LOUISVILLE, Ky., Nov. 5 (UPI) -- St. Nicholas Abbey won Saturday's $3 million Breeders' Cup Turf with 18-year-old jockey Joseph O'Brien riding for his father, trainer Aidan O'Brien.
O'Brien, the youngest jockey ever to win a Breeders' Cup race, kept the Irish-bred 4-year-old close to the lead throughout the 1 1/2-mile race. At the top of the stretch, he swung the Montjeu colt to the outside and quickly went by the leaders, winning off by 2 1/4 lengths.
Sea Moon, a British-bred colt, acted up before the race but finished second. Brilliant Speed, a 3-year-old Dynaformer colt, finished third, best of the U.S. starters. The favorite, French-trained Sarafina, finished fourth.
St. Nicholas Abbey finished the 1 1/2 miles on the firm Churchill Downs turf course in 2:28.85.
St. Nicholas Abbey, who raced only once last year, won the Group 1 Coronation Cup at Epsom in June. He then finished third in two tough events at Ascot and Longchamp in France before getting home a well-beaten fifth in his last outing, the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe -- Europe's most prestigious race.
Derrick Smith, representing the owning Coolmore team, said the win by St. Nicholas Abbey, even for his very successful outfit, is "way up there. We always had faith in the horse and he paid it back to us today."
He added Joseph O'Brien "has had a great time of it this year." O'Brien is expected to follow in his famous father's footsteps as a trainer once his normal growth takes him past the point he can make weight as a jockey.
The lad already is listed as 5-foot-11 and 122 pounds.
"I've been coming to the Breeders' Cup since I was very small," the jockey said. "Winning a race here is something that has been a dream," he added.
"I'll keep riding on the flat for as long as possible," he said, "and take it from there."
