DEL MAR, Calif. – Straight No Chaser waited until the most important race of his career to prove he was more than a one dimensional speedball who needed the lead to win, rallying from off the pace to a half-length victory over the 28-1 Bentornato Saturday at Del Mar in the Grade 1, $2 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint.
DEL MAR, Calif. – A workmanlike filly who never misses a meal and never misses a dance capped an outstanding campaign by leading gate to wire in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Distaff on Saturday at Del Mar.
Anything short of victory by the odds-on favorite would have been disappointing.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Trainer Bob Baffert may be able to dream about the Kentucky Derby again but as of Saturday morning, he had no set plans as it pertained to Citizen Bull and Gaming, the one-two finishers from Friday’s $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.
All-sources handle on the five Breeders’ Cup races held Friday at Del Mar, including betting on all multi-race wagers ending in a Breeders’ Cup race, was up 1.9 percent compared to the same five races last year, according to race charts.
The comparison of the two sets of races is imperfect, as last year’s card included a pick 5 that ended with the first Breeders’ Cup race on the card, in addition to a late pick 5 that included all five Breeders’ Cup races. This year, only one pick 5 was included in the Breeders’ Cup sequence.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Awesome Result, the undefeated filly from Japan scheduled to run in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff, was scratched Saturday morning following a veterinary exam.
Awesome Result won seven starts in Japan and was the likely second betting choice behind Thorpedo Anna in the Distaff. The race has fallen apart. Recent defections due to retirement, injury or vet scratch include 2023 Distaff winner Idiomatic, Adare Manor, and Awesome Result.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Few constants exist in this hyperactive world humans have created. Aidan O’Brian training the winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf? It has nearly become fixed as the seasons. This year, it was a colt named Henri Matisse storming through the homestretch to get up by a neck.
DEL MAR, Calif. – After a three-year banishment from the Kentucky Derby, trainer Bob Baffert will be permitted to run horses in the world’s most famous horse race in 2025.
It’s six months away, sure, but it already looks like Baffert has a horse or two for Kentucky Derby 151.
Taking advantage of a stumbling start for the favorite, East Avenue, Citizen Bull was able to make the lead under Martin Garcia, then get away with pedestrian fractions to beat his Baffert-trained stablemate Gaming by 1 1/2 lengths in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Del Mar.
DEL MAR, Calif. – The problem for 2-year-old Europeans who come for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint arises about a quarter mile into the race – namely, the turn. Short European sprints, particularly at the higher levels, typically are run down a straightaway. But the challenge the turn presents for most overseas shippers proved an asset for Magnum Force, who parlayed an excellent ride from Colin Keane into victory in the $1 million Juvenile Turf Sprint on Friday at Del Mar.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Trainer Aidan O’Brien on Friday afternoon scratched Diego Velazquez from Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Mile, the second overseas entrant taken out of the race late this week.
The French filly Ramatuelle was scratched early Friday after a PET scan revealed an incidence of “bone remodeling.” No specific reason was provided for Diego Velazquez’ scratch, O’Brien merely saying the colt’s training session Friday morning had displeased him.
DEL MAR, Calif. – The 3-year-old filly Ramatuelle was scratched late Thursday night from the Breeders’ Cup Mile.
A release from part-owner Arthur Hoyeau distributed on social media stated that the filly had been diagnosed through a PET scan with bone remodeling in one of her legs. The injury isn’t acutely serious nor career-threatening but necessitated a scratch from a race toward which she’d been aimed for months by trainer Christopher Head.
