Key events
PREVIEW: Mile, 1m, turf
And so, after one of the greatest of all riding careers, it is time for Frankie Dettori to bow out, aboard the Japanese-trained Argine in the race where it all began for him at the Breeders’ Cup, aboard Barathea in 1994.
Will he go out with a flying dismount, the acclaim of the Del Mar grandstand and another Grade One win to his name? In all honesty, probably not. But for all that Argine seems to have something to find in this company, she has at least looked very well during morning exercise.
Notable Speech is top on ratings and quickened well to win the Woodbine Mile last time, having also won the 2,000 Guineas and Sussex Stakes last year.
Sahlan is a fast-improving three-year-old, who won the Moulin last time out with The Lion In Winter less than a length away in third. It was a career-best run for both horses.
Rhetorical, Program Trading and Jonquil were first, second and fourth in the Coolmore Turf Mile at Keeneland in October.
Formidable Man was a Grade One winner at Santa Anita earlier in the year and won over track and trip in a Grade Two last time. It’s also interesting that he has a perfect 5-5 record over track and trip.
KEY FORM:
G1 Woodbine Mile, Woodbine, 8f, 13 Sep 25 (Notable Speech)
G1 Prix du Moulin, Longchamp, 8f, 7 Sep 25 (Sahlan, The Lion In Winter)
G1 Coolmore Turf Mile, Keeneland, 8f, 4 Oct 25 (Rhetorical, Program Trading, Jonquil)
G2 Del Mar Mile, Del Mar, 30 Aug 25 (Formidable Man)
G2 City Of Hope Stakes, Santa Anita, 27 Sep 25 (Johannes, Almendares)
SELECTION: SAHLAN
Here’s the closing stages of the Classic, a landmark moment for Japanese racing.
A fantastic result for Japanese trainer Yoshito Yahagi, and perhaps an overdue win for Forever Young, who got the worst of the interference in the home stretch in an incredibly tight finish to last year’s Kentucky Derby.
Ryusei Sakai was sitting close behind the pace from the off and struck for home at the perfect time coming off the bend, carving out a lead that Sierra Leone and Fierceness could not close down. The same three horses as last year fill the frame in the Classic, but crucially for Japanese racing, in a different order.
BREEDERS’ CUP CLASSIC RESULT:
1. FOREVER YOUNG (Ryusei Sakai), 2. Sierra Leone, 3. Fierceness.
A winner for Japan in the meeting’s showpiece event!
Going in for the Classic …
and OFF AND RUNNING IN THE BREEDERS’ CUP CLASSIC!
Here’s the full replay of the Turf from NBC’s YouTube channel:
It is tough to move on from that astonishing Turf, but it’s four minutes to post for the Classic and it is wide-open in the betting:
3-1 Fierceness & Forever Young
7-2 Sierra Leone
5-1 Journalism
6-1 Mindframe
8-1 Baeza
16-1 Antiquarian
20-1 bar
Willie Mullins is in the interview room, explaining that Ethical Diamond was re-routed to the Breeders’ Cup Turf as he would not have been able to pass the strict pre-race veterinary procedures before the Melbourne Cup in Australia next week.
He also says that tactics are key to getting the best out of the five-year-old.
The first time I took him to Royal Ascot, he was much too free, so now we just try to temper his early speed. Dylan is very cool and he executed [the plan] perfectly
If Del Mar was not entirely buzzing before the Turf, it certainly is now, and it’s 20 minutes to post time for the $7m Classic, the richest race of the meeting. Perhaps Willie will target that next year …
There was so much packed into the final 15 seconds of the Turf. First, it looked as though Minnie Hauk would go clear. Then Rebel’s Romance moved alongside. And then, as if he’d just joined in, Ethical Diamond went WHOOSH!
A finishing kick for the ages from Willie Mullins’s Ethical Diamond:
That was an astonishing race, one that will be talked about for years to come. The big three of Minnie Hauk, Goliath and Rebel’s Romance all moved into contention rounding the final turn and it promised to be a three-way go, but Dylan Browne McMonagle, who trailed the field early on Ethical Diamond, had other ideas.
He came with a sweeping, irresistible run on the Ebor winner, a 28-1 outsider, and simply flew past the previous Group One winners in the final furlong. Breathtaking, extraordinary stuff. Or, as Mullins himself put it, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow.
BREEDERS’ CUP TURF RESULT:
1. ETHICAL DIAMOND (Dylan Browne McMonagle), 2. Rebel’s Romance, 3. El Cordobes.
Willie Mullins has a Breeders’ Cup winner! Is there anything this man can’t do?
