Breeders' Cup Win and You're In

After watching 'TDN Rising Star' Wild Desert (Ire) (Too Darn Hot {GB}) and Dance to the Music (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) defeated as the favorites in the GI Summer Stakes and GI Natalma Stakes earlier on the Turf Champions Day program, respectively, Team Godolphin got a measure of revenge when long odds-on 'TDN Rising Star' Notable Speech (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) came storming down the center of the inner turf course and stamped his authority on Saturday's GI Rogers Woodbine Mile. The victory secures the homebred a berth in the field for...

Charlie Appleby and William Buick have teamed to take the GI Rogers Woodbine Mile--a 'Win and You're In' qualifier for the GI Breeders' Cup Mile--two out of the last three years, and in the form of Godolphin's 'TDN Rising Star' Notable Speech (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) they appear well positioned to add to that total Saturday afternoon in suburban Toronto. When Team Godolphin raid from Europe, you can rest assured that it isn't just for the Tim Horton's. They mean business and their record bears that out. Modern Games (Ire) (Dubawi...

Charlie Appleby says it's not easy to come over to North America and win major stakes, even though he makes it look that way. On Saturday at Woodbine, Appleby will send out three horses, all of them in Grade I competition, and each one looks to have an excellent chance. He usually does well when he ships to anywhere in North America, but has been particularly tough at Woodbine, where he is 9-for-17 (53%). All nine of his Canadian winners have come in Grade I stakes. "We have sent the...

East Coast shipper Reef Runner (The Big Beast) crossed the wire narrowly first in Saturday's GIII Green Flash Handicap at Del Mar, but was disqualified and placed second, as Motorious (GB) (Muhaarar {GB}) was elevated to the victory, completing a three-peat in the 'Win and You're In' qualifier for the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint over the same course and distance on Nov. 1. It was the 7-year-old gelding's third consecutive win in the race. Reef Runner was one of the first away from his double-digit box, but came over...

Charles Marquis's hard-knocking Bear River (Flameaway) grab command of Saturday's $2-million GII Mint Kentucky Turf Sprint soon after the start and never relinquished the advantage while reversing form with comebacking favorite Howard Wolowitz (Munnings) to earn a fees-paid berth into the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint at Del Mar on Nov. 1. A no-excuses sixth to Howard Wolowitz in last year's GI Franklin-Stamps Stakes in his lone previous attempt at this quirky layout, the chestnut ridgling was returning to southern Kentucky off a narrow victory at 17-1 in the Turf...

Just how deep is Sunday's running of the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup at Saratoga, a 'Win and You're In' qualifier for the GI Breeders' Cup Classic in a little more than two months' time? Well, six of the eight remaining horses--GII Charles Town Classic winner Banishing (Ghostzapper) will be scratched--have recorded at least one Beyer Speed Figure of 104 or higher this year and three of the entrants are already Grade I winners this term. It is the very definition of a hot race. The field is led by...

When 'TDN Rising Star' Arabian Knight (Uncle Mo) went wire-to-wire to take out the 2023 GI Pacific Classic, it made trainer Bob Baffert the winningest trainer in the relatively short history of the event with seven winners, surpassing the late Bobby Frankel. The Hall of Fame conditioner will have every chance to extend that record when he sends out fellow 'Rising Star' Nysos (Nyquist) in a compelling renewal of the 10-furlong feature Saturday afternoon, with an all-expenses-paid trip to the GI Breeders' Cup Classic over the same course and distance...

The hits just keep on coming for the infinitely likeable Book'em Danno (Bucchero), who stamped his authority on Saturday's GI Forego Stakes at Saratoga, where he has now won four times from five trips up the Thruway. His lone blemish came when a gallant third in the GI H. Allen Jerkens Stakes on this very program 12 months ago. One of the most popular horses in training, Book'em Danno has literally matured before the eyes of the horse racing public. Through a very successful sophomore season, which included a victory...

There really isn't a whole lot that trainer Bill Mott has left to accomplish in the Thoroughbred business. Since recording his first graded stakes victory with Heatherten--who also gave him his first Grade I success--for owner John Franks some 41 years ago, the 72-year-old has saddled the winners of over 150 top-level contests with superstars of either sex, such as Taylor's Special, Theatrical (Ire), Paradise Creek, Fraise, legendary dual Horse of the Year Cigar, Ajina, Escena, Wekiva Springs, Favorite Trick, Dream Supreme and her son Majestic Warrior, Drosselmeyer, To Honor...

El Cordobes (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), the lesser-preferred, less-accomplished and less-exposed part of an uncoupled entry for Godolphin and trainer Charlie Appleby, took his cue from Flavien Prat in upper stretch, split rivals on two occasions inside the final furlong and a half and dove across the line first to take out Saturday's GI Resorts World Casino Sword Dancer Stakes at Saratoga. With the victory, El Cordobes earns an automatic berth into the field for the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Turf at Del Mar later this fall. Exiting a victory in...

Despite the fact that Journalism (Curlin) became the first of his generation to earn as many as three elite-level victories with his thrilling success in the GI NYRABets Haskell Stakes last weekend, Godolphin's Sovereignty (Into Mischief) remains at the head of this year's sophomore class by virtue of convincing head-to-head tallies in the GI Kentucky Derby on May 3 and when last seen in the GI Belmont Stakes right here at Saratoga on June 7. But the argument can be made that Saturday's GII Jim Dandy Stakes at the Spa...

She looked to have it all to do entering the final three furlongs of Saturday's GII Rodeo Drive Stakes, a Breeders' Cup qualifier for the GI Filly and Mare Turf down at Del Mar in four weeks, but Hang the Moon (Uncle Mo) kicked it in approaching the stretch and outfinished the rail-skimming Aspen Grove (Ire) (Justify) to cause a 9-1 upset. Iscreamuscream (Twirling Candy), last-out winner of the GI Del Mar Oaks and favored at 3-2 while facing her elders here, led them along after some wayward ways across...