Santa Barbara suffers Breeders’ Cup setback

Aidan O’Brien’s star filly Santa Barbara suffers setback ahead of Breeders’ Cup aim. The 3-year-old had raced 5 times this season with the last two of her races in the US in preparation for the prestigious meeting which takes places on the 5th & 6th of November in Del Mar, California. The Camelot filly out of Senta’s Dream and half-sister to Order Of Australia was set to take the Breeders’ Cup by storm following two impressive performances across the pond.

Santa Barbara made her US debut 10th of July in the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks Invitational Stakes for 3-year-old fillies beating Con Lima by half-a-length, Her second US appearance came on the 14th of August at Arlington Park in another Grade 1, the Beverly D. Stakes. On this occasion, Santa Barbara beat her closest rival Mean Mary by 3 lengths in an impressive performance, once again paring up with jockey Ryan Moore who has ridden her on each of her 3-year-old appearances.

Senta’s Dream, a UK-bred mare, and Starine’s first foal, never ran on a racecourse, but has already provided two individual Breeders’ Cup winners, and had a chance of making history by becoming the first broodmare to produce three individual winners at the meeting.

Santa Barbara was favourite with UK bookmakers to win the Filly & Mare Turf at the meeting this year. Iridressa provided Senta’s Dream with her first Breeders’ Cup winner in 2019 by winning the Filly & Mare Turf race, emulating the broodmare’s dam Starine’s win in the same race in 2002. A year later, the aforementioned Order Of Australia provided a huge shock as he won the Mile at huge odds of 40/1 beating stable companions Circus Maximus and Lope Y Fernandez, giving trainer O’Brien a 1-2-3 in the race.

The filly was an early favourite for this year’s 1000 Guineas, after only one run as a 2-year-old, at Curragh on the 26th of September, 2020, in the Irish EBF Median Sires Series Maiden. 18 horses went to post and Santa Barbara won comfortably in the hands of Seamie Heffernan.

However, the 1000 Guineas didn’t quite go to plan for Santa Barbara and her backers, as she finished fourth, beaten a length-and-a-quarter by stablemate Mother Earth. The Oaks followed on the 4th of June, the going good-to-soft on this occasion at Epsom, a tricky track for any horse to face. Snowfall provided the shock this time, another O’Brien filly who seems to have emerged as a superstar during her 3-year-old campaign and a shining light this season for Ballydoyle. 22-lengths behind Snowfall, the Epsom Oaks was another race to forget for Santa Barbara and jockey Moore, although the filly surely learnt a lot from her two outings in the fillies’ British classics.

Next-up was a tough contest against Joseph O’Brien’s Thundering Nights at the Curragh on June 27th in the Group 1 Pretty Polly Stakes, Santa Barbara this time finishing within a neck of the winner to claim second.

Following the news of Santa Barbara’s setback, Aidan O’Brien has announced that Mother Earth has been rerouted, and will go to the Breeders’ Cup instead. Mother Earth, the 1000 Guineas winner, was extremely unlucky in running in the Matron Stakes last time out on Irish Champions Weekend at Leopardstown and arguably could have won if given a clear run in the strait. Finishing third would surely have been disappointing for connections.

She was set to travel to Australia to take on rivals in the A$7.5 million Golden Eagle next month, but is now likely to take her chance in the Breeders’ Cup instead. The Zoffany filly could possibly go to Newmarket for the Sun Chariot at the beginning of October before heading to the US.

It’s a shame we won’t see Santa Barbara live up to her potential this season, but we can hope she will recover well from her setback and that she’ll be back on a racecourse soon.

KM