Transcript for the Nov. 7th, 2020 Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf at Keeneland.
- James Fanshawe
- Jacko Fanshaw
THE MODERATOR: Well, congratulations to Audarya on her win in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf. A mile and 3/16ths. That was a track record today on the course here at Keeneland, another course record. Congratulations. James Fanshawe, Jacko Fanshawe. And unfortunately, Alison Swinburn could not make it, the owner. But what an incredible performance by her today. James, just take us through kind of the trip getting here. What was behind the decision to bring her to the Breeders’ Cup?
JAMES FANSHAWE: We just took it step by step when she started winning, she’s always looked good and she, we couldn’t sort of get the true key to her and then we sort of, she’s quite strong in her races and we had taken her back to a mile. But since we stepped up to a mile-and-a-quarter and the first summer, as well, she has improved. And she won a little race at Newcastle, which is a really good track up the north of England, and little tiny race, a little handicap. And then she went to a Grade 1 for fillies, for four-year-olds and upwards, and she won that, which is the lucky race for us. And then after that, well, we thought, like, we’ve won a Group 1, we have to space things properly and try and sort of give her a proper campaign and she went back to the place where she ran very well, but she was slightly undone by lack of pace. There was no pace and she was a bit strong there, second, and then she got beaten by a horse who runs later this afternoon. So after that, it’s six weeks until the Breeders’ Cup so the spacing is perfect. I’ve never had her run here before. She was very keen to go and so here we are.
THE MODERATOR: And now you’re undefeated in the Breeders’ Cup.
JAMES FANSHAWE: Yeah, yeah, yes.
THE MODERATOR: And with her, it seemed like from looking at her form that maybe she preferred kind of soft or heavier ground. Were there ever any concerns about possibly being firmer turf here in the States?
JAMES FANSHAWE: It was, but before she ran at Deauville, we were concerned about the race off times. As you can see now, she’s a very good mover. And she’s a very good mover and I think she goes on any ground, but the Deauville race was four years upwards fillies, so that was sort of a nice Group 1, and she held the ground really well. And she’s a good mover, so I think she held the firmer ground. Easy to say in hindsight.
THE MODERATOR: Will she stay in training next year? Do you know that yet?
JAMES FANSHAWE: The plan was, before this, to stay in training because she’s out there racing, and she’s out there racing, and she’s a pretty good horse. She’s got better as she’s got older so thankfully she’s in one piece, and hopefully she will stay in training. But when you got that on your CV, it’s quite a thing to progress from, but if she does go and train it’s a lovely target to aim for next year.
THE MODERATOR: Next year at Del Mar. And, Jacko, I wanted to ask you this question: Have the colors that she runs in been inherited by Alison from Peter Harris? Are they the same colors as Charles Engelhard?
JAMES FANSHAWE: No.
THE MODERATOR: Not the same.
JACKO FANSHAWE: Well they were Peter Harris’s colors, who is Alison’s father, but — they’re very similar, but I don’t know if they’re the actual same as Charles’.
JAMES FANSHAWE: No. He had a couple runs here before, but…
THE MODERATOR: So I have another question from the press box for as far as your instruction to Pierre-Charles who was getting aboard her for the first time. What was the importance to get her inside, was that to get her covered up so she wouldn’t be as keen?
JAMES FANSHAWE: I said to Pierre-Charles, she might be keen, if you get a bit of cover, but don’t take her out of the race. And I tried to keep it really simple. And, look, the fellow who rides her every day, he’s French, so they had a chat between them and they would sort it out between them, rather than me interfering too much. So he rides her every day and how he got over from the 11 draw to 1 was incredible, because he got there by the first bend, and got a good position, he hadn’t completely lost his position either, it was a wonderful ride.
THE MODERATOR: Yeah, as far as a first Breeders’ Cup win for him as well and picking up the ride on her, obviously. And Jacko, as far as Mrs. Swinburn, Alison, can you just tell us a little bit about your all’s relationship with the owner?
JACKO FANSHAWE: Well, Alison has had horses with us for about seven or eight years now and she’s a great supporter of racing. She loves to celebrate her wins and she will be celebrating hugely at home today. But she’s obviously very sad that she can’t be here today. But she’s a very good horse person herself, she understands horses, she knows what it takes to get a horse to here and she knows it’s not easy. So she will be absolutely thrilled.
THE MODERATOR: For you, James, you were working with Sir Michael Stoute.
JAMES FANSHAWE: I was, yeah, that was my other Breeders’ Cup trip and that was before you were born. (Laughing.) That was back in ’86. We came over to Santa Anita and so we picked up a few things. And, actually, I went and saw Sir Michael and just refreshed myself, are we missing anything, are we missing anything, before I came over. But I had another chat with him about what we should be doing, in preparation, coming up into the race and he was very helpful. But he might not have been if he had another runner himself. (Laughing.)
THE MODERATOR: That might have been a little more difficult. Anything else to just say about this filly? It looked like at the start of this year it kind of took her awhile to find her way, to find her stride to get in those last three races where she really showed that performance like today could happen.
JAMES FANSHAWE: Well, she is not an easy filly, she’s a big filly, but she does hang on and I think we should give a bit of credit to Daniel Muscutt who rode her in early races, because he got her to race properly, because she could have been too strong, she takes any sort of workouts, her, um, her distance and her and how to ride her and everything and to get her a bit relaxed better, but she’s very special and we’re very happy to have her.
THE MODERATOR: Well, congratulations to both of you and to Alison on her win here today. Course record performance and first Breeders’ Cup win.
JAMES FANSHAWE: Thank you very much.
JACKO FANSHAWE: Thank you very much