Going into the stalls steady for the Turf ….
and they are OFF AND RUNNING IN THE BREEDERS’ CUP TURF!
Five minutes to the off in the Turf and all the money is for Minnie Hauk and Rebel’s Romance, currently evens and 2-1 respectively. Every other runner in the race is at double-figure odds on the tote.
PREVIEW: Classic, 1m 2f, dirt
There’s no sugaring the bitter pill of Sovereignty’s withdrawal earlier in the week, as with the Kentucky Derby winner in the field, this would be the best running of the Classic for at least 20 years. But it is still a pretty deep renewal, with last year’s front three – Sierra Leone, Fierceness and Forever Young – all back for another crack, and the second and third in the Run For The Roses at Churchill Downs – Journalism and Baeza – also in the field. Journalism went on to win the second leg of the Triple Crown, the Preakness, in the absence of Sovereignty, who then returned to the track in the Belmont, where Journalism was again the runner-up. Journalism most recently finished three-and-a-quarter lengths second behind Fierceness in the Pacific Classic, his first outing in an all-aged race. Forever Young was arguably a little unlucky in last year’s Kentucky Derby and won the Saudi Cup back in February before running a two-length third in the Dubai World Cup a few weeks later. He has clearly been prepared solely with this race in mind ever since.
KEY FORM:
G1 Kentucky Derby, Churchill Downs, 1m 2f, 3 May 25 (Journalism, Baeza)
G1 Breeders’ Cup Classic, Del Mar, 1m 2f, 2 Nov 24 (Sierra Leone, Fierceness, Forever Young)
G1 Pacific Classic, Del Mar, 1m 2f, 31 Aug 25 (Fierceness, Journalism)
G1 Whitney Stakes, Saratoga, 1m 1f, 2 Aug 2025 (Sierra Leone, Fierceness)
SELECTION: FOREVER YOUNG
El Cordobes, incidentally, is the first mount on the day for 19-year-old wunderkind rider Billy Loughnane, who also partners Diamond Rain, a very live runner, in the Filly & Mare Turf at the end of the card. El Cordobes is a bigger price with the bookies back home than he is here, but the US fans have seen plenty of him, including his defeat of Rebel Red in the Grade One Sword Dancer at Saratoga in August.
As yet, the day has not really caught light from a European perspective, but the Turf is the race where it could all go off and Minnie Hauk and Rebel’s Romance are jostling at the top of the betting here at Del Mar. The latest prices with 15 minutes to post time:
8-5 Minnie Hauk
2-1 Rebel’s Romance
9-1 Goliath
11-1 Amiloc
16-1 El Cordobes
21-1 Redistricting
25-1 Rebel Red
30-1 Wimbledon Hawkeye
35-1 bar
Here’s the closing stages of the Distaff:
Another front-running winner in Scylla, and the favourite, Seismic Beauty, was back-pedalling with over a quarter of a mile to run. Nitrogen was within a couple of lengths of the leader at the final turn but once Scylla hit top gear, she increased her margin all the way to the line.
BREEDERS’ CUP DISTAFF RESULT:
1. SCYLLA (Junior Alvarado), 2. Nitrogen, 3. Regaled.
OFF AND RUNNING IN THE BREEDERS’ CUP DISTAFF!
The Distaff is fast approaching, they are going into the stalls …
There’s another strong favourite in the Distaff, which will be off in around 15 minutes:
evens Seismic Beauty
4-1 Nitrogen
6-1 Dorth Vader
8-1 Scylla
9-1 Clicquot
16-1 Gin Gin
25-1 bar
A further positive update on She’s Quality, who was pulled up in the Turf Sprint, from the Breeders’ Cup media operation.
After walking onto the equine ambulance and undergoing a thorough examination at the Southern California Equine Foundation (SCEF) hospital, she is back at her barn and will continue to be closely monitored.
PREVIEW: Turf, 1m 4f, turf
This is undoubtedly the best race on the card from a European perspective, as three outstanding Group One winners face off over a mile-and-a-half.
Rebel’s Romance, a winner of this twice already, will join an elite group of three horses with three Breeders’ Cup wins if he goes in again, and looked as good as ever when he warmed up for Del Mar with a win at Aqueduct.
Minnie Hauk has won three Oaks this summer – at Epsom, the Curragh and then the Yorkshire version at the Ebor meeting – and was edged out only narrowly in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe three weeks ago.
Goliath, meanwhile, was an emphatic winner of the King George & Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot in 2024 and has looked to be working his way back to his very form in recent months.
