Texas Red, Take Charge Brandi Among Saturday Stars

Texas Red dominated the opposition in the 2014 Breeders' Cup Juvenile. (All photos by Eclipse Sportswire)
With one incredible rally, Texas Red surged past the opposition in the $2-million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and into the discussion for champion 2-year-old male.
Texas Red closed from last to first under Hall of Fame rider Kent Desormeaux to post a dominant victory in the 1 1/16-mile race.
Desormeaux navigated a path between horses on the turn and then swept to the front from the far outside in early stretch. Once Texas Red took command, Desormeaux and the talented Afleet Alex colt simply overwhelmed the other 10 horses in the field.
Trained by Keith Desormeaux, Kent’s brother, for owners Erich Brehm, Wayne Detmer and Lee Michaels, Texas Red completed 1 1/16 miles in 1:41.91 to improve to two wins, one second and one third from five starts.
DESORMEAUX BROTHERS

“You know, we were real poor when I was growing up but we always had horses,” Kent Desormeaux said. “I don’t know how my family ever fed them, but my education in horses came all together today with this win.”
Texas Red entered the Juvenile off a third-place finish to highly regarded American Pharoah in the Grade 1 FrontRunner Stakes on Sept. 27 and that rival might be the only 2-year-old standing between Texas Red and an Eclipse Award.
“The first thing I thought when he was drawing away was ‘How good is American Pharoah?’ You never want to see a defection, but it had to help,” said Keith Desormeaux.
Breeders’ Futurity winner Carpe Diem edged Upstartfor second, well behind the dominant winner.
Breeders’ Cup Turf
Ten years after winning his first Breeders’ Cup Turf with Better Talk Now, Graham Motion was back in the Turf with another outstanding gelding in Main Sequence.
In one of the most stacked fields of the day Main Sequence, who had won three Grade 1s this year prior to the Turf, bested some of the best horses in Europe to get the blanket of flowers after the race.
Main Sequence settled in the back of the field early on with Hardest Core setting the pace up front through an opening half of :47.76. Main Sequence sat chilly third from last down the backstretch before moving forward to midpack as they prepared to enter the far turn. Main Sequence only had a handful of horses beaten at the top of the stretch, but within a few strides showed the turn of foot that has made him a top turf horse this year.
MAIN SEQUENCE HELD OFF FLINTSHIRE TO WIN THE BREEDERS' CUP TURF

He only used about half of the stretch to get the lead and had Flintshire on his inside to keep him busy all the way to the finish line. Jockey John Velazquez, who had replaced the injured Rajiv Maragh for this race, worked a little extra nearing to the finish line to keep Main Sequence’s attention as the horse started to lose focus. It worked and Main Sequence was in full race mode all the way to the wire. Twilight Eclipse finished third and Telescope finished fourth in the 1 1/2 mile race.
“Rajiv [Maragh] told me all about the horse and how to ride him," Velazquez said. "He told me everything good about the horse and he [Main Sequence] did exactly what he said. It was the perfect trip.”
Owned by Flaxman Holdings, Main Sequence spent the early part of his career in Europe before trainsferring to Motion for the 2014 season. Motion was forced to push the gelding’s debut back when he got sick soon after moving to the barn, but the move paid off as he spent the summer and early fall earning his spot as the nation’s top turf horse.
Main Sequence went off at 6-1 and paid $14.40 for a $2 win ticket.
Breeders’ Cup Mile
Overlooked at 30-to-1 odds, Karakontie closed with a powerful rush through the stretch to win the $2-million Breeders’ Cup Mile and give owner Flaxman Holdings (the Niarchos family) its second win of the card.
Main Sequence won the Breeders’ Cup Turf two races earlier on the card for the Niarchos family, which now has seven career Breeders’ Cup victories.
Karakontie won the French Two Thousand Guineas earlier this year, which improved his record to four wins and two seconds in six starts. The Bernstein colt then wanted no part of 1 5/16 miles in the Group 1 Prix du Jockey Club and finished eighth before a brutal trip cost him any shot in the Group 1 Prix de la Foret.
KARAKONTIE AFTER WINNING THE BREEDERS' CUP MILE

With a better trip under Stephane Pasquier in the Mile and back at his best distance, Karakontie again showed the elite class that made him a French classic winner. He streaked past pacesetter Obviously from between horses in the stretch and held off a gallant late bid from Anodin to prevail in 1:32.88 for his fifth win in nine starts.
Anodin was well clear of third-place finisher Trade Storm.
Karakontie is out of the Sunday Silence mare Sun Is Up and his third dam (maternal great-grandmother) is two-time Breeders’ Cup Mile winner Miesque.
Breeders’ Cup Sprint
Illinois-bred Work All Week improved to eight wins in as many starts on dirt and handled a steep step up in class to do so.
Making his first start in a Grade 1 race against many of the top sprinters in the world in the $1.5-million Breeders’ Cup Sprint, Work All Week broke alertly and pressed Fast Anna through blistering early fractions.
Jockey Florent Geroux gave him his cue to accelerate approaching the quarter-pole and Work All Week responded willingly to take command. The 5-year-old City Zip gelding had just enough left in the tank to fend off runner-up Secret Circle, Private Zone and Bourbon Courage.
WORK ALL WEEK HANDLED THE STEP UP IN CLASS WITH NO PROBLEMS

Work All Week completed 6 furlongs in 1:08.28 to improve to 12 wins in 15 career starts for owner-breeder Midwest Thoroughbreds, perennially one of the leading owners in the country.
Secret Circle came up a half-length short in his bid for a third Breeders’ Cup win. He won the Sprint last year and the Juvenile Sprint in 2011.
Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies

