Leparoux Ready for Breeders' Cup Action

Fresh off of collecting his 2,000^th career win on Wednesday at Churchill Downs, jockey Julien Leparoux will depart for California upon the conclusion of Thursday’s local racing action to compete in his ninth Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Santa Anita Park on Friday and Saturday.

 

“It’s the world championships,” said Leparoux, who has five Breeders’ Cup mounts over the two days. “Everyone in the world comes and it’s a fun event. I remember watching it as a kid and it’s something that is just really fun and cool to be a part of now.”

 

Leparoux has won five Breeders’ Cup races in his career: Nownownow (2007 Juvenile Turf), champion Forever Together (2008 Filly & Mare Turf), Furthest Land (2009 Dirt Mile), champion Informed Decision (2009 Filly & Mare Sprint) and champion She Be Wild (2009 Juvenile Fillies).

 

His three-peat at Santa Anita in 2009 won him the Bill Shoemaker Award as the top jockey at that year’s Breeders’ Cup.

 

“Obviously, 2009 was my best year,” Leparoux said. “That was a year where we went into it with a lot of good shots and everything sort of came together. We won three so that was definitely my best memory.”

 

Leparoux’s first Breeders’ Cup mount of 2014 will be in the first race of the Breeders’ Cup, Friday’s Juvenile Turf (GI) aboard Donegal Racing’s Danny Boy for trainer Dale Romans. Leparoux’s first mount on Danny Boy came Oct. 5 in the Bourbon (GIII) at Keeneland where he finished second, beaten a half-length.

 

“He ran very well at Keeneland,” Leparoux said. “That was the first time on him for me and he closed well. He was still a little green and tried to lay on horses a little bit but the great thing is that now I know him a little bit better. The tough part is the post; we drew the far outside so that’s something that can be very difficult to overcome but I expect him to run well anyway.”

 

In the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (GI), also on Friday, Leparoux will ride Three Chimneys Farm’s Lady Zuzu for Hall of Fame conditioner D. Wayne Lukas. This will be Leparoux’s first mount on the 2-year-old filly who is a daughter of Dynaformer.

 

“She was impressive at Keeneland and D. Wayne Lukas just keeps telling me how good she is and how great she’s been doing so I’m excited about her,” Leparoux said.

 

On Saturday, Leparoux will get the call in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (GI) on Ashbrook Farm’s Southern Honey, whom Leparoux has ridden in seven of her eight starts. The most impressive outing for the 3-year-old filly came in the May 26 Winning Colors (GIII) at Churchill Downs, where she faced and defeated older mares for the first time. Southern Honey followed that with a ninth-place effort in the Aug. 2 Test (GI) at Saratoga, and most recently finished third and second in her last two starts, both Grade II events.

 

“There were no real excuses for her in the Test,” Leparoux said. “She was making some noise early in the race, and I think that’s part of the reason why she didn’t run any good that day. But she was so big in the earlier part of this year; she beat older mares here at Churchill and she’s bounced back from that Test race with two solid efforts. If she can come back and duplicate what she was doing earlier in the year I think she can be a great filly. But I guess it ultimately depends on how she’s doing on Saturday.”

 

In Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (GI), Leparoux will ride Lael Stables’ Ageless, who was listed as an “also eligible” contender when the initial entries were released. She made the field of 14 after Free as a Bird was scratched from the race.

 

“We’re excited that she got in,” Leparoux said. “This is a filly that has run great all year. I think the worst she’s finished this year is third. So really she’s been doing all we’ve asked of her and she’s been doing great. The trainer (Arnaud Delacour) tells me she hasn’t missed a beat and I think she’s going to like this race going six-and-a-half furlongs.”

 

Ageless will have to break from the far outside in post position 14, which Leparoux does not mind.

 

“I think the outside is probably more preferable than the inside in her race because you are going right in the first part of the race (down Santa Anita’s hillside turf course) so it’s more like being on the inside when you draw the outside,” Leparoux said.

 

Finally, Leparoux will be on Shadwell Stable’s Sayaad for trainer Kiaran McLaughlin in Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Mile (GI). Leparoux’s only mount on Sayaad came in his last start where he finished third beaten 1 ¼ lengths in the Oct. 4 Turf Mile (GI) at Keeneland. He will break from post position 11 in the Mile with morning line odds of 30-1.

 

“All year, even before the Shadwell Mile, he’s been running decent races,” Leparoux said. “The only one I think he won this year was going seven eighths, but he’s been running good races against very good horses. I don’t think 30-1 is that big of a deal, I mean this is one of the toughest races in the whole Breeders’ Cup so we’ll see. I’ve only ridden him once but from that start and what I’ve seen it seems like he gives everything every race so we’ll see.”