A daring rail move by Oisin Murphy and a brilliant turn of foot from Balantina secured a famous success for Donnacha O’Brien in the John Deere Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Del Mar.
With Aidan O’Brien’s Precise an absentee, the race had a much more open look and it was Balantina who produced a career best, in a performance matched by the man in the saddle, whose call to switch to the inside close home in the mile feature proved inspired.
Chasing her hard at the line was Andrew Balding’s Pacific Mission, running a huge race for Colin Keane to get as close as she did after missing the break.
Cy Fair foiled a strong European challenge that included Aidan O’Brien’s Cheveley Park Stakes winner True Love to land the Juvenile Turf Sprint for trainer George Weaver at Del Mar.
As expected, the Wesley Ward-trained Schwarzenegger blasted out of the gates and was the one to catch, while in contrast favourite True Love was always up against it from an early stage, having to race five deep.
Backers of Schwarzenegger might have known their fate straightening for home and it was not long before Cy Fair and Irad Ortiz Jr shot past. True Love’s stablemate Brussels (Christophe Soumillon) made strong late gains to take second, with the James Owen-trained Aspect Island an excellent third in the hands of Frankie Dettori.