TARNAWA, WITH REPLACEMENT rider Colin Keane aboard, won the $4 million Breeders’ Cup Turf at Keeneland in Lexington, Kentucky.
The filly that won the Group One Prix Vermeille at Longchamp gave trainer Dermot Weld a first Breeders’ Cup victory in his 17th start, and gave the European contingent a fourth win of the weekend.
Keane got the ride in the one-and-a-half-mile race after Christophe Soumillon was ruled out after testing positive for Covid-19 after arriving in Kentucky.
Irish champion jockey Keane, acknowleging the “unfortunate circumstances” for Soumillon, piloted Tarnawa to victory over the Aidan O’Brien-trained Magical, with Channel Maker, trained by Bill Mott, third.
“She’s like a jet, she just sees the runway and off she goes,” said Mark Weld, whose father Dermot didn’t make the trip to Kentucky.
“We’re absolutely over the moon,” he said. “It doesn’t get any bigger than this. I’m sad that my dad’s not here, but this Covid situation is what it is.”
