Nearly two decades after first setting foot on Keeneland property, trainer Rodolphe Brisset was standing in the stakes-only Winner’s Circle on the infield turf course for the first time Saturday. The honor was courtesy of Yuugiri’s hard-fought triumph in the 43^rd running of the Thoroughbred Club of America (G2). 

Brisset trains the 4-year-old filly for her breeders, Mr. and Mrs. Tsunebumi Yoshihara. The TCA victory earned Yuugiri a spot in the starting gate for the $1 million PNC Bank Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (G1) to be run Nov. 4 at Santa Anita. 

“I really thought she was second,” Brisset said of the nose score over Wicked Halo after a stretch-long battle. “At the eighth pole when she dug in, she kept running and really fought for it. I went a little crazy and lost my voice cheering from the eighth pole to the wire.”

The win marks the second graded stakes victory for Yuugiri, who improved her record to 14-7-2-1 and increased her earnings to $1,190,585. Her other graded tally came in the 2022 Fantasy (G3) at Oaklawn Park a month before she finished 13^th in the Kentucky Oaks (G1). Yuugiri then won four races prior to solidifying herself as a 6-furlong dirt specialist in the TCA. 

“Since we went back to one turn, she has shown a new dimension,” Brisset said. 

Through a connection that eventually led to his association with Yuugiri’s owners, Brisset left his native France and arrived in the U.S. about 20 years ago to work as an exercise rider at Keeneland for trainer Patrick Biancone.  

“I fell in love with Keeneland and Kentucky right away,” Brisset said. “To be able to win a graded stakes at Keeneland is special.”

Brisset’s next job was as a longtime key assistant and exercise rider for Racing Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, which meant he spent the Spring and Fall Meets at Keeneland. In 2017, Brisset launched his own training career and obtained stalls in Keeneland’s year-round training center nearby on Rice Road. He and his wife, Brooke, who work together in the training operation, also have a farm in nearby Versailles where they raise Thoroughbreds. 

Along with their 5-year-old son, Ryan, and friends, the Brissets celebrated Yuugiri’s exciting performance with a quiet dinner at a restaurant. They had an early evening.

“Ryan was getting pretty tired, and I had lost my voice cheering for Yuugiri,” he said.