DEL MAR, Calif. – Few constants exist in this hyperactive world humans have created. Aidan O’Brian training the winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf? It has nearly become fixed as the seasons. This year, it was a colt named Henri Matisse storming through the homestretch to get up by a neck. O’Brien’s record seventh win in the $1 million Juvenile Turf also marked Breeders’ Cup win No. 20, tying D. Wayne Lukas for the most all-time. The 19th had come earlier Friday at Del Mar, where Lake Victoria captured the Juvenile Fillies Turf. The No. 1 jockey in the world, Ryan Moore, rode both juveniles, putting into action all the work and planning O’Brien and his people have put into making these animals into the professional athletes they’ve become. This, Moore said, was not especially complicated. Moving in one spot in the starting gate to post 12 after Minaret Station was scratched Thursday, Moore seemed bound for a wide trip. No worries. Henri Matisse last month at Longchamp had a rough go racing along the rail. And Moore happily sacrificed ground loss Friday to steer clear of trouble. “He’s a horse with a lot of ability. I thought he was better than them,” Moore said. “He won that very easily.” :: Get Breeders' Cup Betting Strategies from Brad Free and David Aragona for exclusive wager recommendations and play the races with confidence! Easily, though but not by a wide margin. Henri Matisse was not far in front of 29-1 shot Iron Man Cal, a Californian who ran the race of his life against easily the best horses he’s faced. “Today he was ready, and he really showed more maturity,” said Antonio Fresu, who rode Iron Man Cal for trainer Phil D’Amato. “I had a beautiful trip all the way around. When the winner passed me, my horse actually fought back." A half-length behind Iron Man Cal came Aomori City, a neck better than his fellow English invader New Century. As with this race’s 2021 renewal at Del Mar, a Charlie Appleby-trained Godolphin colt ridden by William Buick experienced trouble before the race started. Three years ago, the Appleby-trained Albahr flipped in the starting gate, and as he did so, Modern Games, Buick aboard, broke through his starting stall and ran a few yards down the track. Stewards reasonably scratched Albahr but mistakenly scratched Modern Games, who won the race and the purse after being taken out of pari-mutuel pools. Friday, it was Aomori City pushing the starting-stall doors open before the race started, cantering a half-furlong or so before Buick pulled him up. Aomori City was permitted to start, and he closed stoutly from last to nearly get second. “He actually handled it all very well, but it can’t help, can it?” Buick said of the pre-race problems. Dream On, who set quick splits of 22.65 and 46.31, held fifth, finishing just in front of Noble Confessor. Zulu Kingdom, surprisingly favored for much of the betting before being supplanted at the end by Henri Matisse, tracked the leader and came up empty in seventh, 1 3/4 lengths better than Al Qudra, yet another Appleby trainee who found Juvenile Turf trouble. Jockey James Doyle at about the eighth pole tried to send Al Qudra between Seagulls Eleven on his inside and New Century on his outside, but both horses came slightly off their line, causing Al Qudra to clip heels and nearly unseat Doyle. After an extended inquiry, stewards ruled, correctly, there’d been no foul. The Japan-based Satono Carnaval, who got hot and internally agitated in the paddock and then acted up in the gate, beat the Hugo Palmer-trained pair of Seagulls Eleven and The Waco Kid, with Mentee bringing up the rear. Henri Matisse ran one mile on firm turf in 1:34.48 and paid $9.80 winning his first Group or Grade 1. Out of the Pivotal mare Immortal Verse, Henri Matisse is by Wootton Basset. Henri Matisse raced 11th of 12 in the early going, and Moore had no intention of trying anything tricky. About two paths off the rail around the first turn and onto the backstretch, Moore took Henri Matisse to the No. 3 path before the far turn, racing without cover all the way around the bend, then going four and five wide to make his final run. Henri Matisse didn’t switch his leads until a couple strides before the wire but still finished with great energy. “He showed a lot of ability right from the start. It was just a matter of working out a decent trip,” Moore said. Henri Matisse might have pulled himself up after hitting the front. He has declined before to fully finish off races, and O’Brien, after Henri Matisse finished second in the National Stakes in Ireland, tried the colt in blinkers when he finished fifth in the Jean-Luc Lagardere last month. “I decided to put blinkers on him, and it was the wrong thing. Ryan came back and said he got a little intimidated,” O’Brien said. That happened early on the Lagardere’s one long turn. After being steadied and racing in a claustrophobic spot along the fence, Henri Matisse faded late to fifth over very soft ground he disliked. “So, there were three excuses,” O’Brien said. No excuses at Del Mar – none needed. Moore came back and told O’Brien that Henri Matisse felt like a miler. He’ll be pointed to a Guineas race over the distance next spring. And when next fall comes around, O’Brien will find a horse – probably the right one – for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.