Ahead of the G1 Matron Stakes at Leopardstown on Saturday [Sept 9], jockey Wayne Lordan and trainer Joseph O’Brien talk about the four-time G1 winner who in 2019 beat America’s best in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf after scoring on Irish Champions Weekend
As part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge series, the Coolmore America ‘Justify’ Matron Stakes at Leopardstown on Saturday [Sept 9] is a ‘Win and You’re In’ qualifier for the $2m Maker’s Mark-sponsored Filly & Mare Turf at Santa Anita on November 4
Wayne Lordan sometimes tends to go under the radar as a big-race jockey – but the rider would not be a regular for the O’Brien family if he wasn’t clinically efficient when the opportunity arises, as his record on 2019 Breeders’ Cup winner Iridessa suggests.
Lordan first rode Iridessa when she won the Fillies’ Mile at Newmarket on her last start as a two-year-old, and he then won three more G1s on her from five outings at three – among them the Coolmore-sponsored Matron Stakes at Leopardstown on Irish Champions weekend, a ‘Win And You’re In’ race that guaranteed her place at Santa Anita in November that year.
Iridessa’s subsequent neck victory in the Maker’s Mark Filly & Mare Turf was a landmark success for both jockey and trainer Joseph O’Brien, who at 26 became the youngest trainer ever to win at the meeting. Eight years earlier, O’Brien had also been the youngest jockey to ride a Breeders’ Cup winner when partnering St Nicholas Abbey to success in the Turf for his father Aidan at Churchill Downs.
Typically modest
In typically modest fashion, Lordan plays down his part in Iridessa’s success. “I was just lucky to fall into a position where I got to ride one that good,” he says. “She just kept progressing after winning her maiden at Killarney, and I got my first opportunity on her when she won the Fillies’ Mile.
“She enjoyed racing, and that was a huge help,” the rider goes on. “She’d leave the gates very smartly and then travel in your hands. You could always get a nice position, and from about three out you could start going forward.
“She had a good turn of foot but when she got to the front she’d think she’d done enough and might roll left or right, but nothing bad. She was an easy ride, very straightforward,”
That was pretty much how it went in the Matron Stakes, where Iridessa once again beat her Fillies’ Mile victim, the dual 1000 Guineas winner Hermosa, by three-quarters of a length.
What is more, although American races are often run at a different tempo, it was a similar scenario at Santa Anita.
Taking up the story, Lordan says: “When you go to the Breeders’ Cup you are just delighted to get there, because it’s hard to get rides. I’d had no previous success, but I knew I was riding a filly who would run a big, big race for me.
Brilliant position
“We were drawn one and I was conscious that the American horses leave the gates quick, but so did Iridessa and I was able to get a brilliant position on the rail in third behind Mike Smith, who was setting a good pace on Mirth.”
The Filly & Mare Turf was a strong race that year, featuring prolific Graded-stakes winner from both US coasts in Vasilika and odds-on favourite Sistercharlie, who were to finish second and third.
“I always had a target, so I just let her travel in her own comfort zone until starting to go forward on her before we left the back straight,” adds Lordan “She had to battle a bit to win, but I knew I had the right horse for it. It all went very smoothly.
“It was great for myself and for Joseph, who was the youngest trainer ever to win at the meeting, and also for the owner [Chantal Regalado-Gonzalez].”
O’Brien has similarly fond memories of the filly – and he does not underplay Lordan’s part in her story. “Wayne gave Iridessa a fantastic ride in the Matron Stakes, producing her at just the right time,” he says. “The Irish Champions Festival weekend is as big as it gets for us over here in Ireland, so it was great to win a race like that there.
“It was another great ride at Santa Anita,” the trainer continues. “Iridessa had a lovely draw and Wayne found a great spot just behind the leaders, from where he was able to control the race.
“We were a little worried about the distance going into the race but again Wayne did a wonderful job and just produced her at the right time. She loved that firm ground there; most of her best runs were on a firm surface.”
Inceredibly special
He adds: “She was a special filly as a four-time Group 1 winner, and obviously her win at the Breeders’ Cup was incredibly special.”
There are few bigger fans of the Breeders’ Cup than the trainer they often called ‘Joey’ O’Brien in the States. “It’s one of the best meetings of the year and I’d been going with the family since I was a boy,” he says.
“I’d had a winner as a jockey on St Nicholas Abbey in the Turf, but it was incredible to go there and train a winner. Just to be there with a runner was special enough, let alone have a winner!”
What is more, Iridessa’s success was close to home for O’Brien, as the filly – out of a daughter of 2002 Breeders’ Cup winner Starine, was also bred by his family under their Whisperview Trading banner. “To do it with a homebred meant even more,” he says.
“Iridessa's dam Senta’s Dream is the daughter of another Filly & Mare Turf winner and she bred another winner at the Breeders’ Cup a year later when Order Of Australia won the Mile for dad. She’s since had a Beverly D winner, Santa Barbara, so she was a very special mare.”
… and after the Breeders’ Cup
Iridessa was due to stay in training as a four-year-old but in February 2020, barely three months after her Breeders’ Cup win, it was revealed that she had struck into herself in her box and damaged a tendon. It was clear that she would be out of action for a long time and so it was quickly decided to retire her.
Raced initially by Joseph’s mother Annemarie before being bought privately by Chantal Regalado-Gonzales, the four-time G1 winner was sold almost immediately to Japanese interests for breeding purposes.
• Visit the Breeders’ Cup website and the Breeders’ Cup Challenge web page
• Visit the Irish Champions Festival website and the Horse Racing Ireland website
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