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Red
Rocks-ing in the USA LOUISVILLE -- Owner J. Paul Reddam held his breath as Red Rocks took the lead with Better Talk Now to his outside in the stretch of the $3 million Breeders' Cup Turf at Churchill Downs. "I was hoping it wouldn't come to the end," said Reddam. Reddam got his wish as Red Rocks held off Better Talk Now for a half-length win. Reddam, of Sunset Beach, Calif., who claimed his first thoroughbred in 1988, now has two Breeders' Cup wins. He was majority owner of Wilko, upset winner of the 2004 Breeders' Cup Juvenile. Red Rocks paid $23.60 to win, and ran the 11/2 miles in 2:27.32. "I was a little concerned down the backstretch, but Frankie (Dettori) rode a wonderful race," said winning trainer Brian Meehan, who talked Reddam out of running Red Rocks in the Arc de Triomphe (a fall classic in France) and suggested that they bring him to the Breeders' Cup Turf. "We weren't sure how he would stack up against the Americans," Reddam said. "But we knew he had potential after the way he had opened up in some races, and lollygagged on the lead." Dettori liked the way the race unfolded. "I didn't expect such a furious pace, but I knew at the half-mile pole the race would fall into my lap, so I took him to the outside," said Dettori, who had earlier ridden Ouija Board to victory in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf. "I was quite scared when I realized Better Talk Now was to my outside. I felt the other horse (coming) and had to ride him a bit." Better Talk Now, who captured the 21st running of the race at Lone Star Park in 2004, was 10th after a half-mile, and followed the winner to the outside. "At the eighth pole the winner tried to run away from us, but he (Better Talk Now) picked it up again," said jockey Ramon Dominguez, who rode Better Talk Now. "He really tried hard. He wanted to win." English Channel, who finished third, was sixth after the first quarter-mile, and briefly took the lead in the stretch. "He kept getting hit by the horse to the inside and that made him a little rank," said John Velazquez, who rode English Channel. "He kept on throwing his head around and once he did that, it was going to be hard to win." Red Rocks, a 3-year-old colt by Galileo, was bred in Ireland, and was making his first start in the United States. The winner earned $1.62 million from the $3 million total purse, to push his career earnings past $2 million. No betting favorite has won the Breeders' Cup Turf in six runnings at Churchill Downs. Hurricane Run, who was the 5-2 favorite, was rank in the post parade and finished sixth. "He really likes a long stretch, but he really didn't respond as he has in the past," said Christophe Soumillion, who rode Hurricane Run. European-bred runners have now won 13 of 23 runnings of the Breeders' Cup Turf. There was a dead heat in 2003 at Santa Anita, the only dead heat in Breeders' Cup history. Dettori is the first jockey to ride three winners in the six runnings of the Breeders' Cup Turf at Churchill Downs. "To win one is a miracle, two is beyond that. It feels surreal." |
