Marathon hero London Bridge gives NY breeding program first Breeders’ Cup victory

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©Benoit Photo

by Sarah Mace

British invader London Bridge (Arch), bred by Patricia S. Purdy and owned by Waratah Thoroughbreds, gave the New York breeding program a long overdue first Breeders’ Cup winner when he kicked off the two-day, fourteen-race program with a victory in the Grade 2, $500,000 Marathon.

Coming into this year’s Breeders’ Cup, New York-breds had made fifty starts in Breeders’ Cup races, resulting in three second-place finishes and five thirds, but a victory had been elusive. It looked, however, as if it would only be a matter of time, as New York-bred participation in the Breeders’ Cup has grown markedly in recent years. The decade from 1993-2002 saw only ten New York-bred starters. In the decade from 2003-2012 there were 29 starters and nineteen of these were in the last five years (2008-2012).

Withdrawn from the Tattersalls horses-in-training auction in Newmarket earlier this week, London Bridge was the first New York-bred to contest the Marathon (not added to the Breeders’ Cup program until 2008). In fact, his Marathon start was a veritable litany of firsts. It was his first start in North America, his first start on a conventional dirt track and his first start on Lasix; his trainer Joanna Hughes was looking to become the first European female trainer to win a race at the Breeders’ Cup.

The only 3-year-old in a field of seasoned veterans, London Bridge was taking a huge step up in class to face graded rivals, but in his favor he was the only horse in the field actually to be turning back in distance to go the 1 3/4-mile Marathon. He also had Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith in his corner, who had previously won a record seventeen Breeders’ Cup races. Still, Smith was unhappy about the way London Bridge had trained on dirt coming into the race, and for the start the colt got different shoes and added cheek pieces.

Sent off at odds of 9-1, London Bridge sat seven or eight lengths off the pace as Commander led the way for the first mile with Ever Rider (who dropped out after three-quarters) and Suns Out Guns Out in pursuit.

Once Commander faded, leaving Blueskiesnrainbows, Suns Out Guns Out, and Worldly to battle it out on the front end, Smith started to get into London Bridge, who still trailed by seven lengths in fifth. Smith continued to urge his colt vigorously as the pair made his way around the far turn for the final time and angled out four wide for the stretch run.

London Bridge made some headway as he moved down the center of the track in upper- and midstretch, but made up all the rest of the ground in the final sixteenth, overhauling three remaining rivals and cruising home to victory by a length in 2:58.32. Blueskiesnrainbows finished second, Worldly finished third and Suns Out Guns Out was fourth.

Smith said, “He just had to work really hard. He was never really sure of the dirt. The change in his shoes made a big difference, but even with that he was never really confident. I had to keep riding him at times, taking a hold of him, riding him, trying get him confident, but keep moving all at the same time. I felt if I kept chasing them, he’d lose confidence. So I did a little of both and he outlasted them, because really, if it was on grass, it would have been a much better victory.”

Mikael Magnusson, assistant to Joanna Hughes, who had overseen London Bridge’s regimen in Santa Anita said, “This is absolutely fantastic.  It’s been our plan all along.”

After beginning his career with two off-the-board efforts on Polytrack, London Bridge raced six times on turf, capturing attention when, in a 14-day span from June 6 to June 20, he won three consecutive stakes handicaps at distances of 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 miles. Next out at Royal Ascot on July 13, he was third by just a neck in a listed stakes race going 1 1/2 miles on turf and, in his most recent start on August 15, London Bridge finished fourth after setting the pace in Deauville’s 1 7/8-mile Prix Michael Houyvet. With four wins and a third in nine starts, London Bridge has earned $307,969. Magnusson said that the colt, who was purchased by Paul Fudge’s Waratah Thoroughbreds from Eastwind Racing Ltd and Martha Trussell after the Deauville start, will now go and race in Australia.

London Bridge’s dam is the winning British-bred mare Kindness (Indian Ridge), who is a half-sister to four-time Grade 1 winner Magical Fantasy (Diesis), an earner of over $1 million in the US and North America, and stakes-winner Forward Move (Dr. Fong). The colt sold in 2011 at the Keeneland September yearling sale to Cecil Seaman (agent) for $130,000.

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2013/11/01/london-bridge-marathon/

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