English jockey Ryan Moore earned a record sixth victory in the £3.7m ($5m) Breeders’ Cup Turf at Keeneland in Kentucky on Saturday. Riding 3-1 favourite Benvenuto Cellini, Moore timed his closing run to perfection, finishing three-quarters of a length clear of fellow English jockey James Doyle aboard Map Of Stars.
The win secured Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien a record-extending eighth victory in the feature race, with another of his horses, Diamond Necklace, placing third. The result allowed O’Brien to match his own record of 28 top-level wins within a single calendar year. Benvenuto Cellini also holds a strong lineage, as his dam, Newspaperofrecord, won at the Breeders’ Cup in 2018.
O’Brien Praises Tactical Display
O’Brien praised Moore’s patience and judgment during the race. “He’s a horse that showed a lot of class. Ryan was calm and relaxed on him and let it happen. He was brilliant on him. He did it again, he had to come out and come round,” O’Brien said. He noted that Moore “accepted early he let them go, but he had one bullet to fire which he executed perfectly,” adding, “It’s so special that everyone is here. It’s a special day.”
Moore, appointed an MBE in June for services to racing and British sport, is widely regarded as the leading jockey of his generation. Among his career highlights was riding Estimate to victory in the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot for Queen Elizabeth II in 2013.
Sovereignty Claims Breeders’ Cup Classic
In the Breeders’ Cup Classic, Venezuelan jockey Junior Alvarado rode four-year-old Sovereignty to victory. Trained by American Bill Mott, Sovereignty missed last year’s event because of a fever but produced a dominant performance to take the title. Japan’s Forever Young, seeking a second consecutive win, finished fifth.
Alvarado called the win “spectacular” and expressed gratitude to the ownership group. “We really wanted to run so bad the Classic last year. I’m just so glad the Godolphin team gave us a chance to keep him in training and get to do what he did today,” he said.
