Mandella says Atitlan could thrive in Breeders' Cup Turf

ARCADIA, Calif. - Atitlan earned a start in the country’s richest turf race in the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Turf at Keeneland on Oct. 31 with a win in the Grade 2 John Henry Turf Championship at Santa Anita on Saturday.

The BC Turf, which draws an international field, is run at 1 1/2 miles compared to 1 1/4 miles for the John Henry Turf Championship. Atitlan figures to be a longshot in the BC Turf, but could thrive at the distance, according to trainer Richard Mandella.

“I think he’d prefer it,” Mandella said.

The BC Turf will be Atitlan’s third start in a Grade 1 race. Owned by John O’Connor, Atitlan was seventh in the 2024 Hollywood Derby for 3-year-olds at Del Mar, and fifth by 1 1/2 lengths in the 2025 Shoemaker Mile at Santa Anita. Both of those races were run on turf.

Mandella began training Atitlan earlier this year following the death of trainer John Shirreffs.

For Mandella, Atitlan has started three times. At the Del Mar summer meeting, Atitlan was fourth in the restricted Wickerr Stakes at a mile on turf in July in his first start in nearly 11 months and second by a neck in the Grade 2 Del Mar Handicap on Aug. 22 to Test Score, a contender in the BC Turf.

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