Mongolian Saturday wins Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint

Mongolian Saturday won the Turf Sprint at Keeneland in Kentucky on Saturday to give his Mongolian connections a Breeders' Cup first.

The five-year-old gelding, a son of Any Given Saturday, was lying second in the $1 million race over 5 1/2 furlongs on the turf course at Keeneland but moved clear just after the turn under US-based French jockey Florent Geroux and held off a late charge by Lady Shipman and Green Mask.

Undrafted, the 7-2 favorite ridden by Frankie Dettori, finished fifth.

It was colorful scene in the winner's circle, with Mongolian Saturday's connections clad in the traditional garb of their native country, a landlocked nation between Russia and China rich in gold, copper, coal and other resources that last month celebrated the 800th birthday of epic conqueror Kublai Khan -- 13th-century ruler of the largest contiguous land empire in history.

"I was expecting the horse to run well," said trainer Enebish Ganbat, a one-time trainer of racing ponies in his homeland who now trains thoroughbreds in the United States for his friend Ganbaatar Dagvadorj who races as Mongolian Stable.

"I thought he could come first or second. Here, he's been doing very, very well. We came here to win a Breeders' Cup and we did."

It was Geroux's second victory of the 2015 Breeders' Cup, after his triumph aboard Catch a Glimpse in the Juvenile Fillies Turf on Friday.

Source: AFP