Gargan, in his first Breeders' Cup, on what a win would mean

Danny Gargan, in his eighth year of training, has his first Breeders' Cup starter with Dakota Gold in Friday's Juvenile Turf at Del Mar.

He does have some familiarity with the event, though, having won the Chilukki (G2) with Divine Miss Grey on the Breeders' Cup undercard at Churchill Downs in 2018.

[2021 Breeders’ Cup draw: See post positions, jockeys, odds]

He and his colt arrived in California on Sunday, and Gargan told Horse Racing Nation that Dakota Gold has had no trouble with the trip or with getting used to the new surroundings.

"He's good. He's, he's kind of that kind of horse, though. You know, some horses are. He's kind of like a little boy. You can take them anywhere, they're just going to be happy to be there, just bouncing around. He's kind of a little feisty thing.

"We train him early," Gargan said. "And that's the way we've always done it because once other horses start training he wants to train. So he goes early, he'll go at six o'clock tomorrow. Pretty much the same time he trains back at Saratoga, so we're just trying to keep them on the same program."

Dakota Gold comes to Del Mar after breaking his maiden on debut at Saratoga on Sept. 2 and winning the black-type Nownownow Stakes at Monmouth Park on Sept. 26. "It's perfect timing."

The son of Freud out of Dakota Kid, by Lemon Drop Kid, drew post position 3 and has odds of 8-1 on the morning line, tying him as the fifth choice in the oversubscribed field. The favorite is Dubawi Legend, at 4-1, followed by Modern Games at 5-1. Both are shippers from Europe.

Luis Saez, who rote Dakota Kid for his maiden win and has worked him, has the mount.

Here is Gargan's strategy for the race: "The horse from the outside is going to have to go to the lead or be real forwardly placed. I'm planning on just trying to sit one or two off the rail and sit like third or fourth. The rail might be – I'd have to go check the turf course, but we don't want to get stuck down, deep down in there. But we've got a good post, we'll break, kind of stay in our lane and see where everybody else goes.

"We're not slow," he said. "The other day they went fast at Monmouth. He's got speed, so he can be pretty much anywhere he wants to be. So I just want to sit like third or fourth, stay down and then see how it unfolds from there. If he gets shuffled fourth or fifth, it's not life-changing. At Monmouth, he got shuffled. And then he just came around them pretty easily. But he's got a real real fast turn of foot. Even in his works on the grass – when you ask him, he takes off. And I think the mile's his best distance. So hopefully, just get a nice trip. I think he's going to run big down the lane."

Gargan said reaching the Juvenile Turf is "a big thing when you only have 10 babies. It's a big achievement just to have one to be here good enough to race."

It would be "unbelievable" to win a Breeders' Cup race, Gargan said, adding that Dakota Gold's owner, Dean Reeves of Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, has been supporting him for five or six years. Reeves also was a co-owner of Tax, one of Gargan's most successful horses.

To win Friday "would mean a lot because if you get a Breeders' Cup juvenile winner, it helps you get juveniles. The key in racing is trying to get the younger horses to have a chance to develop a horse like this. I'm transitioning my stable. We used to claim a lot, but now we're trying to buy more horses. I think next year I'll have my biggest crop of yearlings. We went out and hustled and bought some horses, so hopefully next year we're back here doing this again."

And about Dakota Gold's demeanor – you will recall that Gargan said he is like a little boy. His charm does not end there.

"He's a ham. If you pull your camera out, he's going to look at you. And if you stand five feet away from him, he's going to paw the ground until you pet him. He's cute. He's real charismatic, real fun, playful little guy. He likes attention. If he sees somebody with a feed tub, he wants his feed tub. He's one of those. He's a character that way, gets jealous if you're petting the other horse. Oh, you'll pay. If you pet the horse next door and don't pet him, he'll let you know about it."