient, but it paid off.”
The winner’s share of the purse came back $520,000. Weaver has been training since 2002. Can’t put a price on winning a first Breeders’ Cup race.
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