LEXINGTON, Ky. – Three Diamonds Farm’s Fire At Will ($62.40) swept past pacesetting Outadore at midstretch and cruised to a 3-length victory over Battleground to win the 14th running of the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf presented by Coolmore America (G1) Friday afternoon at Keeneland.
Trained by Mike Maker and ridden by Ricardo Santana Jr., Fire At Will covered the mile on a turf course rated as good in 1:35.81. It is the third Breeders’ Cup victory for Maker and the second for Santana.
“I tell you we have been high on him since day one and with each race he’s got better. It’s very satisfying to get Three Diamonds Farm their very first Breeders’ Cup win,” proudly said Mike Maker.
The victory was worth $550,000 and increased his earnings to $687,932 with a record of 4-3-0-0 with all three victories coming in stakes. He won the Pilgrim at Belmont and prior to that won an off-the-turf With Anticipation at Saratoga.
“I got a beautiful trip. I had plenty of horse in the tank. Thank God everything played out perfect,” Ricardo Santana Jr excitedly explained. On timing: “He put me where he wanted to be and that’s why we won.”
Fire At Will is a 2-year-old Kentucky-bred son of Declaration of War out of the Kitten’s Joy mare Flirt.
Second-place finisher, Battleground’s jockey Ryan Moore commented: “My horse ran super. Very happy with him.”
Third-place Outadore’s trainer Wesley Ward said: “He ran great. I thought that the fractions were decent to where he could kick on. Talking to Jose, he said when he turned for home he dropped into another gear as we expected. But, take nothing away from that winner. He ran away from us. (The winner) ran a big, big race.”
Jockey Jose Ortiz said: “He got a little tired the last sixteenth, but he ran a helluva race. He was ready 100 percent. Wesley had him ready.”
Fourth-place Cadillac’s trainer Jessica Harrington commented: “He ran a great race. Shane said he got into a bun fight early on which pushed him back to eighth and messed the race up for him. But I’m really pleased with his run and especially the way he stayed on to the line.”
Jockey Shane Foley added: “He had a bad trip after the first bend. He then got a nice run later on and he hit the line really well.”
Press Release
Photo Credit: Scott Serio/Eclispe Sportswire/Breeders’ Cup/CSM
