European-trained runners completed a second successive clean sweep of the juvenile events on turf at a Keeneland Breeders’ Cup on Friday evening as Aidan O’Brien’s Haffner, in the Juvenile Turf, followed up earlier wins for George Boughey’s Libertango, in the Juvenile Turf Sprint, and O’Brien’s Sun Goddess in the Juvenile Fillies Turf. Billy Loughnane, the new champion jockey on the Flat, got the meeting underway in thrilling style on Libertango, having been confirmed as a late replacement for Flavien Prat in her saddle only around an hour before the race. Prat was declared to ride Libertango earlier in the week when it seemed that Loughnane would be unable to shed the necessary pounds to weigh out at 8st 7lb.
An extended series of sauna sessions got him down to the necessary weight with only a couple of hours to spare, but the effort was worth it as he brought Libertango with a strong run in the stretch to win by a length and a quarter. I never expected to ride the filly at this weight. Thankfully, they have the saunas here so managed to do the weight.
I feel great and a big thank you to George Boughey for putting me back on board.” Ryan Moore produced rides of similar coolness and efficiency aboard both Sun Goddess and Haffner, breaking smartly from the stalls to sit close to the lead before striking for home inside the final quarter-mile. The double on the day nudged Aidan O’Brien one clear in the all-time standings with 23 Breeders’ Cup winners, after he was briefly tied at 22 with Bob Baffert after his colt Hughes took the Juvenile earlier on the card.
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