Horse Profile: Henri Matisse

Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Scouting Report

(Editor's note: Originally published in the 2024 BRISnet Breeders' Cup International Report)

As the sole runner for O’Brien, a six-time winner of this race including the past two years in a row, Henri Matisse is eminently logical. But his racing manners have left something to be desired, and the Del Mar venture looms as a teachable moment for the student still learning on the job. 

Henri Matisse is a Wootton Bassett colt out of multiple Group 1-winning miler Immortal Verse, which makes him a half-brother to two other top juveniles, Tenebrism and Statuette. Tenebrism went on to win the 2022 Prix Jean Prat (G1) at three, but Statuette didn’t race beyond the summer of her two-year-old season. This is the further family of 1986 Mile winner Last Tycoon. 

The adjective frequently used to describe Henri Matisse is “babyish.” He barely justified favoritism in his debut on Irish 2000 Guineas Day, the same maiden won a year ago by O’Brien’s eventual Juvenile Turf winner Unquestionable. Racing greenly before kicking on in a three-way finish, Henri Matisse somehow got the bob from Cadogan, who looked to be in front. 

Ryan Moore didn’t ride him back in the Railway (G2) over the same course and distance, and that was a big enough clue for the market to let him go at 8-1. It took every effort from jockey Wayne Lordan to galvanize Henri Matisse from the back of the field. He finally got the message to go and collar The Strikin Viking, with pacesetter Arizona Blaze (Juvenile Turf Sprint) fading to third. Lordan reported that he was leaning right late, in a foreshadowing of waywardness to come.

Almost two months later in the seven-furlong Futurity (G2), Henri Matisse got his act together a bit better. It wasn’t perfectly polished, as Henri Matisse still jinked late, and O’Brien again referred to him as a baby. But the odds-on favorite (with Moore back in the irons) blitzed his final quarter in :22.06 to beat Hotazhell by a length in a good time of 1:24.11. Hotazhell has since thrived on the stretch-out to a mile, winning both the Beresford (G2) and Futurity Trophy (G1). 

Henri Matisse was odds-on to follow up in the course-and-distance Vincent O’Brien National (G1), but any hope of a more professional display was dashed. He was all over the place when launching his rally, first drifting out then overcorrecting and lugging in to bother Seagulls Eleven. Scorthy Champ, minding his business away from the barging, took advantage to drive home three-quarters of a length ahead of Henri Matisse. He had been third to Henri Matisse in the Futurity. The National’s time of 1:25.08 was much slower than Lake Victoria (Juvenile Fillies Turf) in the companion Moyglare Stud (G1), adding to the muddling picture of the race.

In hopes of focusing his concentration, Henri Matisse added blinkers for the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere (G1) on Arc Day. The experiment was rendered inconclusive when he was checked on the inside early and squeezed back. O’Brien said that the colt was frightened in consequence. Henri Matisse tried to regroup but flattened out in fifth behind longshot stablemate Camille Pissarro. 

The blinkers will come off at Del Mar, where we’ll see if Henri Matisse has taken his racing lessons to heart. There’s never been a doubt about his talent; he just needs to grow up mentally.