Talismanic, winner of the Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf © Eclipse Sportswire
DEL MAR, Calif. (Nov. 4, 2017) – Godolphin’s Talismanic ($30.20) reached the front in deep stretch to prevail by a half-length over Beach Patrol with defending champion Highland Reel another neck back in third in the 34th running of the $4 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1) for 3-year-olds and up Saturday afternoon at Del Mar racetrack.
Trained by Andre Fabre and ridden by Mickael Barzalona, Talismanic covered the 1 ½ miles on a firm turf course in a course-record 2:26.19.
Talismanic is a 4-year-old son of Medaglia d’Oro and was posting his first Grade 1 victory.
The victory for Barzalona came on his initial Breeders’ Cup mount. For Fabre, it was his fifth Breeders’ Cup victory and second in the Turf, having won with In the Wings at Belmont Park in 1990.
Oscar Performance, winner of last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1), set the pace with Beach Patrol and Highland Reel tracking him all the way around with positions unchanged until upper stretch. There, Oscar Performance dropped back and Talismanic split horses to surge to the front.
Winning jockey Mickael Barzalona (Talismanic) – “Right I can’t believe it. I am thrilled to have won my first Breeders’ Cup race. I expected the horse to run well, but I’m not sure I thought I would win. Mr. Fabre is a great trainer.”
Second-place trainer Chad Brown (Beach Patrol) – “We had a very good trip. My horse ran really well. We were just second best.”
Second-place jockey Joel Rosario (Beach Patrol) – “Broke perfect. Beautiful. I followed the speed and saw (Highland Reel) to my inside, so I held my position. Turning for home, he took off, but (Talismanic) was far out from me, so my horse couldn’t see him and my horse is a fighter. He ran well. The fractions were fast but he likes to run like that. It was a good run. It’s just too bad one horse beat us right at the end.”
Third-place jockey Ryan Moore (Highland Reel, favorite) – “He seemed to be laboring today. He didn’t have that usual oomph. They went quick and he rolled a bit down the straight.”
Fourth-place trainer Tom Albertrani (Sadler’s Joy) – “He ran well. He ran his race. I really can’t find any excuses for him. We were a little further back than I’d hope, but that’s the way he runs. I thought he ran a pretty honest race.”
Fourth-place jockey Julien Leparoux (Sadler’s Joy) – “He ran a good race. He came from far back and made a strong run. He couldn’t catch the horses in front of him, but they are also nice horses.”