‘It’s like an NBA championship.’ Brazilian-born trainer has a Breeders’ Cup favorite.
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2020 Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s coverage of the 2020 Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington.
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For one foreign-born horseman with an uplifting American success story, this year’s Breeders’ Cup World Championships could mark a new career pinnacle.
Paulo Lobo is a third-generation Thoroughbred trainer who grew up in Brazil.
“I’ve been involved in horse racing almost since I was born,” Lobo, 51, told the Herald-Leader in a recent phone interview. “My father was a trainer, my grandfather was a trainer. My mother was the daughter of a trainer. I grew up with this.”
Lobo began working for his father as an assistant at age 17. He struck out on his own some five years later and built a successful career. Now, Lobo will have the chance to ascend to new heights when his trainee, Ivar, competes in the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Keeneland on Saturday. Ivar was installed as the 4-1 morning-line favorite on Monday night.
“Everybody in this business would love to win at the Breeders’ Cup. For us, it’s like the World Cup in soccer or the Grand Slam in tennis. It’s like an NBA championship,” Lobo said last week. “It’s a very special weekend. The best horses in the world come together. It means so much to everybody in the industry.”
Coming to America
Lobo arrived in the United States in 2001 and made a home in Pasadena, Calif. His wife, Carolina, is a lawyer and the couple has twin teenage daughters who were born in California.
“I’ve called this home for half my life,” Lobo said. “Basically, we are Americans now.”
Lobo quickly achieved success on the U.S. racing circuit when his filly, Farda Amiga, won the 2002 Kentucky Oaks as a 20-1 shot. She followed that with a victory in the Grade 1 Alabama Stakes, then retired from racing after a runner-up finisher in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff.
In 2008 Lobo trained promising 3-year-old Gayego, who won the Arkansas Derby before finishing a disappointing 17th in the Kentucky Derby. Gayego went on to finish third in the 2010 Breeders’ Cup Mile and retired as a multiple Grade 1 winner with more than $1.7 million in career earnings.
While he’s had plenty of success in North America since then, Lobo struggled for years to saddle another legitimate contender for top-level stakes championships. That changed when he was paired with Ivar, a Brazilian-bred bay colt whom Lobo described as having “A very powerful turn of foot.”
“By far, I think he’s one of the top three horses I’ve ever trained,” Lobo said. “If you watched him in Argentina, all of his races were very impressive.”
Success in Kentucky
Ivar was dominant on the Argentinian circuit in 2019. After breaking his maiden with a resounding victory, Ivar won back-to-back Grade 1 races and was voted 2-year-old champion in the South American nation.
“We brought Ivar from South America with very high expectations after he was the champion 2-year-old in Argentina,” Lobo said. “Now, I think he’s proven himself.”
Ivar earned an automatic berth into the Breeders’ Cup Mile with a win in the Shadwell Turf Mile at Keeneland during the Lexington track’s Fall Meet in October. Breaking at odds of 14-1, Ivar laid off the pace before making a stunning move in the stretch and charging to an easy upset victory under jockey Joe Talamo.
“I knew he was underrated in the Shadwell. For sure, I had a good feeling he could win it,” Lobo said. “We decided to run him the way he likes most, coming from behind. We wanted to wait for a late kick.”
It marked Lobo’s first career stakes win at Keeneland and his first Grade 1 win on American soil since 2004. He was visibly elated while making his way to the winner’s circle following the race.
“The Shadwell is a very prestigious race. It’s hard to win a big race like that at Keeneland so we were incredibly excited,” Lobo said. “It was very special to finally get a stakes win at Keeneland. I feel like Keeneland is the heart of horse racing in this country so it was very, very special to me.”
After the Shadwell, Lobo’s and Ivar’s ownership group decided to keep the colt in Lexington at the Thoroughbred Training Center. Lobo said he’ll make the short trip across town to Keeneland a few days ahead of the Breeders’ Cup.
“He came out of the Shadwell very well. He looks very happy,” Lobo said of his prized trainee. “He’s just been improving a lot. He’s a special horse.”
Special enough to land Lobo one of the biggest victories of a racing career that has spanned four different decades?
He declined to make a bold prediction, but Lobo loves Ivar’s chances.
“He’s a sound horse. He’s very professional and always gives you 100 percent of himself. He has always run well in tough races and he’s getting better and better,” Lobo said.
“The Mile is a very hard race. You have all sorts of different horses from all over the world, even some from Europe. Whatever happens, I think it’s going to be a beautiful race to watch.”
This story was originally published November 3, 2020 at 7:14 AM.
