Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf contender Daahyeh in action

Breeders' Cup Diary: Matt Brocklebank in Santa Anita with the latest on Daahyeh

By Matt Brocklebank

Horse Racing

Tue October 29, 2019 · 5y ago

There's a lot to like about Daahyeh ahead of the Breeders' Cup this weekend according to our man in Santa Anita, Matt Brocklebank - he rounds up the latest happenings.

As far as Breeders' Cup build-up goes the Tuesday is generally one of the quieter mornings at the track.

We've had the draw the night before with all the final fields, jockeys and post positions finalised, while not many connections of the European 'shippers' are in attendance, with travelling head lads and lasses often relied upon to oversea the initial leg-stretch following quarantine.

That certainly rang true this morning, but one trainer keen to stay ahead of the curve was Roger Varian, who is looking forward to saddling likely market principal Daahyeh in Friday's Juvenile Fillies Turf as the Newmarket trainer bids to break new ground with a first Breeders' Cup success.

So far Varian's BC tally stands at five runners, zero winners, a second, a third and three who finished out of the money. On the subject of money, that's $459,000 worth in prizes. Not a bad return but one which could effectively be doubled with victory in Friday's event, the fourth Breeders' Cup race on the Future Stars Friday programme due off at 2052 GMT.

Hopes are clearly high - the daughter of Bated Breath having been backed into 7/2 joint-favouritism alongside old rival Albigna - and even the softly-spoken Varian can't hide his excitement.

"She's run five times and not run a bad race," he told Sporting Life trackside on Tuesday.

"She's never been out of the first two and won at Royal Ascot, was second to Raffle Prize in Newmarket and then second to Love in the Moyglare.

"It was nice of her to come back after two defeats and beat a very strong field in the Rockfel. The way she saw out the Curragh seven (furlongs) and the Newmarket seven would give you a lot of confidence that she'll see out a Santa Anita mile."

As November looms large at the end of the week, it's the time of year when two-year-olds can suddenly come in and out of form without much warning. Physical and mental development could begin to catch up and overtake performance. Varian has no such concerns with this filly, with one eye already on a top-class spring campaign in 2020.

"We feel she's a classy two-year-old and boasts some of the best two-year-old fillies form in Europe," he said of Sky Bet's 16/1 shot for the 1000 Guineas. "I think she suits this race and we're very hopeful she'll train on and be a high-class three-year-old as well, but this race was on our mind even before she went to the Curragh.

"So it was great she went and won the Rockfel, which was a 'win and you're in' race. This certainly hasn't been an after-thought, we've been planning it for some time and her condition looks very good still.

"She looks a contender, so it's very exciting."

Roger Varian's past Breeders' Cup runners

Farraaj (Juvenile Turf, 3rd, 2011)
Madeline (Juvenile Fillies Turf, 13th, 2017)
Nahrain (Filly & Mare Turf, 2nd, 2011)
Nahrain (Filly & Mare Turf, 10th, 2012)
Nezwaah (Filly & Mare Turf, 10th, 2017)

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In William Buick, Varian calls upon a jockey with whom he boasts a 24% strike-rate (18-74) over the past five years in Britain. Buick also has two recent Breeders' Cup winners on his CV thanks to Wuheida in 2017 and Line Of Duty last autumn.

The jockey has another important factor in his favour, on top of the fact he's ridden her for her past two public appearances.

Varian said: "Stall five should be a comfortable stall to come out of, providing she doesn't fluff her lines at the start but she's pretty pretty straightforward in the gates up until now and that draw gives him a chance to get a nice seam in behind the leaders and be close if good enough in the straight."

Daahyeh arguably looks good enough already, and the draw suggests she should be close enough. There are seemingly very few negatives.

William Buick's past Breeders' Cup rides