The key facts

  • O'Brien brought his Breeders' Cup win tally to 23, but Baffert immediately leveled the score — 23:23
  • Baffert's Hughes won the $2 million Juvenile and became the early Kentucky Derby favorite
  • On Saturday the $7 million Classic will take place, where Forever Young could repeat last year's success

Two swings back and forth in the trainers' battle

The opening day of the Breeders' Cup at Keeneland in Lexington, Kentucky, was marked by a duel between two trainers: Ireland's Aidan O'Brien and America's Bob Baffert arrived at the track with identical records — 21 wins each at the meeting all-time. By Friday evening the score had changed twice, AFP reports.

O'Brien's wins and Baffert's instant reply

First, Sun Goddess, under Ryan Moore, comfortably won the $1 million Juvenile Fillies Turf by three lengths — the filly's sixth consecutive victory and her first over a mile in her career. Then longshot Hafner, also with Moore in the saddle, gave O'Brien a fifth straight win and ninth overall in the Juvenile Turf, overtaking favorite Avec Toi in the final furlong. That brought the trainer's tally to 23 wins — one more than Baffert.

Baffert's answer was not long in coming

However, O'Brien's lead lasted only until the next race: favorite Baffert's Hughes, under Flavien Prat, won the $2 million Juvenile by 2 1/4 lengths, capping an unbeaten two-year-old season, and was named the early favorite for next year's Kentucky Derby. «He had never been tested in battle, and you never know how they will react,» Baffert said. «At the quarter pole I thought: now we'll find out what he's made of.»

The rest of the day's results

The «Future Stars Friday» program of five races for two-year-olds opened with Libertango's win in the Juvenile Turf Sprint. Twenty-year-old Billy Loughnane — this month he became Britain's youngest champion jockey in more than a century — kept his seat at the last moment: he had been set to be replaced by Prat, but Loughnane made the weight. Trainer George Boughey earned his first Breeders' Cup win. Irish trainer Brendan Walsh also claimed a debut victory at the meeting on his 14th attempt: favorite Emphatic dominated the $2 million Juvenile Fillies.

What's next

On Saturday, the remaining nine races of the 14 total worth $34 million in prize money will be held, culminating in the $7 million Classic. In it, Forever Young will attempt to join Tiznow as the only horse to win the Classic twice: last year he gave Japan its first victory in this race at Del Mar.