Henri Matisse flashed past the post and Aidan O’Brien did what he always does, shaking the hands of those nearest to him.
It all seemed very routine, with a Ballydoyle horse landing a big race, but then a statistic emerged that put this victory in a completely different frame. O’Brien was now the joint winning-most trainer in Breeders Cup history.
A tally that started ticking when Johannesburg – CIty Of Troy’s great grandfather surged away with the Juvenile in 2001 at Belmont Park in New York reached 20 in Southern California, as Henri Matisse landed the Juvenile Turf.
O’Brien is now level with D Wayne Lukas but it is now a question of when, rather than if, he goes clear on his own. What a way for the stars to align if City Of Troy delivers the much-craved success in the Classic but, for the moment, this was enough.
‘Aidan says it’s all team work,’ said Ryan Moore, his big race jockey. ‘But Aidan has been doing this for 23 years, I remember sitting at home as a kid watching Johannesburg. What he has done is incredible.’
Moore isn’t one for using words to get headlines so the fact he chose to say ‘incredible’ was the biggest endorsement of this feat as you could wish for; of course he has access to some outstanding bloodstock but these horses still need training.
Put it another way: would Manchester City have the same success with the same players without Pep Guardiola in charge? The answer is no. O’Brien is as meticulous with his attention to detail as the Catalan and the results are there for all to see.
Henri Matisse looks as stunning as one of the masterpieces produced by the man after whom he has been named and though he only had a neck to spare over Iron Man Cal, it did not do justice to his authority.
The same was true for Lake Victoria, O’Brien’s 19th winner at these world championships, after she scurried away with the Juvenile Fillies Turf to end her season with a blemish free record of five starts from five wins.
Moore earnt his fee on this one, nudging and chivvying away at the daughter of Frankel before sweeping through a gap and holding pursuers at bay. If she progresses as connections hope, she will take some stopping in next year’s 1000 Guineas.
‘She’s very unusual,’ said Moore of Lake Victoria, who has won Group One races over six furlongs, seven furlongs and now a mile. ‘It was just a matter of getting a clear run and she was too good for them. To do what she has done is very unique.’
It is and the same was also true for Ger Lyons, who was left fighting back tears after Magnum Force was delivered with impeccable timing by Colin Keane to land the Juvenile Turf Sprint at odds of 14/1.
Lyons is some trainer, a man to always be feared when he runs something in a Group One, and his jockey is similarly outstanding. He’s only had four rides at The Breeders Cup in his career and now landed two after Tarnawa won the Turf in 2020.
‘He’s the most underrated Champion Jockey in the world,’ Lyons said of Keane, who has been Ireland’s leading rider six times. ‘I would love to see him on the big stage more. I need the world to wake up to him. When he has the ammunition, he delivers.’
Keane had no chance to celebrate, as he dashed back to the airport in San Diego so he could catch a flight back to Dublin. He will be riding at The Curragh on Sunday, where he will collect his jockey’s title.
‘The atmosphere was unbelievable,’ he said, with a smile. His other triumph, on Tarnawa, had been during Covid when there were no crowds on course. ‘Nothing will compare to this.’
