Cheers To The Connections

[Wandering Eyes]

At the Breeders' Cup World Championship, fractions of a second and tiny strokes of luck define legacies.

Flipping through the past performances, it's easy to see only the numbers: the morning-line odds, post positions and speed figures that quantify each race. But for the people who know these athletes best—the grooms who understand their quirks and habits, the riders who have their stride memorized, the assistants who have thought through every nuance of their daily routine–these horses represent something else entirely.

“Horses are like your family,” said Tony Gutierrez, who has been breezing Classic contender Journalism (Curlin) since he was just a 2-year-old. “Every horse has a different attitude, a different sense of things.”

 

 

“With horses, you get to learn new things every day,” said Morgane Kervarrec, the exercise rider of Juvenile Fillies hopeful Bottle of Rouge (Vino Rosso) and Classic contender Nevada Beach (Omaha Beach). “The connection that you have with them is real. That's what I love about my job. You get up every morning without feeling like you're going to work.”

The TDN's Breeders' Cup Connections series shines a light on the people behind the athletes. It's about the horsemen and women who are at the track long before dawn every morning and are oftentimes still there well after the last race has concluded. But these stories reveal more than just the experiences of those being interviewed. In every conversation, the focus inevitably returns to the horses.

Each connection has a story to tell about their Breeders' Cup contender, and through their eyes, the horses shine.

Enrique Miranda started out learning from his father, a trainer in Northern California, before he went to work for John Sadler and later Cherie DeVaux as an exercise rider and assistant trainer. Last year, he rode Breeders' Cup Mile victor More Than Looks (More Than Ready). This year he is aboard She Feels Pretty (Karakontie {Jpn}), who figures to be the top American challenger against the Europeans in the Filly and Mare Turf.

A five-time Grade I winner, She Feels Pretty has built a social media following thanks to her friendship with her emotional support goat, Mickey. Miranda said that what fans see online is only a small fraction of this talent filly's personality.

“She's an effective communicator, I would say,” he explained with a knowing grin. “If she doesn't like something, she'll let you know. She's really sweet in the barn, but in her training you don't really have to do too much with her because she knows her jobs and she doesn't need your help.”

Getting to know each horse as an individual is one of Miranda's favorite aspects of his job.

“Some of them kind of grow on you over time, or in She Feels Pretty's case, you might like one right away,” he said. “They become your friends when you see them every day and building those connections with them has been something special.”

One of She Feels Pretty's top rivals in the Filly and Mare Turf will be Cinderella's Dream (GB) (Shamardal), a Godolphin homebred who was second in this race last year.

Jamie Linwood has served as the filly's groom and exercise rider at Appleby's base in Newmarket and for some of her travels abroad last year. Originally from North London, Linwood had never ridden a horse when he enrolled in the British Racing School at age 16. After graduating he worked for Sir Mark Prescott and then spent 10 years riding in Australia.

Jamie Linwood and El Cordobes this summer in Saratoga | Sara Gordon

After joining Charlie Appleby's team three years ago, Linwood started working with Cinderella's Dream when she was a yearling.  The filly quickly became one of his all-time favorites.

“She's very–should we say–spicy,” he said with a laugh. “Everyone loves her in the yard, but no one else wants to deal with her. I know her like the back of my hand. I know when she wants to be brushed or when she doesn't. She's quite a character.”

Linwood came back to America this year with El Cordobes (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), who won the GI Sword Dancer Stakes in Saratoga and is now with Linwood in Del Mar preparing for the Breeders' Cup Turf. While Cinderella's Dream keeps him on his toes, Linwood said El Cordobes makes his job easy.

“He's sweet natured and very easy to handle,” Linwood noted. “He does everything you want in a nice horse.”

Like Linwood, Katey Caddel did not grow up in the Thoroughbred world. A lifelong horse lover, she was drawn to the racing community while in college in Kentucky. After working for Juddmonte Farm and Hall of Fame trainers Shug McGaughey and Bill Mott, she joined Robbie Medina as his assistant when he launched his public stable in 2023.

This year, the team will send out its first Breeders' Cup contender. Praying (Vekoma) gave Medina his first Grade II win in the Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes and will represent the barn in the Filly and Mare Sprint.

“Our whole team is so excited,” said Caddel, who has been overseeing the filly's training this week at Del Mar. “It's every barn's dream to compete for a title in a Breeders' Cup race. It's what we work for. I have a wonderful team of people behind me and it just makes all the hard work, the early mornings and the traveling all worth it.”

