Tracksideview.com staff report

ARCADIA, Calif., — Red Rock Canyon did his job in Breeders’ Cup Turf, but his stablemate Soldier of Fortune only was able to round out the superfecta in the $3 million race run on Saturday at Santa Anita Park.

Red Rock Canyon went out and set fractions of :24.28, :47.06 and 1:11.08 for six furlongs, which were supposed to set up closer Soldier of Fortune. It worked but the closer who came the best was Conduit from Ireland.

Conduit was a length and a half in front of Eagle Mountain with Dancing Forever third and Soldier of Fortune checking in fourth.

Quotes from jockeys and trainers:

Ryan Moore (jockey, Conduit, 1st) – “We were in a gallop early. I was a little further back than I wanted to be. Once he hits his stride, he gets in a real good rhythm and just keeps going. As soon as he chimed in, I knew I had them. It’s great to ride a true Group 1 winner.”

“I didn’t know if he could close enough ground coming down the stretch, but he has a great stride, and he showed it. I thought maybe earlier the leaders would be coming back to me.”

Sir Michael Stoute (trainer, Conduit, 1st) – “The jockey rode a masterful race and had him in the right position. When he asked him, the jockey got him into gear and I thought from a long way out that he was going to come and pick them up and he did. I was very confident running him on the course here because he’s raced well on firm turf before. I was not worried about the heat today because he’s a young horse and quite fit.”

Kevin Shea (jockey, Eagle Mountain, 2nd) – “Second time back, (and starting in the) Breeders’ Cup, what more can you ask for?  A mile and a half was just a little hard of a ride for him. If he had had another race in between, maybe he could have pulled it off.  We were in perfect position, sitting right behind the leaders, when we turned for home. I said, ‘They will have to come and catch me.’ Unfortunately, someone did catch me.”

Michael de Kock (trainer, Eagle Mountain, 2nd) – “I thought it was a great race; a great effort. It was only his second run in a year and the first time for the jockey on this race track. It was a super run.”

Rene Douglas (jockey, Dancing Forever, 3rd) – “This was such a tough race. We finished third to two of the best turf horses in the world. I had a great trip and the horse gave me 100 percent. I was just behind the first pack (of horses). Johnny (Velazquez on Spring House) was outside of me the whole way. The horse on the rail (Red Rock Canyon) was backing up quick, so we had to move. He took me where I needed to go to the stretch, and I rode real hard from there.”

Shug McGaughey III (trainer, Dancing Forever, 3rd) – “He ran well. If we had been able to get a decent race into him this summer he may have won. It looked to me that we had to go a little wide. He made his move and then he flattened out.”

John Murtagh (jockey, Soldier of Fortune, 4th) – “No excuse.”

Aidan O’Brien (trainer, Soldier of Fortune, 4th) – “I thought he ran a great race. It came three weeks after the Arc. We often thought that with this horse that he needs a little bit of space between his races. But we had to come here after the Arc. He ran well.”

Garrett Gomez (jockey, Out of Control, 5th) – “We were sitting with the pacesetters and I thought they were going a little quicker than they needed to, so I thought I’d take back some.  But then I decided not to when I saw who was up there.  He fought (ran) for a whole mile and a quarter, but when I asked him for more, he was done.”

Frankie Dettori (jockey, Red Rocks, 10th) – “He got around poorly, and wasn’t moving right, and I didn’t push him.”

Mark Hennig (trainer, Red Rocks, 10th) – “It was a pretty fast pace, and he was going to have to run hard the entire way. We lost time with him, and trying (to win this race) on works was just too much in light of the pace scenario. Frankie said he just came up empty. We’re planning on going to the Japan Cup with him.”

Alan Garcia (jockey, Grand Couturier, 11th) – “No comments.  No comments.”