Breeders' Cup International Horses: Turf contender Highland Reel

Defending Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1) champion Highland Reel has made such a name for himself in the United States that it’s almost superfluous to give him another international profile treatment. Yet enough has transpired since his front-running coup at Santa Anita last November to warrant it.

To give a brief overview of Highland Reel, the Aidan O’Brien trainee has been a high-class individual for four consecutive campaigns while bankrolling more than £6 million. The blueblood son of Galileo flashed serious promise at two, improved over the course of his three-year-old season, entered his prime at four, and padded his resume this year as a five-year-old. His combination of tactical speed, stamina, tough constitution, and bomb-proof temperament have made him just the right type to crisscross the globe, and he’s taken his show on the road not only to North America but Dubai, Hong Kong, and Australia (where he was third to Winx in her first Cox Plate [G1] in 2015).

For deeper background, see my scouting report ahead of his dazzling victory in the 2015 Secretariat (G1) at Arlington, and analysis of his 2016 campaign leading up to the Breeders’ Cup.

In last year’s Turf, Highland Reel lulled his foes into a false sense of security before delivering a sudden injection of pace to break the race open. Jockey Seamie Heffernan, who engineered his Secretariat romp in similar fashion, simply put on a masterclass in how to judge pace and deploy Highland Reel’s firepower to maximum effect. Flintshire, Found, Ulysses, and the rest never had a chance.

Not one to rest on his laurels, Highland Reel was off on his travels again to defend his title in the December 11 Hong Kong Vase (G1). But the pace dynamic was adverse this time, as he endured a mid-race challenge when the stayer Big Orange rushed up on the backstretch. Instead of letting Big Orange go and easing Highland Reel back, or at least keeping him in steady rhythm, jockey Ryan Moore instead appeared to cue him for more. The obliging Highland Reel regained the lead, but extra exertion at that point told on him late. Although initially pulling away in the stretch, he could not respond when Japan’s Satono Crown ran the race of his life to catch him. Highland Reel ran about as well as you can in defeat, and it’s worth wondering if a different split-second decision on the backstretch could have yielded a different result.