Enable Makes History With Brilliant BC Turf Win
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Photo: Rick Samuels
Enable wins the Breeders' Cup Turf at Churchill Downs
Jockey Frankie Dettori was determined to find the best ground for superstar Enable in the $4 million Longines Breeders' Cup Turf (G1T) Nov. 3 at Churchill Downs after rain in Louisville dampened the turf course earlier in the week. Little did the filly's connections know how that determination would add to her legacy.
Juddmonte Farms' homebred two-time Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (G1) winner—now the first Arc winner to triumph at the Breeders' Cup—was widest of all coming off the far turn in the 1 1/2-mile test and gave her fans a close look as she galloped into the history books.
"She's done it! She's conquered America!" Dettori exclaimed on his ride back to the winner's circle.
Enable indeed left America's best turf contenders in her wake, but it was a fellow European she had to put away from the turn to the wire. As Dettori focused on fixing the filly's spinning wheels after feeling her struggle in the early going, Ryan Moore took advantage of a highway down the inside aboard Coolmore's Magical, and the 3-year-old gave her elder a run for her money to the line. But as Dettori angled Enable well to the center of the course even in the late going, it was the 4-year-old filly's class that carried her across the line.
Enable had enough in reserve to win by three-quarters of a length, the crowning achievement of a season hindered by illness and injury. The Breeders' Cup Turf was just her third start of 2018. She has won nine in a row and has only lost once in her career.
"She's been very brave and mentally very strong to get herself here," trainer John Gosden said. "She did it here today with guts and determination."
"Injury was a setback at the end of the spring, the beginning of the summer," said Juddmonte racing manager Teddy Grimthorpe. "Everything that could have gone right did really go right in terms of recuperation. She was back in her box. She was frustrated. She wasn't going out. She needed some rest.
"She started walking, started trotting, started cantering. All that process is a very vital, vital part of the preparation to make sure she's right. All that has sort of come together in the embodiment of a really special performance today."
That performance did not get off to a perfect start. In fifth on Enable, as Glorious Empire showed the way through the early going, Dettori had difficulty maintaining position. He also thought the opening fractions, :24.65 and :49.11, were quick for 1 1/2 miles on soft ground.
"I was struggling to keep my position. She was shuffling with the legs; she was spinning. I managed to get up off the fence, then she was moving good again. She was happy. She wasn't struggling.
"I knew that the pace couldn't keep up. So then I was just waiting for her to give me the message she was ready to go … I just said to myself, 'Just wait, let her fill herself up with oxygen, then we'll wait till the straight.'"
Glorious Empire led through a 1:40.55 mile, at which point Enable had been shuffled back to seventh. Shifted out by Dettori into the clear around the far turn, she advanced about nine wide, took command, and floated out even more with Magical in pursuit. The two separated themselves from the field, with nine lengths back to Sadler's Joy in third behind a final time of 2:32.65 on turf rated good.
"To be honest with you, she eyeballed me, all right," Dettori said of Magical, who came off a win in the Oct. 20 QIPCO British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes (G1). "At that moment, I didn't ask (Enable) for full gear. There is that suspense moment when you know she's going to go or not, and she did—thank God for that.
"I knew (Enable) was fighting for me. Ryan wasn't going away, was always there. The ground kind of spoiled it for my filly, because I know she likes soft (going), but she really found it difficult. She had every chance of throwing the towel in, but she didn't. She was very tough. Just look at the space we left till the third. She's a superstar."
Enable is the fourth filly to win the Breeders' Cup Turf, joining Pebbles, Miss Alleged, and Found. Out of the Sadler's Wells mare Concentric, she improved her record to 10 wins and a third from 11 starts, with earnings of $10,705,631.
In the post-race press conference, Grimthorpe reflected on Enable's momentous achievement. She joined Breeders' Cup Mile (G1T) winner Expert Eye to give Prince Khalid Abdullah's operation two winners at the World Championships.
"To have this historic day for Juddmonte really (means so much), to have two major, major winners, and a filly doing something that no other horse has done," he said. "Prince Khalid has always been a huge supporter of the Breeders' Cup. First thing in his diary, he wants to know when the Breeders' Cup is, where it is. He's been an absolute staunch supporter from the very beginning, the concept of course he has really embraced. He's shown that we send his best horses to compete here."
The fact Enable handled her maiden voyage to America with the poise of a runway model and put away Magical with the grit of a prizefighter leaves the racing world wanting more. But like a true icon, she'll keep her followers guessing about her next move—other than a trip back across the pond to Gosden's yard at Newmarket.
"I think the most important thing is to at least sit back and just enjoy this," Grimthorpe said. "We tend to move on far too quickly. Really the enormity of this, for the whole team, it's been so emotional. She has created those emotions within us all, especially within Juddmonte.
"I'm sure Prince Khalid will want to at least sit back and enjoy this. There's no great hurry. She's going to go back home to Newmarket. We'll make sure she's all right, then think about the future."