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. – Champion jockey Frankie Dettori announced his retirement from race-riding following the Breeders’ Cup and a few rides in South America. Dettori made his announcement Wednesday on X, formerly Twitter. 

“Following the Breeders’ Cup on Saturday, I will be retiring from race riding in the United States and concluding my career with a few rides in South America, something I’ve always wanted to do,” Dettori posted. 

An announcement is expected on Thursday on where and when he will be riding in South America. 

DEL MAR
Tuesday, Oct. 28
Weather: Clear
Temp.: 57°
Track: Fast
DEL MAR - The Aidan O’Brien show, always a highlight when the potent stable takes to the track for the first time at the Breeders’ Cup no matter the venue, became Aidan and Sons this year at Del Mar. 

The group consisted of 13 O’Brien horses led by Aidan’s army of eight Breeders’ Cup contenders along with five others trained by his sons Joseph and Donnacha.

DEL MAR, Calif. - Sovereignty, the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winner, spiked a fever overnight and his status for Saturday’s $7 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar is very much in doubt, trainer Bill Mott said Tuesday.

Sovereignty, the 6-5 morning-line favorite for the Classic, had a fever as high as 103 degrees - two degrees above normal - Tuesday morning but was treated with anti-inflammatories around 6 a.m., and his temperature returned to normal, Mott said.

DEL MAR, Calif.  - When Banishing runs in Saturday’s $2 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Del Mar, Chad Summers will be the trainer of record, not David Jacobson. 

Jacobson said that the workman’s compensation insurance policy that is valid in other states, is not valid in California and he said it would take a couple of weeks to get a new policy, which would not be in time for him to be the trainer of record for the Breeders’ Cup. 

Churchill Downs will open the betting on next year’s Kentucky Derby with the first of its future wager pools on Wednesday, with betting closing just prior to the running of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on Friday evening.

ARCADIA, Calif. - There are quick workouts and there is the effort the 4-year-old filly Kopion displayed at Santa Anita on Sunday.

A four-time stakes winner, Kopion worked three furlongs in 33.20 seconds under jockey Mike Smith in advance of a first start against males in Saturday’s $2 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Del Mar.

“That was pretty amazing,” trainer Richard Mandella said later in the morning at his stable office. “She went in 33 and one, and it looked like she went in 36.”

DEL MAR, Calif. - Humidity, among the pre-entered horses in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, did not ship from England for the race, according to a representative of the International Racing Bureau, which coordinates shipping and on-ground logistics for international Breeders’ Cup participants.  

Most recently second in the Royal Lodge Stakes at Newmarket, Humidity ranked as a mid-tier overseas contender for the Juvenile Turf, and probably would have been a pace factor since he has led in nearly all his races.