Female jockey Sutherland out to make Breeders Cup Classic history
Published:A lot of the talk heading into this year’s Breeders Cup has been about the female horses stealing the show, but there is also the chance that a female jockey could generate the biggest story by Sunday evening.
Goldikova goes in search of a fourth successive victory in the Breeders Cup Mile and is 2/1 to do so, while Havre De Grace is 4/1 to follow in the hoofsteps of the great Zenyatta by becoming the second female horse to triumph in the Breeders Cup Classic.
However, Havre De Grace will not be the only female entering the stalls for America’s richest race, as Chantal Sutherland hopes to make history.
Sutherland has secured the ride on Game On Dude, a horse she has partnered four times in the past with generally impressive results.
The latest of these races was just a month ago when the duo virtually made all in a Group One contest at Santa Anita.
Similar tactics are likely to be employed in the Breeders Cup Classic and the onus will certainly be on the remainder of the field to have enough speed in the closing stages to reel Game On Dude in.
Trainer Bob Baffert said: “Chantal’s never ridden at Churchill Downs, but I’m telling her there’s no thinking involved here. ‘Go to the lead’. She’s excited, and she’s capable of putting a good ride on the horse.
“We’re going to send Game On Dude away, make him run, and he likes it when a horse goes with him. He’s done it twice successfully lately, Chantal should get a lot of ride from him.”
Sutherland and Game On Dude have already made history once before when the jockey became the first woman to ride the winner of the Santa Anita Handicap, which is the most famous race in California.
It is 12/1 in the Breeders Cup odds that they do so again in the Classic and if Game On Dude is allowed to press on at his own pace in front, he could be tough to catch.
