ARCADIA, CA – Inspiral and Warm Heart are in career form, but enter Saturday’s Grade 1, $2 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at 1 1/4 miles from different directions. Inspiral is a brilliant miler attempting to stretch her vaunted ability another two furlongs after Group 1 victories in the Prix Jacques le Marois on Aug. 13 and the Sun Chariot on Oct. 7. Conversely, Warm Heart is turning back in distance after Group 1 triumphs in the Yorkshire Oaks on Aug. 24 and the Prix Vermeille on Sept. 10. :: BREEDERS’ CUP 2023: See DRF’s special section with top contenders, odds, comments, news, and more for each division Trainer John Gosden had the option of entering Inspiral in the Breeders’ Cup Mile, but was worried about drawing an outside post with the short run into the first turn. Adding in the fact that the first part of the Filly and Mare Turf is run downhill over a sharp course, and that Inspiral finishes strongly, makes one believe she can handle this extra distance. Inspiral cantered on the turf Tuesday morning under Frankie Dettori. “I’m happy with her. All is good,” the rider said. Although Warm Heart’s last three victories came at 1 1/2 miles, she is unbeaten in two runs at 1 1/4 miles. She overcame a stumbling start to win the Prix Vermeille, displaying class and determination. Warm Heart’s trainer, Aidan O’Brien took last year’s Filly and Mare Turf with Tuesday, the Epsom Oaks winner at 1 1/2 miles who finished second in the Yorkshire Oaks and fourth in the Prix Vermeille. Trainer Chad Brown is a four-time winner of the Filly and Mare Turf. He’ll send out two horses with contrasting running styles. In Italian, second in this race last year when it was contested at 1 3/16 miles at Keeneland, is a speedball. McKulick has a strong stretch kick. Both are dependent on pace. Like Inspiral, In Italian’s best races have come at shorter distances. “It’s worked in the past with me,” Brown said. “A horse, Dayathespa [winner of the 2014 Filly and Mare Turf], comes to mind that looked like a stone miler and she was able to do it at Santa Anita. In Italian is every bit as good as her.” In Italian ran too well to lose in her last two races, beaten a nose in the nine-furlong, Grade 1 Diana at Saratoga, and then dropping a head decision in the Grade 1 First Lady at Keeneland. “She’s very fast,” Brown added. “[The distance] is a bit of a question mark, but it all comes down to the pace of the race, and whether she can relax and settle nicely.” McKulick took the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks last year at 1 1/4 miles, but her three wins since have come at 11 furlongs or greater. She stayed close to tepid splits over yielding going against only three others when winning the Grade 3 Waya at odds-on on Oct. 7, but will likely come from well off the pace Saturday. :: Get Breeders' Cup Clocker Reports from Mike Welsch and the DRF Clocker Team when you purchase a BC VIP Package! “If the pace does pick up at some point, and horses are moving forward, I’d say she’d be in the pack of horses that are moving up and trying to find their way to show their late kick,” Brown said. Fev Rover, the winner of the Grade 1 E.P. Taylor at 1 1/4 miles on Oct. 8, has tactical speed for trainer Mark Casse and jockey Javier Castellano. “[Javier] said she was running along, but she felt like she was struggling a little,” Casse said about the E.P. Taylor. “He said he kind of grabbed her and gave her a breather, and she was ready and took off.” Casse noted that Fev Rover can be a bit temperamental as she acted up badly before an uncharacteristically poor performance when fourth in the Grade 2 Canadian at Woodbine on Sept. 9. Didia has won eight of her last nine starts, and showed no rust returning from a 120-day layoff to win the Grade 2 Rodeo Drive over this course and distance last month. Her only loss during the streak was a second when she was pace-compromised in the Grade 1 New York at Belmont Park on June 9. “We had planned to run her in the Beverly D. after the New York, but she hit her head and had some stitches and needed the time,” said trainer Ignacio Correas IV. “I made an alternative plan and focused on California.” Correas stressed that he wants Didia off the pace from a stalking position, or even farther back. Lindy, second in the French 1000 Guineas earlier this year, has raced twice in North America for trainer Brendan Walsh, most recently finishing a rallying second in the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup for 3-year-old fillies at Keeneland. “She was very unlucky not to win,” Walsh said. “It took her a second to get into her stride, but hopefully she can learn from that.” With The Moonlight and Moira, second and third, respectively in the E.P. Taylor, bring strong credentials. The former is a multiple Group 2 winner in Dubai and a Grade 3 winner in the United States. Moira swept through the Woodbine Oaks and Queen’s Plate over Woodbine’s Tapeta surface in 2022, but seems equally adept on grass, having beaten Fev Rover in the Canadian with an impressive sweeping move. Fifth in last year’s Filly and Mare Turf, she will be partnered with Flavien Prat from post 4. Group 2 winner Lumiere Rock, third over testing ground in the Group 1 Prix de l’Opera last month, and second behind Warm Heart in the Group 2 Ribblesdale on June 22, adds to the European flavor, along with State Occasion, who finished fifth in the Prix de l’Opera, and must prove herself at this level. Japan won the Filly and Mare Turf in 2021 with Loves Only You, and will be represented by Win Marilyn on Saturday. A Group 1 winner in Hong Kong at 1 1/2 miles last year, Win Marilyn has underperformed in three starts in 2023. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.