Auguste Rodin Takes Turf; Masters of The Sea Wins Mile; Inspiral Takes Filly & Mare Turf; Nobals Wins Turf Sprint
November 4, 2023: Auguste Rodin (5), ridden by Ryan Moore, wins the Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf |Casey Phillips/Eclipse Sportswire/Breeders Cup
Auguste Rodin found plenty of running room along the rail and cruised to victory in the $4 million Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1) at Santa Anita on Saturday.
The Ireland-bred 3-year-old colt gave trainer Aidan O’Brien a record-setting seventh win in the 1 ½-mile Turf, and his 18th win in a Breeders’ Cup race.
Regular rider Ryan Moore guided the son of Deep Impact through some early position issues but found the opening he needed to beat Up to the Mark, trained by Todd Pletcher, by three-quarters of a length.
Japan-based Shahryar finished third in the 12-horse field. The winning time was 2:24.30.
“We started out a little messy, crossing over to the main track,’’ Moore said. “There was really no rhythm to the race, so I thought I’d go to my last resort (and go inside). He got to the front quickly.”
Auguste Rodin gave the Europeans yet another win in a race they have dominated, with a ninth win in the last 10 years.
The colt added the Turf to his victories in the Irish Champion Stakes (G1), the Irish Derby (G1), and the Epsom Derby (G1) and improved to 4-for-6 in 2023. He’s 7 for 10 in his career with earnings of more than $4.5 million
$2 million Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1): INSPIRAL
Inspiral cruised past eight horses in a perfectly timed charge in the deep stretch and edged Warm Heart by a neck in the Filly & Mare Turf.
The England-bred Inspiral ($7) was ridden by Frankie Dettori, who earned his 15th win in a Breeders’ Cup race. Trainer John Gosden won his sixth BC race. The winning time for the 1 ¼ miles over a firm turf was 1:59.06.
Warm Heart had a clear lead, but Dettori pulled off another of his patented late rushes for the narrow victory. Moira was third, followed by Win Marilyn with pacesetter In Italian fifth.
Inspiral, a 4-year-old daughter of Frankel, boosted her earnings to $3.6 million with a record of 13-9-2-0.
Master of The Seas, ridden by William Buick, wins the FanDual Breeders’ Cup Mile| Shamela Hanley/Eclipse Sportswire/Breeders Cup
$2 million Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1): MASTER OF THE SEAS
Ireland-bred Master of The Seas ($8.60), under jockey William Buick, pulled off a thrilling stretch-long drive on the outside and nipped Mawj by a nose in a photo finish.
The victory in the Mile was the third in a row for England-based trainer Charlie Appleby and Buick. Last year, they teamed up to win with Modern Games and in 2021 they won with Space Blues.
The 5-year-old gelding owned by Godolphin, also the owners of Mawj, was beaten a nose by Up to the Mark in the Coolmore Turf Mile (G1) at Keeneland on Oct. 7 in his previous start.
“We were always going to have to play slingshot and that’s easier said than done,’’ Appleby said. “But Will gave him the ride he needed, and he got up on the line when it mattered.”
Master of The Seas broke from the outside post in the field of 11, and Buick said: “We had a lot of ground to make up; I had to go around the whole field.”
Casa Creed was third, Gina Romantica fourth and Japan-bred Songline fifth. Master of the Seas improved to 16-8-3-2 and earnings of $2,214,457.
$1 million Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (G1): NOBALS
Nobals ($26) held on for a neck victory over Big Invasion.
Trained by Larry Rivelli and ridden by Gerardo Corrales, Nobals covered the 5 furlongs in:55.15. It’s the first Breeders’ Cup victory for Rivelli and Corrales.
Defending champion Caravel finished 10th.
The victory improved Nobalsrecord 18-10-3-0 and earnings of $1,453,274.