O'Brien Father, Son Clash in BC Juvenile Turf

The Europeans have been quite dominant in the $1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1T), winning 13 of its 19 editions. They once again pose a formidable threat when filling eight of the 14 gates Oct. 30. A large key to the continent's overall success in shipping across the pond to the 1-mile contest has been thanks to one man, Aidan O'Brien, who himself has taken home the Juvenile Turf eight times and is currently on a four-year win streak. He holds a strong hand this year as well, bringing in four Coolmore-owned colts—all group stakes winners and three group 1-placed runners—from Ballydoyle in Ireland: Florida Bay (IRE), Great Barrier Reef (IRE), Haffner, and Man's Best Friend (IRE). Yet, his toughest hurdle to overcome could very well be his own blood as his son, Joseph O'Brien, enters Al Shira'aa Racing's Folsom Blues (IRE). An impressive 6-length winner of the Vincent O'Brien National Stakes (G1) over a yielding surface in September at the Curragh in Ireland, the son of Blue Point (IRE) has already been among the best of his sex in this class. His two defeats in group 1 company have been second-place finishes at the hooves of impressive fillies Sun Goddess (IRE) and Amusingly (GB). Those two are removed and pushed to the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1T) instead thanks to this race's colts and geldings requirement, leaving their runner-up as the class of the boys. From Aidan's team, the most intriguing to the American audience would be Haffner. The son of 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify was bred in Kentucky by D. J. Stables and Justify Syndicate and has performed well in Europe. The yielding course of the O'Brien National provided his only off-the-board finish, and of the Europeans he holds the only victory at the 1-mile distance, which he earned last-out in the Royal Lodge Stakes (G2) Sept. 26 at Newmarket Racecourse. Florida Bay finished fourth over a mile in his stakes debut, but hasn't raced the distance in four starts since. Amo Racing USA's Pikachu (GB), a son of Frankel (GB) trained by Charlie Johnston, broke his maiden over a mile and 70 yards and ran fourth over 1 1/8 miles in his last start. The rest of the Europeans have not raced beyond 7 furlongs. That gives the Americans the distance edge with all six having wins at either a mile or 1 1/16 miles. Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher will saddle Robert and Lawana Low's Liam's Law, who won the With Anticipation Stakes (G3T) at Saratoga Race Course in his last start. Other New York-based runners include Elements Racing and Hoolie Racing Stable's Oscar, who defeated Bold Leadership by a nose on debut and ran a good second in the Summer Stakes (G1T) at Woodbine for trainer Miguel Clement; and Anthony Tate, B and E Racing, Joe Pickerrell, and Diamond T Racing's Let Em Know, who bounced back from a fifth-place finish in the Summer Stakes to win the Pilgrim Stakes (G2T) at Belmont Park. Meanwhile, How's Al Today caught the eye at Kentucky Downs, winning an allowance and the Juvenile Mile Stakes just 12 days apart from each other by a combined 8 1/2 lengths. Trainer Riley Mott felt the son of Munnings gave a turf vibe early on, but worked well enough on the dirt to start his career there. After finishing third in the Saratoga Special Stakes (G2), Mott opted to test his theory and work him on the turf, a move that has paid off to $681,584 in career earnings already. His form has been flattered with Juvenile Mile runner-up Jas winning the Street Sense Stakes (G3) Oct. 25 at Churchill Downs and Dede McGehee's third-place finisher Agate winning the Bourbon Stakes (G2T) Oct. 4 at Keeneland and returning in the Juvenile Turf for trainer Kelsey Danner. "There's obviously some horses with some pretty good form coming from Europe, but I think our horse is pretty well accomplished and fast for a 2-year-old on the turf from America," Mott said. "We're pretty optimistic."