BREEDERS' CUP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

November 4, 2023

Florent Geroux

Brad Cox

Garrett O'Rourke

Santa Anita Park

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: We have the winning connections here of the Breeders' Cup Distaff, trainer Brad Cox of Idiomatic and jockey Florent Geroux.

I will start with you, Florent. Very key move down the stretch, first time heading into the turn, to get her outside. Was that by design?

FLORENT GEROUX: Not really. It just depends on how the race unfolds. She looked super sharp. Take a look on my right, and it was only Jose. Looked like he was really willing to go forward. I didn't want to snap too much on the brake, but I didn't want to get caught in a duel and fade it.

So I just decided to take a hold and put my filly in the second position and just track him down.

THE MODERATOR: You two going down the back side, it seemed, they were picking up the pace pretty good. Did you always feel kind of coming out of the turn that you had the filly on the inside?

FLORENT GEROUX: Yeah, definitely. I was feeling great. I thought I was traveling better than him, but I give my filly a little bit of a breather at the 3/8 pole, and good thing I did because I needed every little bit of it the last 1/8 of a mile.

THE MODERATOR: She's been quite incredible this year, Brad. You've won this race twice before with Monomoy Girl --

BRAD COX: And Florent.

THE MODERATOR: Again, Idiomatic for Juddmonte, she has been everywhere in between. Just kind of tell us a little bit about her and bringing her along the way you did, going to Turfway and the various other races.

BRAD COX: She came to us late in her 2-year-old season. She showed a good bit of talent early on with Florent, I think bridged her one of her first few works there at Churchill in the fall of her 2-year-old season. He came back and said immediately this is a very, very nice filly.

Took us a while to get her to the races. Once she did, she made two starts. Showed the ability to run well on synthetic and dirt. We were forced to give her time with the setback. We gave her all the time she needed.

I honestly wasn't sure she was even going to come back, but the injury resolved itself. Garrett -- listen, world-class farm, world-class organization in Juddmonte. They always make the right decision. We gave her another chance.

She came back, thought we'd keep her close to home. Kept her at Turfway, rehabbed her. Got her back going on the synthetic track and always had confidence she would run on the dirt. We transferred her over there in the spring, and she's never looked back.

Q. Florent, could you take us through the very end where it looked like you got -- she just really, really dug in at the end, and just talking about the competition. Brad, also, on that as well as you're watching.

FLORENT GEROUX: Yeah, you're right about that. When I needed her the most, the last 1/8 of a mile when I really went after her and give her the indication of going forward, she just put her head down and start digging for me really hard. She was all heart in that victory.

Her prior victories have been very easy for her, but this one she had to earn it. She showed how great she was, and she deserved to be the champion just because of how much fight she showed today and how much heart.

Sometimes that's what makes the difference between good horses and great horses, and I think she's one of the greats for sure.

BRAD COX: This was our fourth Breeders' Cup race this weekend, so I thought I'd try something different and watch the race outside in a box, which I never do. They're late. It was a cavalry charge. They were all coming to her, and I was hoping they would just propel her forward.

It goes right back to what Florent said, I think the last 1/16 of a mile, she showed the heart of a champion. That's what she is. Very proud of her. She dug in late after really setting right there close to some very hot fractions. That's what good horses do.

She's obviously a massive filly. Obviously extremely athletic. Just to be that big and get away as crisp and clean as she does from the gate just shows her athletic ability.

THE MODERATOR: And Garrett O'Rourke joins us now representing Juddmonte. Always special to win a Breeders' Cup as a breeder as well. Just tell us about Idiomatic and what's next for her.

GARRETT O'ROURKE: Obviously, as Brad says, she's a huge filly. She comes from a pedigree that is Juddmonte through and through. And her dam is Juddmonte, grand dam is Juddmonte, her maternal grand sire is Juddmonte. That's tremendously satisfying for an owner/breeder operation like Prince Khalid and his sons.

Huge filly, honestly has taken me personally by surprise because I did not have the expectation that's she would have us here on a day like this when she was a yearling, a 2-year-old. But hand it to every exercise rider that got off her, they always said, gee, she's a dream mover.

I do remember when Florent rode her the first time, we had a lot of young horses with Brad, and Florent came back and said, The Curlin filly, wow, she's nice. I was like, The Curlin filly, really?

She has stepped up. She has an engine, and, boy, she needed that engine down the stretch today, and she produced.

Q. Brad, what does it say about this filly that she started in January and has raced almost constantly this calendar year? How impressive is that for a filly?

BRAD COX: I feel like we've managed her well, gave her plenty of time between starts. You're right, that says a lot about how good she is because it's not like she's fallen out of the gate and needed a setup. She's run the whole race. That's, in my eyes, what good horses do. They're able to break, be involved and continue on.

She's obviously very good, and Florent did a good job with that today, of putting her in a great position. Listen, I think she definitely deserves some votes for Horse of the Year. It's a serious record.

Once again, it's Horse of the Year, not horse of the fall, horse of the summer, horse of the spring, or horse of the Breeders' Cup. She has had a tremendous year from start to finish. Today was just icing on the cake.

THE MODERATOR: We'll wrap it up. Congratulations to all the winning connections of Idiomatic: Florent Geroux, Brad Cox, and Juddmonte Farms.