Breeders' Cup Mile

Donnacha O'Brien is looking forward to taking on the boys with Porta Fortuna (Ire) when she bids for her fourth top-level victory of the campaign in the Breeders' Cup Mile at Del Mar on Saturday, November 2. The daughter of Caravaggio has been on a roll since returning to action this season with a narrow defeat to Elmalka (GB) in the 1,000 Guineas, subsequently reeling off a Group 1 hat-trick in the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot, Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket and Matron Stakes at Leopardstown. All roads now lead...

Cuyathy LLC's Johannes (Nyquist) consolidated his position at the top of the West Coast turf mile division with a comprehensive victory in Saturday's GII City of Hope Mile Stakes, in so doing locking up a spot in the field for the GI Breeders' Cup Mile at Del Mar on Nov. 2. Favored at 4-5 to add to victories in this track's May 27 GI Shoemaker Mile Stakes and the nine-furlong GII Eddie Read Stakes last time at the seaside July 28, the homebred made best use of his low draw...

A plan was hatched by owner Peter Lau and trainer Danny Shum as early as last June to set their multiple champion Romantic Warrior (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) on a course towards the G1 W S Cox Plate in Melbourne some four months later. Having departed Hong Kong in mid-September, the gelding endured a sub-optimal period in quarantine at Werribee until the Australian government approved the shipment of his regular feed from Hong Kong to Victoria and Romantic Warrior was an underdone fourth in the G1 Turnbull S. at Caulfield Oct....

Making his fourth straight appearance on the North American continent, Godolphin's Master Of The Seas (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) overcame easy underfoot conditions and five other rivals to add Friday's GI Maker's Mark Mile to his previous victories in the GI Ricoh Woodbine Mile and GI Breeders' Cup Mile when last seen at Santa Anita last November. Naval Power (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}), conversely racing for the first time on these shores, completed the exacta for the 'Boys In Blue.' Sent off at 77 cents on the dollar while making his 6-year-old...

Under normal circumstances, drawing the outside gate in a one-mile race, on turf, going two turns is a kiss of death. At Santa Anita, well, maybe not so much. Sent off as the 33-10 second betting favorite behind Japan's superstar miler Songline (Jpn) (Kizuna {Jpn}), Godolphin's Master of the Seas (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) produced a stunning late burst of speed to run down the commonly owned Mawj (Ire) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}), whose half-brother Modern Games (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) was victorious in last year's Mile at Keeneland and in that...

Celebrating 40 Years of the Breeders' Cup John Henry famously didn't make it to the Breeders' Cup. Da Hoss famously did, after a two-year layoff with a mere allowance prep. In this industry, where geldings at the elite levels are the exception and not the norm, those geldings tend to become beloved fan favorites. Perhaps it's because they often have longer race careers than their compatriots whose breeding careers must be considered. Right up there in the lexicon of the special 31 geldings to have won a Breeders' Cup are...

The blinkered Tourist ran into a scorching :21.81 and :44.61 pace in the 2016 GI Breeders' Cup Mile, split horses in a thriller, and emerged from battle not only with the win, but with the Mile record. In 39 years of Breeders' Cups and so many champions, no one has run the eight furlongs on the grass faster than his blistering 1:31.71. After standing his first few seasons at WinStar in Kentucky, Tourist relocated to Rockridge in New York for the 2023 season. "Tourist is the perfect blend of fire...

Defying a four-month absence as well as 6-5 favorite Master of The Seas (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable's Up to the Mark (Not This Time) looked to have it all to do turning for home in Saturday's GI Coolmore Turf Mile at Keeneland, but the $450,000 Keeneland September acquisition exploded inside the final sixteenth of a mile and dropped his nose on the wire just ahead of the Godolphin runner for a thrilling victory. Defending champion 'TDN Rising Star' Annapolis (War Front) won the break and...

1st-BAQ, $90k, Msw, 2yo, 7f, 12:35p.m. ET Whisper Hill Farm has been enjoying a fruitful year on the track and in the sales ring, and SPEED RUNNER (Gun Runner) looks to add his tally to the operation's banner year. A half-brother to the brilliant GISW Brilliant Speed (Dynaformer); SW & GSP Souper Speedy (Indian Charlie); and SP Bank (Bernardini), the Pletcher-trained chestnut comes into the race with a bullet move Sept. 27 over Belmont's training track--a five furlong work in a co-fastest minute flat. His dam Speed Succeeds is a...

Twelve months after Modern Games (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) made light work of the race, Godolphin's Master of The Seas (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) proved an equally decisive winner of the GI Ricoh Woodbine Mile for trainer Charlie Appleby and jockey William Buick. With the victory, the homebred has earned a fees-paid berth into the GI Breeders' Cup Mile at Santa Anita in early November, a race won last year by Modern Games. Drawn the inside gate in a field of just six horses, the 2-5 jolly wasn't the best away and...

A deluge of some 270 ml of rain--that's better than 10 inches for those of us less acquainted with the metric system--fell over the Tokyo Racecourse Friday and into early Saturday, leaving the turf course officially soft for the first of the two days of weekend racing. Sunday dawned with perfect weather and by the time the field entered the gates for the G1 Yasuda Kinen, the course had been upgraded to good-to-firm, and that played right into the hands of Sunday Racing's Songline (Jpn) (Kizuna {Jpn}), who came storming...

Having gone excruciatingly close in the last two renewals of the G1 Yasuda Kinen, Sunday Racing's Schnell Meister (Ger) (Kingman {GB}) takes a third crack at Japan's premier spring mile event, a 'Win and You're In' challenge race for the GI FanDuel Breeders' Cup Mile at Santa Anita in early November. The bay, one of 10 elite-level winner in the field, defeated Songline (Jpn) (Kizuna {Jpn}) in the age-restricted G1 NHK Mile Cup over this course and distance two years ago and was narrowly beaten by champion Gran Alegria (Jpn)...