DEL MAR, Calif. – Even without the star, the show will go on.

The defection of leading 3-year-old and potential Horse of the Year Sovereignty certainly leaves a void in what was shaping up to be an all-time Breeders’ Cup Classic. But the $7 million Classic and the other eight Breeders’ Cup races to be run Saturday at Del Mar, a stone’s thrown from the Pacific Ocean, will still have plenty of drama and compelling story lines to keep one’s interest throughout the championship-defining series of races.

DEL MAR, Calif. – While this year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic conjures memories of last year’s, considering the top three finishers are back in the race, there’s another race that is still very much on the mind of Japanese jockey Ryusei Sakai.

It was the 2024 Kentucky Derby where Forever Young, ridden by Sakai, battled through the Churchill Downs stretch inside of Sierra Leone. Forever Young came up two noses short of Mystik Dan in the Derby. One could argue that a late bump from Sierra Leone might have cost Forever Young a shot at second or perhaps the win.

From a training base in County Carlow, Ireland, trainer Willie Mullins has conquered jump racing in his home country and Britain in a spectacular manner. This week, his massive operation has spread as far as Del Mar and Melbourne, Australia.

Mullins will have his first Breeders’ Cup runner when Ethical Diamond starts in Saturday’s $5 million Turf at 1 1/2 miles. Ethical Diamond was a successful hurdler for Mullins earlier this year.

DEL MAR, Calif. – Race No. 30 in Rebel’s Romance’s already acclaimed career could be historic.

A 7-year-old gelding, Rebel’s Romance has 20 wins at 14 tracks in six countries. On Saturday at Del Mar, he will attempt to become the first three-time winner of the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Turf at Del Mar. Rebel’s Romance won the 2022 BC Turf at Keeneland and the same race last year at Del Mar.

DEL MAR, Calif.– Jockey Rossa Ryan had a high standard to match this year after a 2024 season that included wins aboard Bluestocking in the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in Paris and Starlust in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Del Mar.

Ryan, who stands 5 feet 8 inches, won 201 races in Britain alone in 2024, the second consecutive year he surpassed the 200-win milestone.

Zia Park opens its meet Saturday with the richest average daily purse structure in New Mexico.

The Hobbs track is projected to average $430,000 a card in purses. The overnight purses alone are set to average $340,000.

“Outside of probably California and Oaklawn, I don’t think there’s anybody west of the Mississippi that has a better overnight purse structure,” said Chris McErlean, vice president of racing for Penn Entertainment, which owns the track. “A lot of people don’t realize the amount of money being thrown around.”

DEL MAR, Calif. – Scottish Lassie, a two-time Grade 1-winning filly, was scratched out of Saturday’s $2 million Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Del Mar due to a minor issue in her right foreleg, trainer Jorge Abreu said Thursday morning.

“She galloped [Wednesday] and she schooled. She’s walking sound, but when I gave her a trot she wants to be a hair off right front,” Abreu said.

Abreu said it was his and his owner’s decision to scratch the horse, who was drawn in post 5 and was listed at 12-1 on the morning line.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – The speedy Maximum Fifty takes a three-race winning streak into Saturday’s featured 10th race at Woodbine and should be favored in a six-horse field that also includes the unbeaten 3-year-old Going Lucky.