Johannes is arguably California’s greatest hope of securing a Breeders’ Cup victory this weekend, but while Del Mar has long been the target, a nomination for the Hong Kong International Races, another self-designated ‘World Championships,’ has put a follow-up at Sha Tin in December under serious consideration too.
North American contenders are not all that common at the end-of-year Group 1 races in Hong Kong, but the star four-year-old is one of 15 from that part of the world among the nominations, and they feature fellow Breeders’ Cup contenders Golden Phoenix, Hang The Moon, Full Count Felicia, Win For The Money, Far Bridge Isivunguvungu, Cogburn, Howard Wolowitz, and Big Invasion.
“This was our goal this year, to compete in the Breeders’ Cup,” Johannes’ trainer Tim Yakteen told Idol Horse. “We want to keep that Hong Kong Mile option open, though. It’s a little bit quick back, we’re talking roughly five weeks, but we’ll see how we come out of the race on Saturday. It would definitely be a feather in his cap if that’s a thing that he could pull off, and his pilot is familiar with the course over there.”
That ‘pilot,’ jockey Umberto Rispoli, was a full-timer on the Hong Kong circuit before relocating to California in December 2019, and he is keen for Johannes to make the journey, provided all is well through the Breeders’ Cup Mile.
“I’m wishing! Fingers crossed that we can go to Hong Kong, maybe, we’ll see,” Rispoli said. “I think Johannes deserves to be nominated for a big race like that and I think he’ll be competitive in Hong Kong. I think the racing will really suit him. Of course, the question mark would be going right-handed but really good horses, they adapt themselves.
“But it’s for the team and for Joe to decide. We need to give credit to Tim and to Joe because they’ve been very patient with him.”
‘Joe’ is owner Joe McCloskey, who along with wife Debby bred Johannes from their first horse, the US$50,000 mare Cuyathy. The owners live in Solana Beach, their home being not much more than a stone’s throw from the Del Mar backstretch where Johannes is stabled this week. They had little knowledge of the sport before moving there about a decade ago.
“Their dream was to compete in the Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar, and to actually breed a horse and to be able to fulfil that dream, it’s like hitting the lottery,” Yakteen said.
“The owners have permitted us to manage him properly and given us the opportunity to have a campaign that has actually materialised.”
Johannes’ advance towards the Breeders’ Cup Mile started in April this year with a Grade 3 win at Santa Anita; then came an impressive score in the G1 Shoemaker Mile at the same venue in late May; two months later the Nyquist colt stepped out at Del Mar for the first time and won the G2 Eddie Read; and he warmed up for his big test with another win, back at Santa Anita on September 28, in the G2 City Of Hope Mile.
“His form is flawless this year, so he’s doing really well,” Yakteen said. “We had a rough outline of how we wanted to campaign him and fortunately it fell into place so this will be his biggest test of the year.”
Johannes started his career on the dirt, losing three in a row as a juvenile, but a switch to turf on New Year’s Eve 2022 was revelatory. The dark bay trounced his rivals by nine lengths and has stuck to turf ever since for a record of six wins from seven starts on the surface.
His one blip came in June 2023 when Yakteen shipped his charge out of state to contest the G2 American Turf Stakes at Churchill Downs. Johannes was fifth off a troubled passage and bone bruising meant he did not race again until the start of this term.
“We campaigned him on a conservative note this year so that we would be in the optimum position for the Breeders’ Cup. You can see in his form, they’re all local races, they’re all prep races, spaced, so he can be at his optimum.”
Now it’s a case of finding out if that optimum is enough to see off the likes of Notable Speech, Porta Fortuna and Ramatuelle from Europe, Geoglyph and Ten Happy Rose from Japan, and Carl Spackler from back east.
“He has to lift his game a little bit, definitely,” Rispoli said. “This is the race when he can prove how good he is. If he wins or even if he gets beat by a half-length or a length, that shows where he’s at because he’s racing against some of the top milers in the world.”
The prevailing view is that the best form on the southern California circuit is generally a half-notch or so below the best form back east, but Yakteen sees it another way.
“That’s the perception, but that perception could be changed: if he performs then that form is going to be held in a little higher regard,” he said.
Johannes’ handsome head protruded over his stable door, a little way along the barn lane, as Yakteen spoke about him.
“He’s got a lovely looking head on him, and he likes to be left alone and he enjoys his carrots. He’s very straightforward; he’s very push-button,” the trainer said.
Those traits make Rispoli’s job that bit easier come race time.
“The horse is pretty versatile, you can ride him however you want,” the Italian ace said. “If they go slow you can be up to the pace, if they go quick you can be mid-back somewhere, but he’s a horse that can track from close, he can follow every kind of speed.
“For this race, you have to respect the opposition but he’s in good form, he’s in good shape, he’s jumping around, and he looks happy.
“He’s just going to be a horse of a lifetime for me,” Rispoli added.
He could be for Yakteen, too, and the trainer, and the McCloskeys, are already thinking about plans for 2025.
“I think next year’s campaign will be slightly different to this one, I think we’ll do more of a ‘money run.’ We might go a little more international on him,” Yakteen said.
That raises the prospect of Dubai in March as well as the Hong Kong possibility. But first comes that ‘hometown’ Breeders’ Cup, and a win at Del Mar on Saturday is the one that would top everything ∎