Big Evs Leads Euro Finish in BC Juvenile Turf Sprint

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Big Evs Leads Euro Finish in BC Juvenile Turf Sprint
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Photo: Anne M. Eberhardt
Big Evs wins the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint at Santa Anita Park

A year before the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G1T), Paul Teasdale lost his longtime friend Paul Evans to lung cancer. Thus, when it came time to name a talented 2-year-old colt by Blue Point , Teasdale quickly decided on Evans' nickname of Big Evs. The equine Big Evs  paid tribute to Evans on a worldwide stage by capturing the very first Breeders' Cup race of 2023 Nov. 3.

"It just seemed a natural thing to call him Big Evs," Teasdale said. "Paul Evans was a personal friend of 40 years, and we went racing for 25 years together. We really wanted him to be a great horse in memory of Paul to keep his name alive, for him and his family."


Big Evs certainly came through for Teasdale, trainer Michael Appleby, and jockey Tom Marquand. A European invader, the colt had never faced the quicker American starts nor negotiated the tighter-turn turf courses of an American racetrack such as Santa Anita.

"English gate speed is very different from American gate speed, and we were just hoping he'd be fast enough out here," said Marquand, who was winning in his very first Breeders' Cup attempt. "I think he's tough as well. He had that speed today. He did break a half-length slower than a couple of them."

Crimson Advocate , the George Weaver-trained American-based filly who won the Queen Mary Stakes (G2) at Royal Ascot, set the pace in the five-furlong Juvenile Turf Sprint. She posted the first fraction of :20.71 for a quarter-mile.

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Big Evs challenged the filly around the turn.

"I'd say he was learning around the bend--he wasn't the smoothest," Marquand said.

Big Evs learned lightning fast, however. He battled with Crimson Advocate in the upper stretch and then had to fend off Valiant Force , who was closing relentlessly from the extreme outside. Big Evs responded gamely to Marquand's urging to defeat Valiant Force by a half-length in :55.31. Starlust , another closer, finished third to complete a European-trained Trifecta. Fourth-place No Nay Mets , though bred in Ireland, was the first U.S.-trained horse across the line.

"There was a little bit of concern going around the bend because he had never raced around a bend before," said Appleby. "So we galloped him a few times, and he did quite well."

A private purchase this past March, Big Evs ran second in his debut and then won the Windsor Castle Stakes at Royal Ascot and the Molecomb Stakes (G3) at Goodwood. A 2-year-old facing older runners in the Aug. 25 Nunthorpe Stakes (G1) at York, Big Evs finished unplaced and then returned to capture the Sept. 15 Flying Childers Stakes (G2) at Doncaster against his own age group in his last start prior to the Breeders' Cup.

Rabbah Bloodstock Limited bred Big Evs in Ireland from the Oasis Dream  mare Hana Lina .

Big Evs is by Blue Point, Europe's leading first-crop sire whose other runners include 2023 Prix Grand Criterium (G1) winner Rosallion . Blue Point, a Darley stallion, stands at Kildangan Stud in County Kildare, Ireland, and the stallion is listed as standing for 60,000 euros.

Video: Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G1T)