Photo of William Buick and Mischief Magic by Courtney Snow for Past The Wire
Keeneland News Release
~ Charlie Appleby
~ William Buick
~ Hugh Anderson
THE MODERATOR: William, I’ll start with you with Mischief Magic, we were just talking quickly before we started here, what a great trip, really, everything, but down the stretch you kind of had to negotiate some traffic. Sort of take us from the beginning.
WILLIAM BUICK: He’s a closer in the UK. So we expected him to come from off the pace, and we expected it to be pace on in the race.
Lucky he just got a little bit of lost and took him a bit to get into things the first furlong, furlong and a half. Once I switched him in around the turn he was traveling nice, and I was following the English filly, Dramatised.
And it sort of opened up just as we turned into the straight on the inside. And I had to switch out and just pick my run. But he was always full of running. And it was really only a matter of getting the split and for him to finish it off.
It was a great performance. And I think coming off the turn today really, really set him alive. It really woke him up. When he switched leads, he just flew.
Q. And that’s usually a question with Europeans that come over in these sprint races because they do have to negotiate a turn usually for the first time.
WILLIAM BUICK: Yeah, absolutely. I always — it’s always easier when you’re on the rail. You just ride the bend a little bit better. But he’s a very straightforward horse and he’s raced a few times. But once he got in there, he was very tough.
Q. And Hugh, another brilliant home bred for Godolphin stakes spread for the Juvenile Turf Sprint. Tell us about Mischief Magic and of course incredible success, Godolphin, worldwide, but here at the Breeders’ Cup in specific.
HUGH ANDERSON: Thank you very much. I’ve got the champion jockey on my right-hand side and the champion trainer on my left-hand side. And Godolphin is so fortunate to have people of this caliber. But you’re right, this is a home bred which makes it a really special win for us.
And the season has been exceptionally good in the UK, Europe, America, Australia. We’re having a wonderful year. These two have played a huge part in it. We’re all very, very proud. And I’m sure back in Dubai this has been watched with enormous satisfaction and enormous pride by our principal.
Q. Charlie, with Mischief Magic, in pointing to this race, I was talking to William about the turn for him coming over here. Did you ever have any questions coming out of that last race in the middle part about bringing him over to this race?
CHARLIE APPLEBY: Not really. Going over to Middle Park it was in our minds it was going to be a stepping stone on to this race. And we were very pleased with what we saw in Middle Park. He was pitching it with some of the best sprinters around in the UK.
Coming into today, you know, William sort of read the race in the pilot that they were going to go hard. Obviously the plan was to try and potentially run a bit closer. But going back quick early doors, that William was happy to let his horse find his legs. And as William quite rightly said earlier, once you get him on the turn on the rail, you can ride the rail. It just makes life a bit easier.
Look, fantastic ride by William and a very winning horse. And as Hugh quite rightly said, it’s been a fantastic season. For the home bred as well, it’s great for the team and most importantly for our principal and team Godolphin.
Q. What’s next for Mischief Magic?
CHARLIE APPLEBY: No immediate plans. Obviously, he’ll have the winter off now. He’s got the scope to develop from two to three well. And therefore he’s put himself probably in the picture as a Commonwealth horseback for Royal Ascot, and we’ll work back from that, one would imagine.
Q. William, champion jockey, second baby. Now a Breeders’ Cup win. Good couple of weeks?
WILLIAM BUICK: Yeah, it’s been good, thank you. Look, it’s been a good year, obviously. And, look, my personal life, it’s been great. I always say I’m very fortunate to come to these big meetings and ride these great horses. We’ve got a few races left to go.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
