Benvenuto Cellini Wins the Breeders' Cup Turf at Keeneland for O'Brien and Moore

Benvenuto Cellini won the Breeders' Cup Turf at Keeneland on Saturday, giving jockey Ryan Moore and trainer Aidan O'Brien another victory in the $5 million race. The Irish-bred colt went off as the 3/1 favorite in the 11th race on the card and finished in front of Map Of Stars, a 25/1 shot, with Diamond Necklace, at 4/1, in third. The Turf is run over a mile and a half on grass for horses aged three and older.

Moore finds the opening

Moore kept his mount in touch with the leaders and moved him off the rail in the stretch to find running room. Once Benvenuto Cellini saw daylight, he quickened and ran down the horses in front of him to take control late. O'Brien praised the ride afterward. "Ryan gave him a brilliant ride," O'Brien said. "We always felt he was a horse for this race."

The result was a one-two punch of depth for the O'Brien stable. Diamond Necklace, also trained by O'Brien and ridden by Christophe Soumillon, took third. She had arrived at Keeneland after finishing third in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in France earlier this season.

A season that pointed to this race

Benvenuto Cellini won the Irish Derby in June, the biggest win of his season before Saturday. He later finished third against older horses in the King George in the summer and then ran ninth in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp, a run his stable believed was better than the finishing position suggested. His dam, Newspaperofrecord, won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Churchill Downs in 2018.

O'Brien is the most successful trainer in the Turf's history, and Saturday's win was his eighth in the race, extending his own record. Last year's winner, Ethical Diamond, trained by Willie Mullins, returned as the defending champion after his upset win at Del Mar in 2025, but the placings this time belonged to the O'Brien pair and Map Of Stars.

One race left on the card

The Turf was the penultimate race of the two-day Breeders' Cup meeting at Keeneland. The meeting closes with the $7 million Breeders' Cup Classic, where Golden Tempo, Sovereignty and defending champion Forever Young headline the field.