LEXINGTON, Ky. – Derrick Smith, Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor and Mrs. Anne Marie O’Brien’s 73/1 Order of Australia (IRE) ($148.40), who drew into the race off the also-eligible list with the scratch of One Master (GB), surged to the front at the sixteenth pole and held off Circus Maximus (IRE) by a neck to win the 37th running of the $2 million FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Mile presented by PDJF (G1) Saturday afternoon at Keeneland.
Trained by Aidan O’Brien and ridden by Pierre-Charles Boudot, Order of Australia covered the mile on a firm turf course in 1:33.73. For O’Brien, who trains the first three finishers, it is his 13th Breeders’ Cup victory but first in the Mile. For Boudot, it was his second World Championships winner of the afternoon having scored with Audarya (FR) in the Maker’s Mark Filly & Mare Turf.
Breaking from the outside post in the field of 14, Order of Australia raced in the clear through the first turn and down the backstretch in fourth place behind the pace set by Halladay and Factor This. In the stretch, Halladay disposed of Factor This but could not hold off the run by Order of Australia.
Circus Maximus finished three-quarters of a length in front of Lope Y Fernandez (IRE) who was a length in front of Ivar (BRZ).
The victory was worth $1,100,000 and increased Order of Australia’s earnings to $1,139,846 with a record of 8-3-0-1. It is his first stakes victory.
Race Quotes:
Pat Keating Traveling Head Man for Aidan O’Brien first-third-place finishers (Order of Australia (IRE), Circus Maximus (IRE) and Lope Y Fernandez (IRE)) – “It’s a real team effort, we’re very happy. First three home is unbelievable. You need a lot of luck in this game. We’re looking enough to have good horses and good jockeys. I’m just happy for everyone involved.”
Winning jockey Pierre-Charles Boudot (Order of Australia (IRE)) – “It’s dream come true. It is only by chance to get these rides and I’m sorry for Ioritz Mendizabal (previous rider of Audarya) and Christophe Soumillon (removed from his mounts after testing positive for Covid). Audarya was amazing a real warrior. It’s a difficult situation with Covid, but I was given two nice opportunities. Order Of Australia is a fast horse, the mile is very good for him and the good ground was perfect. He gave me a nice turn of foot but when he got to the front. He’s a tricky horse as he needs some help to concentrate. I’m over the moon.”
Second-place jockey Ryan Moore (Circus Maximus (IRE)) – “My horse ran lovely. He ran a solid race.”
Third-place jockey Frankie Dettori (Lope Y Fernandez (IRE)) – “He ran very well. I lost my spot on the turn. That cost me a bit. Then he came in good.”
Fourth place-trainer Paulo Lobo – “He ran great. It was a very even race. Lots of Grade 1 winners in there. No excuse.”
Fifth-place jockey Joel Rosario (Uni (GB)) – “It seemed like it was going good. It’s tough sometimes from an outside post but it looked like I was going to get some part of the race in the last part. It was a fast race today and it seemed like that didn’t come back.”
Fifth-, 10th- and 11th-place trainer Chad Brown (Uni (GB), Digital Age and Raging Bull) – “Uni clearly ran the best race and none of my horses got good position. Digital Age leapt at the start. Javier (Castellano, jockey) said he was rocking back and forth and they opened the gate. He lost all chance there just sitting in the back. He tried to make a little run, but from that point forward he was a little disinterested. Raging Bull, for him, he wasn’t in terrible position, but was a little bit flat down the lane. Uni just couldn’t secure that mid-pack spot I was hoping for. Watching how the turf is playing, it encouraged my jockeys, if possible, to be near or in some sort of striking range turning for home. None of them could and it seems that only one of the three actually kicked off the quarter-pole and could have possibly won the race if in better position was Uni.”
On Uni’s career:
“She’s been a remarkable horse for us. One of the smaller horses we’ve trained and has one of the biggest hearts. If not the biggest heart, the biggest turn of foot. She’s going to be extremely difficult to replace and whoever is the next person to own her is a very lucky person.”
Seventh-place jockey Oisin Murphy (Kameko, favorite) – “He had a good trip. His preparation went very well. You have to remember that he was a classic winner back in June and has been on the go quite a bit.”
Press Release
Order of Australia, ridden by Pierre-Charles Boudot, wins the FanDuel Mile presented by PDJF on Breeders’ Cup Championship Saturday at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky on November 7, 2020. Wendy Wooley/Breeders’ Cup/Eclipse Sportswire/CSM
