“He doesn’t behave like it,” George Scott says, when it is pointed out that Frankie Dettori, his jockey aboard James Garfield in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf here on Friday, is old enough to be his father. “He behaves like a kid, but he’s in great form and when he’s like this he can make anything happen.”
If Dettori can make it happen on James Garfield, Scott will join what is still a very select club of British trainers to have saddled a Breeders’ Cup winner, and will be the first to do while he is still on the right side of 30. Victory would also set a perfect seal on the best year of Scott’s life both personally and professionally, as he married Polly Gredley, the daughter of James Garfield’s owner Bill, a few weeks before the horse gave him his first Group‑race success in the Mill Reef Stakes at Newbury.
There was a definite sense of the changing of the guard here this week, as trainers such as Sir Michael Stoute, on the one hand, and Scott, Hugo Palmer and Charlie Hills on the other put the finishing touches to their runners’ preparations. Scott, in particular, has much to look forward to, and thanks to a big investment by his new father-in-law he will move into a 130-box yard in Newmarket, one of the biggest new developments in the town for a decade, by the end of next year.
“Racing is a really great game for young people,” Scott says, “and being a young trainer, you can be given an opportunity and then it’s about making the most of that, really. I started when I left school, and I was an assistant trainer for eight years [with Michael Bell and Lady Cecil] and then when Jane Cecil retired, it was an opportunity for me to step forward and start training myself.
“It’s incredibly exciting to have such a good horse so early in my career, and the closer we get to the race, the more excited I am about him. He’s moving well and he seems very bright, so I’m just praying that he is in good enough form and that he stays the trip to give Frankie the best opportunity to win. No one’s riding like him at the moment, and we’re very grateful to have him on board.”
Dettori has certainly been buzzing around the barns here this week, eager to crack on with his six Breeders’ Cup rides at the end of one of the best seasons of his career, and the jockey suggested Friday’s race as a target for James Garfield back in August, after riding him to finish a close second in the Acomb Stakes at York. At 6-1, he is second only to Ulysses in the Turf as the best of Dettori’s rides this weekend.
“I’ve not allowed myself to think that he will win,” Scott says, “but whatever happens, the season has gone in a nice direction and we’ll certainly be increasing the number of horses next year. But he deserves to be that price on his form because he brings the most recent form into the race, so I wouldn’t swap him for anything.”
Scott could well be celebrating on Friday evening because James Garfield (22.50) has a very attractive profile for a winner of this race. His winning form in the Mill Reef is a match for anything his main rivals can offer, but his runs over six and seven furlongs this season also suggest that a really sharp mile will be ideal, and they do not come much sharper than the turf circuit here.
The Juvenile Turf is one of four Breeders’ Cup races on the first-day card, before nine more on Saturday, but the European interest on the opening afternoon in California is limited to the turf events. September (21.25) is the second-string in Aidan O’Brien’s challenge for the Juvenile Fillies’ Turf according to jockey bookings, but Seamie Heffernan showed on Highland Reel here last year that second-strings can be big contenders and she too could find this test to her liking. Forever Unbridled (23.35) did well to win the Personal Ensign Stakes from an unpromising position last time out and can follow up in the Distaff, while Mor Spirit (22.05) is a worthy favourite for the Dirt Mile.
Friday’s tips, by Greg Wood
Newcastle
5.45 Meandmyshadow 6.15 Elegaic 6.45 Francis Xavier 7.15 Glacier Fox 7.45 Equiano Springs 8.15 Casterbridge 8.45 Windforpower 9.15 Young Tiger
Newmarket
12.35 Porth Swtan 1.10 Zamperini 1.45 All Out 2.20 Consequences 2.55 Star Story (nap) 3.30 Sunblazer 4.05 Brilliant Vanguard
Uttoxeter
1.00 Dame De Compagnie 1.35 Who’s My Jockey 2.10 Kenyan 2.45 River Wylde 3.20 Cobolobo 3.55 Maid Of Milan
Wetherby
12.50 Alfie’s Choice 1.25 Work Du Breteau 2.00 Malaya 2.35 Samtegal 3.10 Aristo Du Plessis 3.45 Carlos Du Fruitier
