Cindy's Horse Racing Website Index
Latest Articles

 Derby Future Pool 5
 Tampa Bay Derby
 Santa Anita Hcp Day
 Gotham Stakes Day
 Kentucky Derby Contenders

Tarnawa caps incredible season with Breeders' Cup victory

Date: 11/17/2020

The Breeders' Cup recently took place across November 6th and 7th at Keeneland Race Course and provided another stunning spectacle for racing fans world-wide. It resulted in a dominating couple of days for the US horses, which has been a similar trend over recent years. Despite this, there were still some European horses than did travel over and pick up a victory and the clear example of this is the Irish trained, Tarnawa. The different sites that offered odds on the markets for the Breeders' Cup, had the horse going in as the general second favourite behind another Irish trained horse in the Aiden O'Brien trained Magical. This proved that the European horses were expected to dominate the Breeders' Cup Turf, which is also something that has been seen in recent years, with them winning four of the last five editions going into 2020. The only victory for the US team coming in 2019, with the impressive victory for the Chad Brown trained Bricks and Mortar.

The four-year-old Tarnawa is trained by Dermot Weld and was looking to win a first Breeders' Cup race for her record-breaking trainer. There is no doubt that they went in with high expectations, as she has remained in stunning form all year and continued to deliver on the day for her connections. This has seen her produce a remarkable season, following a 294-day break, since running poorly in the British Champions Fillies and Mares Stakes back in October of 2019.

Tarnawa returned in a Group 3 race in Cork, Ireland. She was sent off as a relative outsider but produced an impressive performance to quicken well from the back and assert well to win comfortably by just under two lengths from short priced favourite, Cayenne Pepper. That was an eye-catching performance and it instantly put her down as a horse to follow for the rest of the campaign. Next up for the horse, saw her contest a Group 1 in France, known as the Qatar Prix Vermeille. Starting off as the second favourite, she was expected to run a solid race and again produced it on the day. Tarnawa was again held near the back of the field but made solid headway from two furlongs out and was then pushed to take up the running from a furlong out and kept on strongly to win readily by three lengths from the favourite. This was yet another example of a much-improved horse, with connections now getting excited about the horse's future.

Bigger tests then followed for the horse, as she then contested the Group 1 Prix de l'Opera on Arc weekend. Starting amongst the favourites, punters had been looking on the different sites offering bonuses to be picked up heading into the event. Tarnawa was again expected to run a big race based on her price, which proved to be the case. Held up towards the rear, she travelled ominously well, before making headway from around three furlongs out. This then saw her ridden from two out, before then taking up the running from 50 yards out. It was another impressive success and set her up well for a tilt at the Breeders' Cup.

Tarnawa then went into the Breeders' Cup Turf, not only looking to win a third Group one in succession but expected to beat the US horses in opposition. As is customary, she was held up in the rear, before starting to make headway moving into the final three furlongs. She was then driven and began to stay on very strongly from just over a furlong out. Tarnawa then continued to stay on, before leading the field from 150 yards out and winning readily by one length from favourite, Magical. It also meant she picked up the $4 million in prize money for connections. This proved to be all about the European horses and there is no doubt she was the most impressive of the horses travelling over. Tarnawa is clearly a very special horse and one to follow moving forward, as she has also now been put in amongst the favourites for the 2021 edition of the Arc.

Back to Horse-Races.Net main page

Search Horse-Races.Net:


©1994-2024,  Cindy Pierson Dulay   Privacy Policy   About Us   Search   Site Map   Add a Link   Advertisee   Suggest to a friend   RSS Feed   Follow on Twitter