BREEDERS' CUP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

November 1, 2024

Ryan Moore

Michael Tabor

Aidan P. O'Brien

Del Mar Fairgrounds

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: We'll go ahead with Ryan here now as, big victory, Lake Victoria remains undefeated with a win in the John Deere Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf.

Ryan, there was a little trouble, it looked like, heading into that first turn. But when you're on a horse like her, it seems like you can get out of trouble.

RYAN MOORE: Yeah, look, she had very strong form coming into this race and really all she needed was normal racing luck and a clear shot at it. And we just about managed that and she proved to be much the best.

Q. This filly obviously sounds like she'll be a champion over in Europe. But today's race, how confident were you with her in a large field like this and negotiating the two turns and a different surface? How special is she to be able to do that?

RYAN MOORE: I didn't really have any concerns about handling the turns, over the distance, over the track. She's very unusual. She won a seven-furlong. She won seven the first day. Seven the next day. She won a Group 1 over seven at the Curragh, which is a stiff track, and then she dropped back and won at six in the GB park.

And for me there was no doubt that she would be suited to the mile here. And as I said, it was just a matter of getting a clear run, and we got that and she was too good.

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Michael Tabor, one of the co-owners here of Lake Victoria.

Ryan was just taking us through the race. It looked like there was a little bit of a moment heading into that first turn of some pressure. How were you handling her running through this race?

MICHAEL TABOR: Well, the first thing, when something happened, I couldn't quite see, but he seemed to lose his position. I wasn't very happy. But he made the ground up eventually and shows you the class of the horse and the class of the jockey, and they put it together and a good result.

Q. This filly is so special now. Three Group 1 wins. And daughter of Frankel. To come over here and beat the best of the like on this Breeders' Cup day, you've had so many champions, so many good horses, Europe and here. What does a horse like her, how does she fit in with all of those greats?

MICHAEL TABOR: It's very difficult to say how does she fit in. I think Ryan would be a better person to ask that question than me.

But I suppose you'd have to think she ranks very highly with some of our best fillies. Only time will tell if she's really the real deal, I suppose. But Ryan might say, hey, listen, she's the real deal. I don't know.

Q. Wearing those silks, so much success, where does she fit in so many of the good ones at this level now?

RYAN MOORE: You couldn't compare her with all the other horses. As far as the two-year-old fillies go, to do what she's done is very unique. I don't think there would have been one that's done that before.

As far as that goes, at the moment, she's the first one to do that. What she does in the future, we'll have to see. But at the moment she's a little bit different than normal.

Q. The first turn, when Manny Frankel came over, walk us through, as you approached the first turn, how she dropped back a little bit, tell us from what you experienced on that portion of the race?

RYAN MOORE: She got pushed from the outside, she got pushed into the fence and that was that. We had to come back.

Q. How long did it take her to get back in stride, or did you miss much?

RYAN MOORE: Look, when that happens it's significant interference and it puts you at a disadvantage. But they'd gone very quick. As soon as they got halfway down the back straight, most of the horses were done.

And to be fair to Manny, he did, after he put the pressure on and he did relieve it and gave me a chance to get my slot back. I think he was probably getting pressure from his outside. I haven't seen the replay.

Q. Running six, seven, now in a mile, what do you think seemed better for her for the distance?

RYAN MOORE: I suppose, as going forward, she's going to be thinking along Guineas lines, more a miler than a sprinter. I'd say she's probably a guineas filly.

Q. Out of the gate, were you thinking about taking the lead if nobody wanted it, or were you just making sure she got a good jump out of there? It looked like you might have been going for the lead.

RYAN MOORE: She jumped very well. But seemed like there was quite a lot that wanted to lead. I just wanted to try to get a bit of space to get her comfortable, but there wasn't much space.

Q. Aidan, this filly, you brought over so many horses to the Breeders' Cup, so much success. What do you look for? Obviously she's a superstar, but horses that you think will translate their form over here?

AIDAN P. O'BRIEN: I suppose the last day she ran, (indiscernible) rode her, and he won a Group 1 over six on her, which a filly coming back from seven to six, and then Ryan came in, and he jumped down, and he said to Michael and Derrick and John to go back for the fillies mile with her. So that was a mile. So that was a very unusual thing for Ryan to say.

So obviously everyone was delighted. And then the lads decided rather than going back two weeks to the fillies mile to give her a little bit more time, come here, and it will be a flat track, and she'd learn a lot and the lads would learn a lot about her.

I think obviously Ryan was very confident and he had no worry about the mile with her. But like what Ryan said, I'd be asking Ryan the same questions you asked him. I think what he said, he thinks she's going to be a miler that could get a mile and a quarter.

That would be would be what we'll be asking. And then Ryan will say that to Michael and John and Derrick, and they'll decide what we'll do. And I was going to ask Michael now, but I'd imagine we'd probably train her for the guineas. Is that what you would be thinking, Michael?

MICHAEL TABOR: Yes.

Q. That was going to be our next question. Where does she go next? What do you look for next year for a filly like this?

MICHAEL TABOR: She goes to the Thousand Guineas. What else would she go for? And then we take it from there. Hopefully she'll run a big race in that, and hopefully we've got a real contender next year for all the big filly races.

Q. You made this year a new record as group winners with a two-year-old. Did you expect to have this success, first question? And the second, this filly is even better than the colts?

AIDAN P. O'BRIEN: We have some very good colts. The last three weeks we ran back two Wootton Bassett colts the week after they won maidens, and one of them got beat in a Group 1 in (indiscernible) and one in France, and then the other Wootton Bassett won a Group 1 in France that day. Looks like there's a lot of very smart horses there.

Usually what we do is we let them thrive over the winter and then into the spring, and obviously we'd be in contact with the lads the whole time, and then we'd say what we be thinking would happen, and the lads would talk to Ryan, and we usually draw a plan up. And most of them, if they're Class A, they will start in a Guineas Trial and go on for some of the guineas and divide them up as you think. Is that usually what happens, Michael and Ryan? So if that makes sense.