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Conduit takes down another Turf trophy
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Conduit was a 'live' Turf winner
(Lauren Pomeroy/Horsephotos.com) |
Ballymacoll Stud's homebred CONDUIT (Ire) (Dalakhani) thwarted Presious
Passion's (Royal Anthem) gallant attempt to wire Saturday's $2,727,000
Breeders'
Cup Turf (G1), reeling in the longtime leader in deep stretch to defend his
title successfully. On the heels of Presious Passion's ferocious fractions,
Conduit blazed 1 1/2 miles on firm turf in 2:23 3/5, just off the stakes record
of 2:23 2/5 he posted last year. The Sir Michael Stoute-trained Conduit thereby
joins High Chaparral (Ire) (2002-03) as the only two-time winners of the
Breeders' Cup Turf.
As expected, Presious Passion sprinted straight to the front and opened up a
long lead through splits of :23, :45, 1:09 1/5 and 1:34 2/5. Spanish Moon (El
Prado [Ire]), Conduit's stablemate, settled in second, with the filly Dar Re Mi
(GB) (Singspiel [Ire]) also forwardly placed in the pack. Conduit gradually
crept forward on the backstretch, and as the field closed in on Presious Passion
on the far turn, the defending champion was perfectly poised to strike.
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Under a shrewd but daring maneuver by regular rider Ryan Moore, Conduit
knifed his way between Dar Re Mi and Spanish Moon turning into the stretch and
took aim on Presious Passion. The front runner was still in full flight, and
threatening to lead from flag-fall to finish, but Conduit was bearing down on
the outside. The 4-5 favorite got up by a half-length at the wire, returning
$3.80, $3 and $2.20.
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Conduit is two-for-two in America
(Harold Roth/Horsephotos.com) |
"I was stuck behind a lot of horses early, but that didn't worry me," Moore
said. "I got a nice spot down the backside and I went inside to move up. Last
year went about as planned, but this year wasn't according to plan. I knew I was
going to get there."
"It's always a big day for the world championship," said Stoute, who was
winning his fourth Turf and fifth Breeders' Cup title overall. "It's a very
important race and it was great to see him go and do it two in a row. We're also
pleased with the fourth horse Spanish Moon."
Presious Passion held second by 1 1/4 lengths, and the nearly 6-1 fourth
choice in the seven-horse field gave back $5 and $3.80.
"The horse didn't want to relax," jockey Elvis Trujillo said of Presious
Passion. "The first part was a little fast. I know this horse very good. He
fights. Doesn't matter how fast we go. The last quarter he'll fight everybody.
It's tough to build a big lead like that and try to hold on. Even when he
(Conduit) came up to me I thought I was going to win. The other horse just got
past me in the last sixteenth."
"I thought he ran his race," trainer Mary Hartmann said of Presious Passion.
"He laid it all on the line and he just got caught. He fought back. He just
doesn't like to let them go by."
Dar Re Mi crossed the wire 1 1/4 lengths ahead of Spanish Moon and paid $3 as
the 5-1 third choice.
"She ran a great race," trainer John Gosden said of Dar Re Mi. "It was a
little tight from the quarter-pole but that is racing. She ran absolutely great.
The first two -- well you know what they are -- they are fantastic horses. It
was a real race. She ran great against the colts and older horses. I couldn't be
more pleased."
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Spanish Moon was unable to capitalize on his good early position and faded to
fourth. Red Rocks (Ire) (Galileo [Ire]), the 2006 Turf winner who was taking
part in the race for the fourth straight time, wound up fifth in his swan song
and was trailed by Monzante (Maria's Mon) and Telling (A.P. Indy). Allegre
(Orientate) was withdrawn Thursday after developing an abscess in his right
front foot.
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Conduit ran down a loose-on-the-lead Presious Passion (inside)
(Ted Terquinio/Horsephotos.com) |
Conduit, who earned an Eclipse Award as champion turf horse after plundering
last year's edition, has compiled a record of 14-7-2-3 with an impressive
$5,376,913 in earnings. The winner of the 2008 St. Leger (Eng-G1) and Gordon S.
(Eng-G3), the four-year-old just missed in the Brigadier Gerard S. (Eng-G3) in
his 2009 debut. After finishing a distant third to Sea the Stars and Rip Van
Winkle (Ire) (Galileo [Ire]) in the Eclipse S. (Eng-G1), Conduit next added the
King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S. (Eng-G1) to his resume. In so doing,
Conduit became the first St Leger hero to land the King George since Alcide in
1959.
Stoute rested him since that late July triumph, with a view toward a title
defense in the Turf. Conduit returned in the October 4 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe
(Fr-G1) and rallied for an honorable fourth, an effort that set him up perfectly
for the Breeders' Cup.
Out of the unraced Sadler's Wells mare Well Head, the Irish-bred colt is a
half-brother to English Group 2 winner Hard Top (Ire) (Darshaan). Well Head is
herself a half-sister to Spectrum (Rainbow Quest), hero of the 1995 Irish Two
Thousand Guineas (Ire-G1) and Champion S. (Eng-G1), and Stream of Gold (Ire)
(Rainbow Quest), victor of the 2008 Mac Diarmida H. (G2). Conduit hails from the
stellar family of multiple English and Irish highweight Petrushka (Ire) (Unfuwain),
2000 St Leger hero Millenary (Rainbow Quest), and English and French champion
filly Sun Princess (English Prince).
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Conduit could line up next in the November 29 Japan Cup (Jpn-G1), but Stoute
was not ready to commit just yet.
"It could be on his agenda, but we want to get him back home and have a close
look at him for about 10 days until we make a decision on Tokyo. We would like
to go there, but it depends on how he comes through this return journey and the
race."
Plans call for Conduit to enter stud next year in Japan at Shigeyuki Okada's
Big Red Farm, which purchased him prior to his repeat score in the Turf.
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