Appleby and O'Brien stun locals with combined hat-trick of wins on opening night

"Dis Appleby guy is something else." So said one of the good old boys of the US press room on Friday night, reflecting on the blazing finish produced by Mischief Magic to land the Juvenile Turf Sprint some moments before.

That took Charlie Appleby's record at the Breeders' Cup to seven wins from 12 runners, a completely unreasonable strike-rate of 58 per cent at the world thoroughbred championships. "He just doesn't lose," replied a friend of the first speaker, his tone somewhere between astonished and exasperated.

The Godolphin trainer had, at that point, won with four consecutive Cup runners, a sequence started last year by Modern Games, Space Blues and Yibir.