Weld admits Tarnawa’s success in the Breeders’ Cup Turf was tinged with sadness

Trainer Dermot Weld has admitted that his success with Tarnawa in the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Keeneland on Saturday evening was tinged with sadness as he thought of his late stable jockey Pat Smullen.

Smullen passed away this year after a long battle with cancer and it was Irish champion jockey Colin Keane who rode the Aga Khan-owned winner.

Weld said: ‘The only aspect of the great victory that was sad was thinking how much Pat would have enjoyed riding Tarnawa.

Tarnawa’s length win on Saturday was a first Breeders’ Cup victory for trainer Dermot Weld

‘They were basically made for each other because she’s a tough filly and a classic stayer with speed. She’s the sort of horse that Pat rode exceptionally well.’

Tarnawa’s length win from Aidan O’Brien-trained Magical was a first Breeders’ Cup victory for Weld.

Tarnawa is now favourite for next year’s Prix de L’Arc de Triomphe but Weld said no decision had been made about whether she would race on in 2021. Tarnawa’s win topped a magnificent night for the Europeans in Kentucky with success for James Fanshawe-trained Audarya in the Filly & Mare Turf, Kevin Ryan’s Glass Slippers becoming the first ever European winner of the Turf Sprint and O’Brien’s unconsidered 40-1 shot Order of Australia leading home a stable 1-2-3 in the Mile from Circus Maximus and Lope Y Fernandez.

It was the first time in Breeders’ Cup history that Europeans have won all four Turf races on day two. Wins for French champion jockey Pierre-Charles Boudot on Audarya and Order Of Australia throw weight behind the argument that he is riding better than anyone in the world.

But it was a painful night for Christophe Soumillon, who would have ridden both Order of Australia and Tarnawa but tested positive for Covid-19.