O’Briens the stars at Del Mar Day 1

DEL MAR – Gstaad won the Juvenile Turf to give Irish master trainer Aidan O’Brien a record 21st Breeders’ Cup triumph on Oct 31, as his son Donnacha O’Brien bagged his first with Balantina’s upset win in the Juvenile Fillies Turf.

Gstaad capped an impressive two-year-old season with that third career win coming in the US$1 million (S$1.3 million) Grade 1 race over 1,600m at Del Mar racetrack near San Diego.

The Starspangledbanner colt went off as the $11 favourite despite an unfavourable outside post, and amply living up to his billing.

Belgian ace Christophe Soumillon timed his late push to perfection, sweeping past on the outside over Stark Contrast (Kazushi Kimura), with the Joseph O’Brien-trained North Coast (Dylan Browne McMonagle) third.

“I think the horse is just good,” said Soumillon. “Today he jumped a bit slow but, after two or three strides, I could be close and he was travelling very well.

“To be honest, I was cruising the whole way. I knew when I came out of the turn I’m going to win it.”

With his 21st Breeders’ Cup win – his record-extending eighth in the Juvenile Turf – O’Brien broke out of a tie with the late D. Wayne Lukas for most by a trainer.

“It’s just special,” said O’Brien, who took his tally of Group or Grade 1 wins for 2025 to 26 – two off his own record.

“Wayne was an incredibly special man. I can’t tell you how helpful he was to us our whole career.”

The Oct 31 races for two-year-olds launched the 14-race, US$34 million Breeders’ Cup slate, highlighted on Nov 1 by the US$7 million Classic (results not known at press time).

O’Brien’s day had opened disappointingly when he scratched Juvenile Fillies Turf favourite Precise, after the two-time Group 1 winner developed a cough.

But he was beaming after the US$1 million mile race after son Donnacha opened his own Breeders’ Cup account with Balantina’s storming victory.

Ridden by champion jockey Oisin Murphy, Balantina ($120) broke slowly. But the Irish ace calmly worked towards the rails and crept up behind a scorching pace set by Japanese raider Switch In Love.

Ground Support (Adam Beschizza) had just raced past Switch In Love (Ryusei Sakai), only for Balantina to roar past on the inside with Pacific Mission (Colin Keane) rallying late for second.

“This is very special, fantastic,” said Donnacha, after joining not only his father but also brother Joseph as winning Breeders’ Cup trainers.

“To watch Dad do it year-in and year-out, and Joseph to get winners – nice to be on the board.”

Cy Fair ($26), trained by George Weaver and ridden by Irad Ortiz, opened the proceedings with a victory in the US$1 million Juvenile Turf Sprint (1,000m).

Super Corredora (Hector Berrios, $34) set a fast pace and held on for a wire-to-wire win for US trainer John Sadler in the US$2 million Juvenile Fillies (1,700m).

In the US$2 million Juvenile (1,000m) – traditionally seen as a pointer to the next year’s Kentucky Derby – the Todd Pletcher-trained Ted Noffey (John Velazquez) lived up to his $16 favourite status, as he completed an undefeated two-year-old season. AFP