Sweet Azteca had to overcome a minor setback at the end of September that cost her a scheduled workout, but the 5-year-old mare returned to her usual regimen on Oct. 11 and remains firmly on track for the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint.
“She had a slight temperature, but the blood was good,” trainer Richard Baltas said. “I think it was a small virus or something. I really couldn’t pinpoint it. Missed a few days and a work, but she’s healthy now.”
Trainer Kenny McPeek said Wednesday he is hopeful jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. will be able to be back aboard Mystik Dan for the Grade 1, $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile on Nov. 1 at Del Mar.
Hernandez was unable to team with the Kentucky Derby winner last month, when Mystik Dan won the Lukas Classic at Churchill Downs, because he was rehabbing from injuries he sustained in a spill a week earlier. Hernandez broke seven ribs, punctured a lung, and suffered a small laceration to his liver.
A horse intended for the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Del Mar has raced six times on the Del Mar grass course and never lost. That horse, just a 4-year-old, has won multiple Grade 1s, has an overall mark of 8 for 14 on turf, and since his trainer began racing him without blinkers four starts ago has three wins and an unlucky fourth.
Gezora was 13th in the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp Racecourse in Paris on Oct. 5, a loss trainer Francis-Henri Graffard is eager to forget.
“She found herself really far back, which was impossible in the Arc,” he said in a phone interview Wednesday.
Best known for winning the Group 1 French Oaks in June, Gezora’s season is not over. She is scheduled to race outside of Europe for the first time in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf on Nov. 1 at Del Mar.
Tawny Port thrives on activity. That was evident in a five-week period from late August to early October, when Tawny Port finished second in three rich stakes at Kentucky Downs and Woodbine.
The efforts have convinced Peachtree Stable and trainer Miguel Clement to plan a start for Tawny Port in the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Turf at Del Mar on Nov. 1.
“The last five weeks, he’s run three terrific races,” Clement said on Wednesday. “It gives us confidence.”
Twice in the last five years, the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint has gone to a horse coming from Europe, with Glass Slippers breaking through for the international set in 2020 at Keeneland, and Starlust upsetting the race last year at Del Mar. The international contingent coming to Del Mar for this year’s renewal will become clearer after this weekend, with who runs – or doesn’t run – on British Champions Day Saturday playing a role.
Straight No Chaser will attempt to become just the fourth horse to register back-to-back victories in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint on Nov. 1 at Del Mar. If successful, he will join an exclusive list that includes Midnight Lute (2007-08), Roy H (2017-18), and most recently Elite Power, who captured the Sprint in 2022 and 2023.
Keeneland hosted a 2-year-old turf route stakes, the Bourbon, on Oct. 5. Final Score won it, Turf Star finished second, and Gordon Pass closed for third. The connections of all three colts hope to move on to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf on Oct. 31 at Del Mar.
The complexion of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint changed this week when trainer Aidan O’Brien revealed that he is more likely to keep the accomplished filly True Love sprinting rather than stretching her out to a mile in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf on the same day.
“We’re probably leaning toward the Sprint,” O’Brien told Daily Racing Form’s Steve Andersen in a rundown of his Breeders’ Cup roster, while emphasizing that race decisions have yet to be finalized.
Recent history favors the undefeated Final Accord, who will race at a mile for the first time in the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Del Mar on Oct. 31.
In the 17 runnings of the race, two winners have been tried at a mile for the first time and won the Juvenile Fillies Turf – Meditate at Keeneland in 2022 and Lake Victoria at Del Mar last year. They were trained by Aidan O’Brien of Ireland.
