Wrote , owned by Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor, and Derrick Smith, rallied strongly in the stretch and pulled away to easily win the $909,000 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (gr. IT) at one mile on grass Nov. 5 at Churchill Downs (VIDEO) .
The 2-year-old High Chapparal colt out of the Green Desert mare Desert Classic was bred in Ireland by Speers Bloodstock. He was ridden by Ryan Moore for trainer Aidan O’Brien and paid $25.20 to win.
Wrote rated off the pace in the bulky 14-horse field through moderate fractions on a course rated good as Majestic City , followed by Excaper and Farraaj, led the field. Fractions were :23.75 for the opening quarter-mile, :48.37 for a half-mile, and 1:13.37 for six furlongs.
Wrote was among the pack of bunched-up horses as the field entered the stretch. Racing in the center of the course, he took over past the eighth-pole and wasn’t threatened thereafter.
Wrote won by 2 1/4 lengths over Richard Kaster and Frederick Wieting’s Excaper, who held well through the lane under jockey Emma-Jayne Wilson. Excaper had a nose on Sheikh Maktoum and Darley Stud Management’s Farraaj, who finished third under Neil Callan.
Team Valor International’s Lucky Chappy, ridden by Joel Rosario, was fourth. Finale, the lukewarm 4-1 favorite, was in tight while fourth near mid-stretch and bumped with Daddy Nose Best , losing all chance. He finished seventh.
Wrote entered the Juvenile Turf with four races on his card, including a victory in a minor stakes in Ireland. In his last start he finished third behind Daddy Long Legs and Tenth Star in the group II Juddmonte Royal Lodge Stakes at Newmarket in England.
“These races are hard to win,” O’Brien said. “We’re delighted the way he did it.”
Moore, who won his third Breeders’ Cup race, said the “ground felt good,” and that Wrote had a smooth journey. “He had a very nice kick,” the jockey said.
Daddy Long Legs, winner of the Juddmonte Royal Lodge, is entered in the Grey Goose Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (gr. I) later on the Nov. 5 program for the same connections.
