A New York-bred won the first American Grade 1 turf race of 2025, and a New York-bred won the most recent American Grade 1 turf race. When it comes to the Breeders’ Cup Mile, a late-season surge is the way to go.
When New York-bred Spirit of St Louis won the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf in January, New York-bred Rhetorical was several months away from his 2025 debut. Spirit of St Louis after winning the Grade 1 Turf Classic in May steadily lost his edge and now won’t race again until 2026.
The always-muddled picture for the five-furlong Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint, which traditionally draws an overflow cast, began to clear up over the weekend when five stakes that could produce starters were run in North America.
Barnavara, the narrow winner of Sunday’s Group 1 Prix de l’Opera at Longchamp Racecourse in Paris, will not be sent to Del Mar for the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf on Nov. 1.
Trainer Jessica Harrington said on Tuesday that Barnavara will not race again this year, and is scheduled to be sold at auction in December.
“I don’t think we will be going” to Del Mar, she said. “I think she had a hard enough race. I don’t want to end up with a bad run.
“She’s done very well this year.”
The North American preliminaries came to a close last weekend, clarifying the division, and while the Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket in England comes Saturday, we’ve probably already found the favorite for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf.
Aidan O’Brien, who has trained the last three winners of the Juvenile Turf, and who has won the race seven times, as of Tuesday had six horses still among the possible final entrants for the Dewhurst. But his prime candidate for Del Mar, Puerto Rico, ran this past Sunday.
Even if Thorpedo Anna’s misfire last weekend softened the field for the Breeders’ Cup Distaff, the trainer of Argentina Group 1 winner Sarawak Rim acknowledged his filly faces a tall order.
“Distaffs are always tough,” Ignacio Correas said. “There’s not an easy Distaff.”
Correas would know, having won the 2019 Distaff with Blue Prize, an Argentine who was in the U.S. more than two years and won two U.S. Grade 1s prior to winning the Distaff at Santa Anita in her second try in the race. This year is different, even if the field does not include 2024 winner Thorpedo Anna.
ARCADIA, Calif. - No one has earned more prize money in the history of the Breeders’ Cup than Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert.
Few will have as powerful of a team as Baffert for the two days of Breeders’ Cup races at Del Mar on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1.
As of Sunday, Baffert had candidates for seven of the 14 races, including three possible runners for the Juvenile with Brant, Desert Gate, and Litmus Test, as well as Hope Road, Richi and Splendora in the Filly and Mare Sprint.
ARCADIA, Calif. - The closest California trainer Jeff Mullins has come to winning a Breeders’ Cup race with 11 career starters was a second-place finish by Wild Fit in the 2005 Juvenile Fillies at Belmont Park.
The 12th runner may provide a breakthrough result at Del Mar on Oct. 31.
Intrepido is bound for the $2 million BC Juvenile after an impressive win at 8-1 in Saturday’s Grade 1 American Pharoah Stakes at 1 1/16 miles at Santa Anita.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – When Sophie Green, assistant to trainer Todd Pletcher, went to saddle the 2-year-old colt Final Score for the Bourbon Stakes on Sunday at Keeneland, she looked right over his back.
“And I’m not tall,” Green said.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - The connections of the two Grade 1 juvenile stakes winners at Aqueduct on Saturday are in no hurry to decide if they will send their charges West for the Breeders’ Cup to be run in less than four weeks at Del Mar.
Napoleon Solo, the 6 1/4-length winner of the Grade 1 Champagne for 2-year-old males, and Iron Orchard, the nose victor of the Grade 1 Frizette for 2-year-old fillies, will both be considered for, but are from certain to move on to, the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and Juvenile Fillies, respectively.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Gin Gin loves Keeneland. Loves Keeneland. Might as well say it twice, just like her name, because what Gin Gin did here Sunday, she did this spring, too, upsetting a graded dirt route stakes race for older fillies and mares. But the Grade 3 Doubledogdare, which Gin Gin won at 38-1, was one thing. Sunday’s Grade 1, $650,000 Spinster was quite another.
Sent straight to the lead by Luis Saez, Gin Gin set a strong pace, fended off Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna, then repelled a stern bid from Nitrogen to prevail by a head at 18-1.
Wow. Wow.
