The notion that Notable Speech will win the Breeders’ Cup Mile next month at Del Mar finds traction in the fact his trainer never has run a horse in the race who lost.

Charlie Appleby, private and lead trainer for Godolphin, sent out his first Mile runner in 2021, when Space Blues won at Del Mar. At Keeneland in 2022, Modern Games ruled a three-quarter-length Mile winner. And last year at Santa Anita, Master of The Seas remarkably rallied from 11th at the stretch call to first at the wire, winning the 2023 Mile.

Trainer Brad Cox believes the Highland Falls he will send to Southern California in November is a better version of the one he sent there in March. If that proves true, Highland Falls should be a significant player in the $7 million Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 2 at Del Mar.

After winning three of his first four starts between Kentucky and Louisiana, Highland Falls was shipped west by Cox and Godolphin Racing for the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap on March 3. Racing last for the first half of the race, Highland Falls ultimately finished fourth, 2 3/4 lengths behind Newgate.

Five-time reigning leading sire Into Mischief, in pursuit of his sixth title, figures to reign as one of the most expensive sires in North America again for 2025. Spendthrift Farm announced its roster and most of its fees, and has set its flagship sire’s fee at $250,000.

A filly from the first crop of multiple Grade 1 winner Cyberknife sold for $230,000 to lead the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga fall mixed sale on Tuesday.

Fasig-Tipton reported 146 horses sold for $3,933,000 in the single-session sale, compared to 157 for $4,597,200 last year.

The average price was $26,938, dropping eight percent from $29,282 last year. The median dropped 25 percent, to $15,000 from $20,000. The buyback rate was 41 percent, compared to 35 percent in 2023.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Individuals who care for Thoroughbreds, and for the people in the industry behind them, were honored at the Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards the evening of Oct. 15 at Keeneland.

Stablemates Kilwin and Totally Justified comprise the ideal tandem for trainer Rusty Arnold in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Del Mar on Nov. 1 – two stakes winners approaching the $1 million race in excellent form.

A deep team will be a benefit for Arnold, too, in a one-mile race expected to draw a full field of 14 with runners from throughout the United States as well as Europe.

Kilwin, unbeaten in two starts, won the $998,500 Untapable Stakes at 6 1/2 furlongs at Kentucky Downs on Sept. 8 in her stakes debut.

Although she did win last year’s listed All Along Stakes at Pimlico in gate-to-wire fashion when conditioned by Brittany Russell, Full Count Felicia had shown to be a versatile sort, as evidenced by her rallying victory in Gulfstream’s Grade 3 Suwannee River Stakes in December.

That doesn’t seem to be the case any longer as Full Count Felicia, now with trainer Kevin Attard at Woodbine, has utilized run-and-gun tactics that led to dominating victories in the Grade 2 Canadian on Aug. 10 and the Grade 1 E.P. Taylor on Sept. 14.

Full Count Felicia is now a speed horse.

From a tactical standpoint, trainer Steve Asmussen has all the bases covered in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint.

Society likes to race close to the lead. In last year’s Filly and Mare Sprint, she battled for early supremacy before tiring to finish fourth.

On the other hand, Zeitlos appears a true one-run closer, rallying from off the pace to win her last four dirt starts.

They’ll challenge a talented field that includes Ways and Means, Sweet Azteca, Vahva, and Scylla.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Trainer Mike Mattine looks to be holding a strong hand in Friday’s Woodbine headliner when he runs Silent Reserve and Fighter in the Win in the conditioned allowance with a $50,000 claiming option.

With the hot apprentice Austin Adams aboard, Silent Reserve is the one to catch in the five-furlong inner turf dash. The son of Silent Name lost a heartbreaker against Ontario-breds in the Vice Regent Stakes last year, when he also finished second in the Lake Huron Stakes for Ontario-sired sophomores.

The finish wire at Del Mar probably is the end of the line for Idiomatic, the majestic 5-year-old mare seeking a second Breeders’ Cup Distaff victory for owner-breeder Juddmonte Farm.

While a Distaff repeat would be a fine way to go out, no decision has been made for 2025, when Idiomatic will be 6. Will she campaign on the racetrack, or go to the breeding shed? Juddmonte USA general manger Garrett O’Rourke deferred.