DEL MAR, Calif. - Starlust was racing in his fourth country this year when he won Saturday’s Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Del Mar in a 33-1 upset.
There are possible plans for a start in a fifth country before the end of the year.
Trainer Ralph Beckett said on Sunday that Starlust will be considered for the Group 1 Hong Kong Sprint, a $3.34 million race at six furlongs at Sha Tin Racecourse in Hong Kong on Dec. 8.
DEL MAR, Calif. – More Than Looks will be back for more.
The Breeders’ Cup Mile winner will get a winter freshening before returning for a 5-year-old campaign, trainer Cherie DeVaux said Sunday morning.
More Than Looks earned a career-best 105 Beyer Speed Figure for a career-defining victory on Saturday, coming from last to first under Jose Ortiz to win the Mile by three-quarters of a length. His turn of foot from the three-sixteenths pole to the wire was, as usual, scintillating.
Total betting on the nine Breeders’ Cup races held on Saturday at Del Mar in Southern California was up 4.0 percent compared to total betting on the Saturday Breeders’ Cup slate last year at Santa Anita Park, according to charts of the races.
The Saturday total, $106.76 million, validated a decision by Breeders’ Cup to significantly alter the Saturday race order to fit the day’s most prestigious races into an early-afternoon broadcast window on the flagship station of NBC, the Breeders’ Cup’s broadcast partner.
Trainer Dan Blacker admitted the reality of having won his first Breeders’ Cup race with Straight No Chaser in the Sprint on Saturday afternoon at Del Mar still hadn’t sunk in yet by the time he returned to the barn for training hours early Sunday.
“Everything had been pointing up to this race with him for the last six months, and just to get through all that and win, it’s really so unbelievable,” said Blacker, who trains Straight No Chaser for My Racehorse. “He’s such a really talented horse and I’m just so thrilled for him and the connections.”
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.
