Spain Burg: From South of France to SoCal

R.A. Hill Stable and Reeves Thoroughbred Racing's 2-year-old filly Spain Burg (Fr) (Sageburg {Ire}) has traveled many miles in her young career, but for some 10 minutes in the mid-morning sun at Santa Anita Wednesday, her sole mission was to travel to the starting gate and school calmly ahead of her start in Friday's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. Spain Burg obliged in her typically composed manner, and was watched carefully from the rail by owners Randy Hill and Dean Reeves, who partnered to acquire the dark bay for €1.5 million at France's Arqana Arc Sale one month earlier.

Reeves, dressed in a Breeders' Cup purple jacket and hat, seemed right at home at the track where he and his wife Patti celebrated a win in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic with Mucho Macho Man (Macho Uno) in 2013. Satisfied with another morning of productive training, Reeves and Hill joined up with trainer Kathy Ritvo to discuss the once-beaten G2 Shadwell Rockfel S. [video] winner's first few weeks in America.

“Randy and I talk about how well she seems to travel all through Europe,” Reeves commented. “I've been amazed at how calm and relaxed she stays. She gets in an environment.”

Hill, who is no stranger to the partnership game, echoed Reeves's thoughts and pointed to her race record as a sign of Spain Burg's consistency and maturity. The French-bred captured three of her first four starts in France–including the Aug. 3 Criterium du Bequet Ventes Osarus–and shipped to England to annex the Rockfel, a Breeders Cup “Win and You're In” qualifier, with a swift turn of foot at Newmarket Sept. 22. Conditioned by Xavier Thomas-Demeaulte and based in the south of France through September, owner Roberto Cocheteux Tierno entered Spain Burg in the Arc Sale and Americans Reeves and Hill were willing to pony up a seven-figure price to bring her Stateside.

“I think when you see what she's done, she's been at four different tracks in a couple different countries, and she's won,” Hill observed. “You always worry about how they're going to travel and how they're going to act, but I don't think she could be any better than she is. She's as professional of a horse as I've ever seen.”

Ritvo, who trained Mucho Macho Man to his win at the 2013 World Championships, said that she has been thoroughly impressed by Spain Burg's appearance and temperament on the racetrack since arriving to Santa Anita.

“She's a very smart filly and she's been training very well,” Ritvo noted, standing near the gap at the top of the stretch. “She arrived to me in the middle of October. She worked at Keeneland over the turf. She hasn't been over the turf course here, but she's kind of a filly that takes to anything. She's won at four different racetracks.”

Ritvo added that she was delighted that world-class rider Frankie Detorri, who was aboard Spain Burg in the Rockfel, requested to retain the mount. As for the challenges of training a new face in the barn up to a major event such as the Breeders' Cup, Ritvo acknowledged that her strategy has been to let the horse guide her own schedule.

“It's definitely a challenge, but she's so smart that we're taking her cues,” Ritvo added. “She's the boss. She likes to train far, so we let her do her thing…She's not a big horse, but she goes like a big horse. She's got a nice stride.”

Ritvo, Hill and Reeves all agreed that the best is yet to come for Spain Burg, and shared a laugh about the sometimes disjointed ideas that are thrown around about future races for the daughter of Sageburg.

“The two of us together come up with a lot of ideas,” said Hill, joking with Reeves that their plans for the filly are in a constant state of flux. “Dean and I have talked about this, and we think she's going to get better as things go on, and we're looking at Europe–maybe to go back over there and race at Ascot. But as good as we think she is, we think her future is in front of her as a 3-year-old and 4-year-old.”

But for now, Spain Burg's team is staying in the present, which brings them back to the site of the Reeves' greatest accomplishment as owners. As their prize filly turned away from the cluster of horsemen, media and fans at Clocker's Corner and made her way back to the stable area, Reeves reflected on the ambience of the Arcadia oval.

“Oh, I have some good memories here,” Reeves remarked. “I love the track, the atmosphere and the vibe you get out here in California. This is what it's all about. We've obviously had great success here, and we're just excited.”

When the subject of memories turned to Ritvo, the trainer agreed with Reeves, but chimed in with an addendum fitting for the spirit of Breeders' Cup week: “We'd like to make the memories even better.”