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.
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.
Regulatory veterinarians who have been inspecting horses entered in the Breeders’ Cup races on Friday and Saturday at Del Mar in Southern California have been conducting heart examinations on the horses for the first time this year, officials said Wednesday during a press briefing outlining safety protocols for the event.
The use of heart exams is an outgrowth of recent work conducted by a working group at the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority that earlier this year identified a risk factor for sudden death among horses who exhibited abnormal heartbeats at rest.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Let’s set the over-under for international wins on this Breeders’ Cup Saturday at 2.5, and it’s not a huge stretch to imagine horses who shipped to Del Mar from distant lands winning five. That would encompass the four turf races and the Classic.
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DEL MAR, Calif. – She has won Grade 1 races in California, Canada, and New York in the last 12 months, was beaten only a head in her only loss this year, and has a consistent style of stalking the pace and delivering a successful rally.
There is much to like about She Feels Pretty in Saturday’s $2 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Del Mar, with one exception. She has a tough assignment from post 13 in a field of 14.
DEL MAR, Calif. – The Breeders’ Cup Distaff is no walk in the park for the favorite, or any of the 13 fillies and mares entered in the $2 million race on Saturday at Del Mar.
The filly wearing a bull’s-eye is front-runner Seismic Beauty, the 9-5 Distaff favorite after earning big figs in small-field stakes this spring and summer in California. Seismic Beauty is the one to catch in the 1 1/8-mile Distaff, race 7, but there is nothing small about this year’s field.
DEL MAR, Calif. – It wasn’t long after Bentornato had finished second in the 2024 Breeders’ Cup Sprint that his trainer Jose D’Angelo had already begun to think about next year and what it would be like to bring an older and more mature Bentornato back to Del Mar for another try in the $2 million Sprint.
DEL MAR, Calif. – The scratch of morning-line favorite Sovereignty from Saturday’s $7 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar changes the narrative of what was and, albeit to a lesser degree, still is a fabulous renewal of North America’s richest horse race.
The storyline of the best 3-year-old in training taking on a stellar group of older males is replaced by this year’s race being a rematch of the top three finishers from last year’s Classic. And given how terrific a race that was, a reprise is not such a bad thing.
DEL MAR, Calif. – In the 2024 Breeders’ Cup Mile at Del Mar, Johannes finished a stout second. His trainer, Tim Yakteen, believes the 5-year-old comes into this year’s Mile every bit as good as last year.
A head behind him a year ago came Notable Speech, who closed from farther back than Johannes, a fine third in his North American debut. His trainer, Charlie Appleby, believes Notable Speech, a 4-year-old now, comes to this Mile a better horse than he was last year.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Reef Runner had returned to the barn after winning a $70,000 handicap at five furlongs on turf at Gulfstream Park in early August when trainer David Fawkes declared a goal for the autumn.
“We’re going to the Breeders’ Cup,” Fawkes told his assistant, Israel Hernandez.
Reef Runner starts in Saturday’s $1 million Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint with a leading chance in a ultra-competitive field of 12.
The win on Aug. 3 was Reef Runner’s first start since March, ending a seven-race losing streak. Reef Runner was gelded earlier this year.
