DEL MAR, Calif. – To win No. 7, their horse must overcome 12, but these are the two people who can make it happen. Aidan O’Brien has trained a record six winners of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, and jockey Ryan Moore has ridden all of them. It might take a Moore masterpiece to get Henri Matisse home Friday after the colt, to date the highest-quality horse in the race, drew post 13. Fourteen were entered in the $1 million Juvenile Turf, which starts just before the turf chute meets Del Mar’s main grass oval, a tight seven-furlong course with a mere 919-foot homestretch. Del Mar runs few turf races with more than 12 horses, making the post 13 sample size at one mile, even going back to 2000, small and not especially encouraging: 25 starters, one winner. But from other post position stats, one gets the impression Henri Matisse won’t be compromised beyond repair: Posts 12 and 11, the former 10 for 127 and the latter 24 for 254 during the last 23-plus years, have strike rates not much worse than post 1. “Ryan has to forget about the race the first half because of where he is,” O’Brien said. “I’d imagine he’d be a long way back halfway through, and then we’ll see what happens.” Henri Matisse, by Wooton Bassett, has required some tinkering. Even while winning up to the Group 2 level, he appeared to wait on horses, and while finishing second in the National Stakes at The Curragh, he laid all over third-place Seagulls Eleven. Accordingly, O’Brien tried blinkers for the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere on Oct. 6 at Longchamp, where little went right for Henri Matisse, steadied early on the turn, probably struggling over very soft ground. No blinkers Friday. :: ON SALE NOW: DRF Breeders' Cup Packages! Get everything you need to win and save 41% off the retail price. When O’Brien hasn’t won this race, trainer Charlie Appleby and Godolphin often have. A three-time Juvenile Turf winner, Appleby sends two this year, Summer Stakes runner-up Al Qudra and Aomori City, winner of the Vintage around a right-handed bend at Goodwood and most recently fourth in that National Stakes. Appleby rates the two similarly, top stable jockey William Buick landing on Aomori City – who then drew post 12. Appleby rued the poor post while suggesting Aomori City still fits. “He’d have been what I consider a tailor-made Breeders’ Cup Juvenile horse, the stature of him, he’s neat, he loves quick ground, he’s sharp. He ticks a lot of boxes,” Appleby said. New Century beat Al Qudra, the mount of James Doyle, by 1 1/4 lengths at Woodbine but also drew poorly in post 11. Installed as the 5-2 morning-line favorite, New Century figures to go postward at a higher price than that. The flashy Beyer Speed Figures he and Al Qudra earned in the Summer doesn’t accord with their performance level in England. Another England-based trainer, Hugo Palmer, also entered two, Seagulls Eleven probably a better chance than The Waco Kid. Palmer said he’d targeted the Juvenile Turf for Seagulls Eleven since September, and that his start Oct. 12 in the Group 1 Dewhurst at Newmarket served as a stepping-stone to Del Mar. Seagulls Eleven prefers the firm going he’ll get here to the soft course he encountered last time, and Palmer has no doubt the horse will excel over one mile, farther than he’s yet run. The Waco Kid exits a career-best front-running victory in the Tattersalls Stakes on Sept. 26 at Newmarket. Palmer said tactics that day developed around a lack of pace, and that The Waco Kid won’t find the front Friday. That accounts for all the Europeans, but Japan-based Satono Carnaval can’t be overlooked. Two for two to start his career, he has raced only in sprints but looks and is bred like a route horse, and his trainer, Noriyuki Hori, has found international success before. England-born, Australia-based jockey Rachel King has the mount. Trainer Chad Brown won his only Juvenile Turf in 2019 with Structor, a 5-1 chance. His entrant Friday, Zulu Kingdom, could end up a longer price, but not for good reason, to hear Brown tell it. Three for three, Zulu Kingdom won in France before capturing stakes at Saratoga and Aqueduct by narrow margins with favorable trips. But Zulu Kingdom has another level to hit, Brown believes, while turning back in distance from 1 1/16 miles to one mile. “The horse is training super, and I like a little cutback for him. I do think this race is going to suit him. He’s one of my better chances this weekend,” said Brown, who named Flavien Prat to ride. Trainer Todd Pletcher, winner of the 2010 Juvenile Turf with Pluck, comes three-handed this year, with Mentee a sure pace player, Tenacious Leader drawn impossibly wide in 14, and Noble Confessor an under-the-radar chance. Noble Confessor trained like a high-class horse, Pletcher said, but failed to run to that training in two dirt starts. Pletcher thought the pedigree hinted at turf, worked Noble Confessor on turf, and got a strong performance in the Pilgrim, where Noble Confessor lacked room in upper stretch and closed to within a neck of Zulu Kingdom after finding daylight. “Once he got extracted, he was flying late and kind of ran out of real estate. I think he’s got enough talent,” Pletcher said. :: BREEDERS’ CUP JUVENILE TURF: See DRF’s special section with top contenders, odds, comments, news, and more Mentee, full brother to leading Breeders’ Cup Classic hope Fierceness, moved to turf after a poor showing in the Hopeful Stakes and stepped up to win the Futurity over six furlongs by 3 1/2 lengths under John Velazquez. “I think Mentee will be pretty forwardly placed, though what we liked about the Futurity was how he settled nicely. Johnny had him on a long, relaxed line until he asked him. I liked the way he settled and kicked,” Pletcher said. Third after tracking a strong tempo in the Summer, Dream On also should race close to the lead, as should Iron Man Cal, placed first through disqualification in the local prep for this race, the Zuma Beach at Santa Anita. Minaret Station pulled a 38-1 upset of the Bourbon at Keeneland and should come out a similar price Friday. Two also-eligibles, Sabertooth and Kale’s Angel, will break from a very wide post should they draw into the Juvenile Turf. And neither of them is trained by Aidan O’Brien and ridden by Ryan Moore. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.