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. – 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, Calif. – Every time one looked up it seemed like another gaggle of Breeders’ Cup runners were passing by the grandstand, going in one direction or another, many to and from the starting gate or paddock, on the main track and over the turf course as well at Del Mar on Wednesday. This was the busiest morning here by far with all the players currently on the grounds and the first Breeders’ Cup races just 48 hours away.
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.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Saturday’s $7 million Breeders’ Cup Classic is shaping up to be arguably the deepest running in the race’s 42-year history. It’s not just the fans who are looking forward to seeing what happens.
The 10-horse Classic field includes the top three finishers from last year’s race – Sierra Leone, Fierceness, and Forever Young – as well as a top-flight group of 3-year-olds led by Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes top three finishers Sovereignty, Journalism, and Baeza.
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.
