Bob Baffert Exercise Rider Morgane Kervarrec on the Road to the Breeders' Cup

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Morgan Kervarrec shared a special bond with the horses that she works with.  It's what she loves most about her job as an exercise rider for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert. Going into this year's Breeders' Cup, her mounts include GI Goodwood Stakes winner Nevada Beach, GI Del Mar Debutante Stakes victress Bottle of Rouge, 'TDN Rising Star' Boyd (Violence) and GSW and GISP Barnes. She shares her insights on the quartet in this episode of Breeders' Cup Connections.

Transcript

00:00I think I started falling in love with horses before I started talking, before I even started walking.

00:11I always really wanted to work with horses. I always promised my parents that I wouldn't.

00:16So I went to college to please everybody, but I just realized it wasn't for me.

00:22So yeah, I ended up starting working with horses anyway.

00:26I just ended up coming here because I really always want to see Santa Anita.

00:31I was here for three months and I never left.

00:34When you come from Europe, let's be honest, Bob Buffer is a legend all around the world.

00:39Everybody knows him.

00:41When I just saw Bob standing on the front of the barn, I was like, okay, I'm just going to take a shot.

00:45After all, he's just a person like another.

00:49Bob has been here supporting me and didn't give up on me when I needed him.

00:54He's not easy, but he's a great boss.

00:57We're spoiling this bar and I'm blessed to be able to get on horses like that.

01:01I will say that my favorite will be Bottle of Rouge.

01:05She got a lot of personality too.

01:07When she first came, it wasn't easy to find a way to get along with her,

01:10but she figured out what we're doing here, what we're asking her.

01:14And now she's really taking the work really easy and she's going the way that we want her to go.

01:20I really hope that she's going to do good things.

01:23Bottle of Rouge wins the Del Mar debutante.

01:27Boyd, yeah. It's funny because I really don't like chestnut horses,

01:31but there is something so special about him.

01:33The first time I saw him and I remember galloping him the first time.

01:37He was just so smooth, but confused about what he's doing here until the first race.

01:43I showed everybody that he totally understood the task.

01:47As Boyd sails home to victory in his debut.

01:52I remember the first time I galloped Nevada Beach, coming back to the barn and telling the foreman,

01:58like, I want to keep this one.

02:00He was just such a sweet boy and he's like, he's a huge horse, but he's like such a gentle giant.

02:08It's a defining moment for Nevada Beach as he wins the grade one Goodwood.

02:14You're proud because that's your babies, you know, that you train all year long for that.

02:19Because, well, Breeders' Cup, that's the target. That's our championship.

02:23And I feel blessed every day when I get to gallop those horses.

02:27But for me, it was like not even a question to stop working because I'm a mom.

02:33It's a big, like, life turn.

02:36I'm grateful for her.

02:38She's three years old now. Her name is Jolene.

02:41She loves horses, so I'm screwed already.

02:46I think that we gotta remember people that we really do this job because we love horses first.

02:51That's why I picked this job.

02:52Because you deal less with people and more with animals and the connection that you have with them is real.

02:57It's there.

02:58And that's what I love about my job.

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