LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Unbeaten favorite Hughes established himself as an early Kentucky Derby favorite by taking control through the far turn and pulling away for a 2 1/4-length victory over American History in the $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile on Friday at Keeneland.
Named for U.S. Olympic men's hockey hero Jack Hughes, whose overtime goal clinched the gold medal in last winter's Milan-Cortina Games, the bay colt trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert seized the moment on his biggest stage to date and didn't look back.
Tighter than three of his previous four victories, which came by at least six lengths, Hughes nonetheless set himself apart from an eight-horse field featuring three undefeated 2-year-olds. Jockey Flavien Prat guided the even-money favorite into contention right away before surging past challenger Coach Pope and widening the gap.
More tuneups lie ahead before the Derby next May at Churchill Downs, but Hughes has set a high bar.
“He’s just a really superior 2-year-old,” Baffert said of the son of Into Mischief and K P Dreamin by Union Rags.
“We brought him up slowly, and everything worked out. Today was his day to shine.”
Hughes covered 1 1/16 miles in 1:42.27 and paid $3.64, $2.58 and $2.10.
American History, trained by Todd Pletcher, was second by a head and returned $3.30 and $2.54. Salahudin, trained by Baffert, finished third and paid $2.72.
Hughes' performance unfolded under a picture-perfect late afternoon sky and headlined a slate of five million-dollar Grade 1 stakes races featuring the world's best 2-year-olds on the first day of the season-ending World Championships.
The status of Coach Pope jockey Jose Ortiz, who rode 23-1 long shot Golden Tempo to victory from last place in the Kentucky Derby, was questionable for a while after a fifth-race spill aboard McCoy that involved Brian Hernandez Jr. on Fusta. Both riders were eventually cleared and Ortiz told USA Network that he spent most of the afternoon on an exercise bike to recover in time for the Juvenile.
Other Juvenile races:
— $2 Million Juvenile Fillies: Unbeaten favorite Emphatic withstood Miss Monica's furious rally from the back and held on by 1 1/2 lengths to give trainer Brandan Walsh his first Breeders' Cup victory. Miss Monica once lagged next to last through the backstretch before finding space in traffic and darting outside to get close to Pennsylvania-bred Emphatic, who improved to 4-0.
— $1 Million Juvenile Fillies Turf: Irish-bred favorite Sun Goddess won her sixth consecutive start, rolling to a three-length victory over Green Empress with Curracloe third.
— $1 Million Juvenile Turf: Substitute jockey Ryan Moore guided 7-2 choice Haffner to a 1 3/4-length victory, overtaking Avec Toi at the 1/16th pole and holding off 5-2 favorite Folsom Blues for his third win in four starts. The win over one mile gave trainer Aiden O’Brien the Breeders’ Cup record for the moment over Baffert after they entered the day tied with 21 victories. It was the ninth race win and one of two Breeders' Cup victories Friday for O'Brien.
— $1 Million Turf Sprint: Irish bred filly Libertango overtook Ruiva in the final furlong and outdueled Hell of Spin and Harper’s Corner for a 1 1/4-length victory to lead off the five-race Breeders' Cup spate. The 5-2 favorite has won four of six starts with two seconds this season. Harper's Corner was later disqualified from third to eighth after an objection that elevated Mussab from fourth.
This story corrects a typo to clarify that the length of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile race was 1 1/16 miles.
