Nitrogen has been racing and winning all year, but only in the past two weeks has her standing changed dramatically for the Breeders’ Cup Distaff. Nitrogen went from a double-digit longshot to likely second favorite.
A better-than-looked runner-up finish by Nitrogen in the Grade 1 Spinster Stakes on Oct. 5 and two major defections from the Distaff have elevated Nitrogen to 4-1 on the Daily Racing Form’s early odds line. Seismic Beauty is the 8-5 favorite.
It doesn’t appear Ted Noffey will have many challengers in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, but he will encounter at least one familiar foe as Blackout Time, second to Ted Noffey in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland on Oct. 4, will take him on again in the Juvenile, trainer Kenny McPeek said Tuesday.
In the first 41 years of the Breeders’ Cup, there have been only four 3-year-olds to have run in all three Triple Crown races and win the Classic later that year.
On Nov. 1 at Del Mar, Journalism will attempt to become the fifth, joining, among others, his sire, Curlin, who pulled off the feat in 2007. He joined Sunday Silence (1989) and Unbridled (1990), and they were joined by Triple Crown winner American Pharoah in 2015.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Straight No Chaser, the champion male sprinter of 2024, worked a half-mile in a quick 47.20 seconds at Santa Anita on Sunday in advance of a scheduled start in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Del Mar on Nov. 1.
Straight No Chaser won the 2024 BC Sprint to clinch his title. In an abbreviated campaign this year, Straight No Chaser has started three times, the most recent of which was a third-place finish in the Grade 2 Santa Anita Sprint Championship at six furlongs on Sept. 28.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Cavalieri, the undefeated three-time stakes winner, will miss a scheduled start in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Del Mar on Nov. 1, trainer Bob Baffert said on Sunday.
Baffert said the 4-year-old Cavalieri will remain in training despite missing the nation’s richest race for fillies and mares.
“She’ll be back,” he said. “It was very minor.”
Cavalieri’s defection from the BC Distaff was first reported by FanDuel TV.
Minnie Hauk, a close second in the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in Paris on Oct. 5, remains under consideration for the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Turf at Del Mar on Nov. 1, while the five-time stakes winner Diego Velazquez is set for retirement and will not start in the $2 million BC Mile at Del Mar, trainer Aidan O’Brien said on Sunday.
In a brief telephone interview, O’Brien provided an update on some of his expected runners for the Breeders’ Cup races on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, emphasizing that the list has not been finalized.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Breeders’ Cup hopeful Bellezza, the Grade 2 Flower Bowl winner, went a half-mile in 49.06 seconds over Saratoga's Oklahoma dirt training track Sunday morning. Bellezza is pointing to the BC Filly and Mare Turf.
Bellezza started two lengths behind workmate Skywatcher, a 2-year-old maiden, drew even at the top of the lane and finished on even terms. Bellezza galloped five furlongs in 1:02.24.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Sierra Leone, the 2024 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner, and Sovereignty, the horse who figures to be favored to win the 2025 Classic, put in workouts minutes apart Sunday over the Oklahoma training track on a cool, but dry morning in Saratoga.
Sierra Leone, working in company with the maiden Duration, went a half-mile in 48.54 seconds with a strong gallop out. Shortly thereafter, Sovereignty, working in company with recent maiden winner Playa Del Mar, went five furlongs in 59.94 seconds, galloping out six furlongs in 1:14.03.
Coolmore’s Ashford Stud continues to build its roster for 2026, as the farm announced Sunday that champion juvenile Citizen Bull will retire to the Kentucky farm following the Breeders’ Cup.
Citizen Bull, who currently races for the partnership of SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Stonestreet Stables, Dianne Bashor, Determined Stables, Robert Masterson, Tom Ryan, Waves Edge Capital, and Catherine Donovan, is expected to make his final start in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile on Nov. 1 at Del Mar.
Baeza and Journalism, two of the nation’s leading 3-year-olds, had workouts at Santa Anita on Friday for the $7 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar on Nov. 1.
Baeza, winner of the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby at Parx Racing in his last start on Sept. 20, worked five furlongs in 59 seconds, the second-fastest of 33 recorded works at the distance.
“I was a little surprised,” trainer John Shirreffs said of the time. “We wanted a nice workout.”
Jockey Hector Berrios was aboard for the workout. Shirreffs said that Baeza worked in company with a stablemate.
