Aidan O'Brien becomes joint-winningmost trainer in Breeders' Cup history after Henri Matisse storms home in Juvenile Turf

Aidan O'Brien equalled the record for most wins as a trainer at the Breeders' Cup when Henri Matisse swept to Juvenile Turf glory under a superbly timed Ryan Moore ride.

The son of Wootton Bassett had been beaten on his previous two runs at the highest level in the National Stakes and Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere but flew home to give O'Brien and Moore their third successive win in the contest, having struck last year with Unquestionable and two years ago with Victoria Road.

O'Brien's staggering seventh win in the Juvenile Turf was his 20th at the Breeders' Cup and put him level with legendary US trainer D Wayne Lukas.

"It's incredible. We all know what a special man Wayne is and it's an honour to be anywhere close to his record," O'Brien said. "What can you say about Wayne? He's always such a help to us and he rang me during the week to tell me the way to ride this track.

"He told us about the way we should ride our horse [City Of Troy] in the Classic too. We feel very grateful and privileged for what he's done for us. We're honoured."

It was another act of Ballydoyle brilliance on the card from Moore. He overcame significant trouble during Lake Victoria's stunning Juvenile Fillies Turf win and was forced wide in Henri Matisse's triumph. 

Not that Moore ever thought victory was in doubt, though.

"It was very easy today," he said. "He did it beautifully and we've been learning about him. The step up to a mile around a bend on nice ground helped him, but he just took figuring out a little bit.

Henri Matisse: ridden to victory in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf by Ryan MooreCredit: Sean M Haffey (Getty Images)

"I said to Aidan beforehand I felt he was by far the best horse in the race. He just travelled into it and I was wide on the bend, but he took me there very comfortably. He won without even knowing he was in the race."

The big-race juvenile double eased O'Brien's nerves ahead of City Of Troy's Breeders' Cup Classic tilt, but Henri Matisse's win gave him extra delight after the horse's torrid time at Longchamp.

"I did the wrong thing putting blinkers on him in France and he got a bad bump early on. He got a little bit of a fright there on bad ground," he said. 

"A few things went wrong that day, but we could forget about it and he's not the finished article either. He's a beautiful horse and he's getting better every week.

"A lot of people put in so much hard work day in and day out for stuff like this to happen. Tomorrow's another day but we're so grateful to get horses like these."

Iron Man Cal took second ahead of the Charlie Appleby-trained Aomori City, who had burst through the gates before the race began but was allowed to run.

Read these next:

Breeders' Cup breakthrough for Ger Lyons as Magnum Force flies home for glory under Colin Keane  

'It was an incredible performance' - Lake Victoria overcomes major in-running trouble to remain unbeaten 

Sign up to receive On The Nose, our essential daily newsletter, from the Racing Post. Your unmissable morning feed, direct to your email inbox every morning.