Hear the full interview
From 36:42 in Thursday’s episode of Nick Luck Daily. Press play to start at the interview.
Jack Nicholls will ride Miss Yechance in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Keeneland, trainer Karl Burke has confirmed, despite the Prix de l’Abbaye winner being sold days before the race.
The filly has been supplemented for the Keeneland Championship Sale at Castleton next Wednesday, raising the question of whether new owners might want a change of jockey. Burke, called live during this morning’s show, said Nicholls was going over to ride her.
“There is a small chance, I suppose, if American owners buy her, they may want to change,” Burke said. “But I have a feeling that we have to declare the jockeys before the sale. So all being well, hopefully Jack will stay on board either way.”
The decision to offer Miss Yechance for sale was not his, Burke explained. “It’s been driven by the owners and by their agents, so I didn’t have a lot to say about it, to be honest,” he said. “But look, she’s worth a lot of money after winning a Group One, both as a racehorse and as a broodmare. I can’t blame them for wanting to do it.”
“She’s not the biggest, as we know, but she’s a bull of a filly.”
Karl Burke, trainer
Burke had just been to see her before he took the call. Miss Yechance travels to Newmarket on Friday and flies out to Kentucky on Saturday. “She looked in fantastic shape, and she’s strengthened so much in the few months she’s been here,” he said.
He believes the filly’s physical progress explains her rise through the season, culminating in a third straight win at ParisLongchamp. “She’s a lot stronger filly now, and she’s been like that probably since going into Newbury,” he said. “I think she has taken an upward turn physically, and that’s transpired onto the form on the track as well.”
Rishi Persad welcomed the news. “He’s unbeaten on her,” he said of Nicholls, who has ridden Miss Yechance to all three of her wins for Burke. “Credit to them to stick with Jack. I hope that even if she changes hands at the sale, they look at it and go, why would we change a winning formula?”
Burning Up heads to Doncaster
Burke also has Burning Up in Saturday’s Futurity Trophy at Doncaster, where Aidan O’Brien is expected to be strongly represented. “He’s a very idle horse at home, so he’s not an easy horse to read, but his work riders are very happy with him,” Burke said. “He’ll love the ground, and I think he’ll like the track better than the undulations of Newmarket. All in all, he should go there and run a big race.”
