Draw proves too much for Arizona in Juvenile Turf

Horse Racing

Structor shines as O’Brien runner makes late ground.

Structor produced a power-packed finish to land the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf at Santa Anita, as a wide draw ultimately proved too much for Aidan O’Brien’s Arizona.

Bringing strong European form to the one-mile contest, having last been seen finishing two lengths behind Pinatubo in the Dewhurst, Arizona missed the break and was soon at the back of the field under Ryan Moore.

Although he finished to real effect, his chance had gone.

O’Brien said: “He was a little bit slow (from the stalls) and Ryan had to accept it, but he came home very well in the straight.

“A (good) draw is a big help here, none of mine today got lucky with that, although Fleeting and Anthony Van Dyck are drawn well (on Saturday).

“Arizona is definitely a Guineas horse for next year and he finished his race well.

Half the trouble is that we teach our horses to settle and relax, but we are playing away here and they do just the opposite.

“But we’ll take it as it comes.

”

The Chad Brown-trained winner remains unbeaten – and did very well to pick up and win from a worse than mid-pack position on the rail rounding the final bend.

His trainer said: “I could see he (Jose Ortiz) had so much horse turning for home, I was just hoping he would get through and he did.”

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