Take Charge Brandi pulled a huge upset when she won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. 
D. Wayne Lukas shocked the world in the first Breeders’ Cup race of the day on Saturday at Santa Anita Park when Take Charge Brandi won the $1,840,000 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at odds of 61.70-to-1.
Take Charge Brandi took control right out of the gate and never relinquished the lead. Hennythelovepenny and By The Moon both tried to challenge Take Charge Brandi as they entered the far turn but the 2-year-old filly was on a roll. While Hennythelovepenny faded back, Take Charge Brandi started to pull away from the field as they entered the stretch.
A group of four tightly packed fillies tried to rally and get the lead from the winner in the final sixteenth of a mile but it was all Take Charge Brandi at the finish line. She completed 1 1/16 miles in 1:41.95 to prevail by a half-length.
Top Decile finished second with Wonder Gal in third and Feathered in fourth.
TAKE CHARGE BRANDI WON D. WAYNE LUKAS HIS FIRST BREEDERS' CUP SINCE 2012

“I thought she had a great week and today I thought we could be a factor – not that we would win it, but that we would do very well,” said Lukas. who picked up his record 20th win in the Breeders' Cup World Championships. “Dr. Bill Caton, who saved [Lukas’ son] Jeff’s life, bet her heavy – he won’t be able to carry it out in a shopping bag. This is the most exciting one [win] yet.”
Take Charge Brandi is out of a half-sister to last year’s champion 3-year-old colt and Breeders’ Cup Classic runner-up Will Take Charge and is owned by Willis Horton, who also owned Will Take Charge. Lukas has won six Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies with his last win coming with Folklore in 2005.
Take Charge Brandi paid $125.40 to win on a $2 ticket. The $1 exacta paid $778.60, the $1 trifecta returned $11,309 and the superfecta paid $97,620 for a $1 bet.
Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint

Judy the beauty (inside) holds off Better Lucky.
What a weekend for trainer Wesley Ward, who did not make the trip out to Southen California for the Breeders’ Cup World Championships. If he’s superstitious, Ward might not ever attend another Breeders’ Cup.
After taking the top two spots in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf on Friday with Hootenanny and Luck of the Kitten, Ward won the $920,000 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint on Saturday when Judy the Beauty held off Better Lucky after a thrilling stretch duel.
The win gave Ward two wins and two seconds with four starters so far on Breeders’ Cup weekend. He reportedly watched the Juvenile Turf in the barn area at Gulfstream Park on Friday.
Hall of Fame rider Mike Smith guided Judy the Beauty from off the pace in the seven-furlong Filly and Mare Sprint after Stonetastic led the field through an opening half-mile in :44.87. Better Lucky closed in on Judy the Beauty but could not get past the winner, who completed the distance in 1:21.92 for her ninth win in 18 career starts. She finished second in the 2013 Filly and Mare Sprint to Groupie Doll.
Smith earned his record-extending 21st career win in the Breeders’ Cup with his first win at the 2014 event.
Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf

Dayatthespa rolls in the Filly and Mare Turf.
Visiting Santa Anita Park for the first time, Dayatthespa looked right at home on Saturday when she won the $1,840,000 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf.
Dayatthespa took the lead right out of the starting gate and led the field down the downhill part of the course as everyone raced for position. By the time they hit the main turf ourse, everything had been sorted out and Dayatthespa slowed down the tempo as she relaxed on the lead with Parranda sitting right off her flank.
The field started to bunch up behind the leader around the turn, and Dayatthespa was chased by a group that included defending Filly and Turf winner Dank and 2011 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf winner Stephanie’s Kitten. While the group ate into the lead with Stephanie’s Kitten showing a big turn of foot to take second, Dayatthespa’s advantage was too big and no one could catch her before the finish line.
Stephanie’s Kitten finished second with Just the Judge finishing a head in front of Dank for third.
“I thought she could get the distance if we could get away with a slow pace," jockey Javier Castellano said. "I was hoping we could go :24, :48, 1:13, and that’s exactly what we did. When we got the three-quarters in 1:13 I thought to myself, ‘We’re going to steal this thing,’ and we did.”
Dayatthespa paid $13 to win on her 5-to-1 odds. She is trained by Chad Brown, who also won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf yesterday with Lady Eli, and owned by Jerry Frankel, Ronald Frankel, Steve Laymon, and Bradley Thoroughbreds.
Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint
In a well-timed ride by Joel Rosario, Bobby’s Kitten lived up to all the hype he’s had put on him over the last two years with a visually stunning victory in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint.
Reneesgotzip set the early pace down the Santa Anita hill with a first quarter of :21.69. But by the time the field straightened onto the main track, 7-2 favorite No Nay Never had the lead and looked like he was in the clear as the field drove to the finish line. But Bobby’s Kitten, who had raced in dead last throughout the race showed a powerful closing kick to pass everyone, catching No Nay Never in the final strides and passing him to put a neck margin between the two.
During his run, Bobby’s Kitten was joined by Wes Welker co-owned Undrafted who fell only a head short to No Nay Never for second.
The trainers of the top three finishers in this race have been absolutely dominant at this year’s Breeders’ Cup with Bobby Kitten’s trainer, Chad Brown, winning three Breeders’ Cup races this weekend. Wesley Ward, the trainer of both No Nay Never and Undrafted, ran six horses at the Breeders’ Cup with two wins, three seconds, and one third.
Bobby’s Kitten is by 2004 Breeders’ Cup Turf runner-up Kitten’s Joy and owned and bred by Ken and Sarah Ramsey, who also campaigned his sire. In the winner’s circle, Ken Ramsey said that he is aiming the 3-year-old for a trip to Royal Ascot next June.
Bobby’s Kitten went off at 7.20-to-1 and paid $16.40 off a $2 win ticket.
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