Caddel said Praying has required patient handling to help her develop into the talented filly that she is today.

“She's kind of a naturally nervous, on-the-muscle filly who tends to want to do maybe a little more than we would like her to do,” said Caddel. “But she has really developed this summer and shown a new dynamic to her running style.”

Jose Hernandez shares a unique connection with Breeders' Cup Sprint contender Nakatomi (Firing Line). He was the first person to ride the future Grade I winner when he was just a yearling at Wesley Ward's farm. Hernandez thought Nakatomi showed promise from day one and he has been the gelding's regular rider in the five years since.

Nakatomi and Jose Hernandez preparing for this year's Breeders Cup | Sara Gordon

From Mexico, Hernandez has been breaking babies for several decades and has worked for Ward for the past 13 years. One of his all-time favorite horses is two-time Breeders' Cup champion Golden Pal (Uncle Mo), but Nakatomi claims the top spot.

This year marks Nakatomi's third consecutive trip to the Breeders' Cup, and Hernandez believes it may be his best shot yet.

“He's getting better and better,” said Hernandez. “He's really quiet when we go to the track, but then when he steps onto the track he's jumping around and ready to go. I feel good for him and I hope we can bring the victory to the barn.”

Also from Mexico, Tony Gutierrez grew up surrounded by horses. His father was killed in a riding accident when Gutierrez was just three years old, but his uncle, a trainer, introduced him to the sport. After riding his first race at age 14, Gutierrez moved to the U.S. a few years later and worked his way to becoming one of the most respected work riders at Santa Anita.

“From the beginning, I've loved horses,” Gutierrez said. “This is my passion. I've never done anything else. “I come in the morning and enjoy it. Usually I never take a day off because if I do, it feels like something is missing throughout my day.”

Gutierrez said there has always been something special about multiple Grade I winner Journalism, whom he breezes regularly for trainer Michael McCarthy.

“He wants to do what he wants. You just have to be the pilot. He's got this big body, but when you work him, you feel like he's not even touching the ground.”

Gutierrez is also an exercise rider in Phil d'Amato's barn. He has been riding Turf Sprint contender Motorious (GB) (Muhaarar {GB}) for the past four years.

“We have a connection together,” he said. “I know when he's happy. I know when he's down. I love the way he's training right now.”

Morgane Kerverrac has also been riding from a young age. Born in Brittany, France, she said her love for horses began before she could even talk. Despite her parents' efforts to steer her away from the sport, she eventually earned her jockey's license. Her career has taken her across Europe and Australia before she settled at Santa Anita, where she now rides for Bob Baffert.

Among her current mounts, GI Del Mar Debutante Stakes victress Bottle of Rouge holds a special place in her heart.

Morgane Kervarrec and Bottle of Rouge | Katie Petrunyak

“She has a big personality,” Kervarrec said. “When she first came, it wasn't easy to get along with her. You had to ask her what you want her to do. When you work with fillies, you don't make them do what you want. You ask them. Now, she's the easiest one to get on. She's figured out what we're asking of her.”

Another favorite is Breeders' Cup Classic-bound Nevada Beach (Omaha Beach).

“I remember the first time I got on him,” she recalled. “I told the foreman, 'I want to keep this one.' Something funny about him is that he's a lefty. When you saw him switch leads during the stretch [in the GI Goodwood Stakes], it's because he's a lefty. He's such a sweet boy. He's huge, but he's a gentle giant.

There's nothing more rewarding for Kervarrec than seeing her horses compete at the Breeders' Cup.

“You're proud because they're your babies,” she said. “You train them all year long for this. The Breeders' Cup is the target. It's our championship.”

But for everyone on the backside, including Kervarrec, it's not a horse's talent that defines how much they mean to the people who work with them every day.

“It doesn't matter if they're going to be a stakes horse or just win an allowance,” Kervarrec said. “I love them all the same. I think we have to remember that we do this job because we love horses first.”

It's that simple truth that binds everyone on the backstretch together. No matter their background, current role, or where their journey takes them in the future, these horsemen and women are united by their love for the horses they work with.

Cheers to the connections of this year's class of Breeders' Cup performers—the grooms, hot walkers, exercise riders and assistants whose dedication, patience, and expertise has turned potential into performance and whose devotion reminds us that behind every name and number in the program is a horse with a story and a team that has been there through every chapter.

Click here to view the Breeders' Cup Connections series collection.

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