Wimbledon Hawkeye gave British trainer James Owen his first Group 2 win in the 2024 Royal Lodge Stakes at Newmarket. The colt also gave Owen his first winner in the United States and in a seven-figure race in the Grade 3, $2.6 million Nashville Derby at Kentucky Downs on Aug. 30. Owen has greater goals with Wimbledon Hawkeye, who landed at Del Mar over the weekend for this Saturday’s $5 million Breeders’ Cup Turf at Del Mar, the nation’s richest grass race. Wimbledon Hawkeye will start as an outsider in a big field in the BC Turf at 1 1/2 miles. From Owen’s perspective, the 5,480-mile trip from his base in Newmarket to the seaside track north of San Diego is worth the gamble. Wimbledon Hawkeye, he says, is capable of a surprise performance. “He stays a mile and a half well,” Owen said on Sunday. “He likes quick ground. He’s a very athletic horse and should handle the tight turns. It’s definitely a tough race with a 3-year-old. He’s got a live place chance.” :: BREEDERS’ CUP TURF: See DRF’s special section with top contenders, odds, comments, news, and more Owen has produced unexpected results with longshots this year. In March, Burdett Road finished second at 66-1 in the Grade 1 Champion Hurdle at two miles at Cheltenham Racecourse in Britain. On Sept. 14, Rogue Diplomat was the 14-1 winner in the minor City of Doncaster Handicap at seven furlongs at Doncaster Racecourse, the third win in an ongoing four-race winning streak for the 3-year-old colt. Owen’s stable consists of both flat runners and hurdlers and chasers. Wimbledon Hawkeye has won 3 of 12 starts and earned more than $1.47 million for owner Tim Gredley, a world-class show-jumping rider whose family has an extensive history in British racing. Wimbledon Hawkeye is part of a BC Turf field led by Rebel’s Romance, the winner of the same race at Keeneland in 2022 and Del Mar last year, and Minnie Hauk, a filly who was a game second against males in the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp Racecourse in Paris on Oct. 5. Wimbledon Hawkeye was fifth in the Group 1 English 2000 Guineas at a mile at Newmarket on May 3, and later third of 11 in the Group 2 Dante Stakes at York, a key prep race for the English Derby. Wimbledon Hawkeye did not start in the English Derby. :: Get Breeders' Cup Betting Strategies from Brad Free and David Aragona for exclusive wager recommendations and play the races with confidence! During the summer, Wimbledon Hawkeye finished second in the Group 2 Princess of Wales’s Stakes at 1 1/2 miles at Newmarket on July 10. He was second by a nose in the Grade 3 Gordon Stakes at 1 1/2 miles at Goodwood three weeks later before the lucrative victory at Kentucky Downs. “He’s run solid all year,” Owen said. Frankie Dettori rode Wimbledon Hawkeye for the first time in the Nashville Derby and will have the mount on Saturday. “Frankie really liked him and got on with him,” Owen said. Gredley and Owen also plan to start Aspect Island in Friday’s $1 million Juvenile Turf Sprint at five furlongs. Aspect Island was third in the Group 3 Cornwallis Stakes at five furlongs on a straightaway course at Newmarket on Oct. 10 in his stakes debut and fifth start. Aspect Island will also be an outsider, but one capable of being part of the pace in what is typically a furiously run sprint. “We’re really looking forward to it,” Owen said of the weekend. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.