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G1 2YO Pedigree Watch - Euro Raiders Dominate Breeders Cup Juvenile Day

Tara Madgwick - Saturday Oct 31

The Breeders’ Cup extravaganza of horse racing got off to a start at Keeneland on Friday with five individual Group I events for juveniles on dirt and turf with Euro raiders winning all three races run on turf and the freakish Sun Goddess comfirmed her status as the best 2YO in the world on turf.

The depth and quality of young horses from both sides of the Atlantic to warrant five G1 races for juveniles at the one meeting is dazzling, when you consider the comparatively tiny pool of juveniles competing in Australian G1 races.

G1 BC Juvenile Turf Sprint (5 ½ f )  for colts and fillies was won by Libertango and is the only one of these features where both sexes compete against each other.

Australian bred Extreme Choice filly Primetime Emmy ran in the race after a last start Group victory in France, but was not quite up to the task and after settling a long way back worked home for fifth behind the impressive winner Libertango.

Trained by George Boughey and ridden by Billy Loughnane, Libertango has never run worse than second in six starts this year winning four of them and came to the US off a last start second in the G1 Cheveley Park Stakes to Sun Goddess.

One of 87 SW’s for No Nay Never, Libertango was purchased by Rob Speers / Old Mill Stud for 400,000 guineas from the Tattersalls Craven Breeze Up Sale after making €130,000 at the Arqana Deauville August Yearling Sale.

The 13th G1 winner for her sire, Libertango is the first foal of Ein Gedi, a half-sister by Oasis Dream to Group winners Aktabantay and Reina Madre from SW Splashdown.

G1 BC Fillies Turf (1m) was won by the hot favourite Sun Goddess for Aidan O’Brien and Ryan Moore. She has had a busy year starting nine times for seven wins and the last of those are three G1 races in a row culminating with this three length defeat of the Josep O’Brien trained Green Empress.

Green Empress was beaten by Sun Goddess in the G1 Moyglare Stud Stakes then went to France and won a G1 there on Arc Day before again coming up short behind a filly that has taken all before her in the latter part of this year.

Sun Goddess runs for the Coolmore partners and was purchased at the Goffs Premier UK Yearling Sale for £120,000 by Avenue Bloodstock for MV Magnier.

She is the first winner from Etoile Bleu, an unraced half-sister by Starspangledbanner to South African Group II winner Gibraltar Blue and Group III winner Scream Blue Murder, the grand-dam of this year’s Group I winning 3YO Thesecretadversary.

The family has an interesting offshoot in Australia with Iiex Excelsa (IRE), a Group III placed half-sister to the dam of Sun Goddess now at stud here.

She produced four foals for Coolmore, none of which have raced yet and was sold through Inglis Digital in June this year for just $13,000 in foal to Storm Boy to Nathan Hebbard.

Storm Boy filly related to Sun Goddess.

Iies Excelsa has foaled this spring producing this filly by Storm Boy, so Mr Hebbard might have gotten a bargain with not only Sun Goddess, but also another Group I winner Thesecretadversary, also popping into the pedigree.

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Sun Goddess is the second Group I winner among 29 SW’s for Scat Daddy stallion Sioux Nation, who shuttled to Swettenham Stud in Victoria in 2019 for one season and interestingly his first Group I winner was produced from that one Aussie crop with Socks Nation winning the Group I BRC Queensland Oaks.

Sioux Nation stands at a fee of €37,500 at Coolmore Ireland and has his biggest ever foal crop out running this year as 2YOs and it has already produced 46 winners with Sun Goddess one of six SW’s.

The G1 BC Juvenile Colts Turf (1m) delivered another success for Aidan O’Brien and Ryan Moore with improving Justify colt Haffner too good for race favourite Folsom Blues, a G1 winner in Ireland prepared by Joseph O’Brien.

Haffner has four wins and two seconds from seven starts and was purchased for $375,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale from Taylor Made Sales by M.V. Magnier/White Birch Farm. He is the second winner from stakes-placed Zoffany mare Earth Strike.

A grand-daughter of Champion US 2YO Filly Storm Song, Earth Strike is a sibling to Group I winning stayer Order of St George, Group winners Asperity and Angel Terrace , plus stakes-winner Sehoy.

Haffner is the 13th G1 winner for Justify, who stands at Ashford Stud for Coolmore in Kentucky at a fee of  US$200,000.

His sire sons in Australia are priced more affordably with City of Troy at $49,500, while Storm Boy is $16,500.

The G1 BC Juvenile Colts Dirt (1m ½ f)  was won by undefeated Into Mischief colt Hughes, who is trained by the legendary Bob Baffert and ridden by Flavien Prat. He made it five from five win a dominant victory.

He became the third straight Breeders' Cup Juvenile Colts winner (Citizen Bull in 2024 and Ted Noffey in 2025) for the seven-time reigning champion general sire Into Mischief, who has just one son at stud in Australia and that is Woodside Park Stud’s Laurel River (USA).

The Dubai World Cup winner stands at a fee of $22,000.

The G1 BC Juvenile Filles Dirt (1m ½ f) was won by undefeated Nyquist filly Emphatic, who made it four wins from as many starts when saluting for Brendan Walsh with Tyler Gaffalione in the saddle.

Already a G1 winner of the Alcibiades Stakes, she was too good for the race favourite Miss Monica and is the third winner of this race for her Kentucky Derby winning sire Nyquist, who stands at Darley USA at a fee of $225,000.

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