There is little to separate them on ratings, and there are several live each-way shots in behind them too, including Wimbledon Hawkeye, with Frankie in the plate, and Ralph Beckett’s Amiloc, an impressive winner of the King Edward VII at Royal Ascot in the summer.
And as the jumps season gets into gear back in Britain and Ireland, there’s even a Willie Mullins runner to make it feel like home, as Ethical Diamond attempts to follow up his Ebor success in August.
KEY FORM:
G1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic, Aqueduct, 1m 4f, 27 Sep 25 (Rebel’s Romance, El Cordobes, Rebel Red)
G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, Longchamp, 1m 4f, 5 Oct 25 (Minnie Hauk)
G1 King George & Queen Elizabeth Stakes, Ascot, 1m 4f, 27 Jul 24 (Goliath)
G3 Nashville Derby Invitational, Keeneland, 1m 2.5f, 30 Aug 25 (Wimbledon Hawkeye)
Ebor Handicap, York, 1m 6f, 23 Aug 25 (Ethical Diamond).
SELECTION: GOLIATH
Bentornato paid $5.40 to a $2 stake, and won by the best part of three lengths, which is fairly emphatic at this level.
That’s a quickfire double for Jose D’Angelo, who also saddled Shisospicy to win the turf equivalent.
Bentornato was at or near the head of affairs from the off and when he turned into the straight, there was no hint of a pace collapse as he kept on strongly for a convincing success.
BREEDERS’ CUP SPRINT RESULT:
1. BENTORNATO (Irad Ortiz jun), 2. Imagination, 3. Dr. Venkman.
Going in for the Sprint …
and they are OFF AND RUNNING IN THE BREEDERS’ CUP SPRINT!
With around 10 minutes to post time for the Sprint, Bentornato is 8-5 to improve on his second place in this race last year. The top of the list is:
8-5 Bentornato
4-1 Kopion
6-1 Imagination & Straight No Chaser
16-1 Lovesick Blues & Mullikin
25-1 bar
PREVIEW: Distaff, 1m 1f, dirt
The filly and mare version of the Classic, and a race where the “big three” of Seismic Beauty, Nitrogen and Dorth Vader take out a big chunk of the betting market. They are tightly grouped in terms of their Timeform ratings too, with only a couple of pound between the three of them.
Seismic Beauty, though, is a solid favourite, and arrives off the back of a Grade One success in the Clement L Hirsch at this track in August.
Dorth Vader is making her first trip to the west coast and does not arrive with winning form last time out, but she could not have been much closer to the now-retired Thorpedo Anna, last year’s Distaff champion, in the Personal Ensign at Saratoga, where she was gaining all the way to the line and went down by a nose.
Nitrogen too was a close second last time, she was held off by the re-opposing Gin Gin in the Spinster Stakes, where it looked – to me at least – as though she was a little reluctant to pass the winner. Scylla, another runner worth running a rule over, was third in that race.
KEY FORM:
G1 Clement L Hirsch Stakes, Del Mar, 8.5f, 2 Aug 25 (Seismic Beauty)
G1 Personal Ensign Stakes, Saratoga, 9f, 23 Aug 25 (Dorth Vader)
G1 Spinster Stakes, Keeneland, 9f, 5 Oct 25 (Gin Gin, Nitrogen, Scylla)
SELECTION: DORTH VADER
Scott Hay, the senior vet at Del Mar, has been talking to NBC Sport about She’s Quality:
The jockey eased her on the backside, probably just out of an abundance of caution, but she’s showing some right-hind lameness currently. There’s nothing obvious on the limb. She’s going to be transported in an equine ambulance to the hospital.
And here’s the closing stages of the Turf Sprint, Shisospicy was in command from start to finish:
Here’s the finish of the Filly & Mare Sprint from earlier, Splendora’s change of gear at the top of the stretch is quite something.
She’s Quality walked onto the ambulance, which is a positive sign.
In the race itself, Shisospicy was straight to the head of affairs and never really looked like being reeled in. She paid around 5-1 on the tote.
She’s Quality was very slowly away from the stalls and trailed the field before being pulled up after about two furlongs. She was immediately dismounted and is currently being examined by the vets. More news as soon as I have it.
BREEDERS’ CUP TURF SPRINT RESULT:
1. SHISOSPICY (Irad Ortiz jun), 2. Ag Bullet, 3. Khaadem.
Approaching the gates … going in steadily ….
OFF AND RUNNING IN THE BREEDERS’ CUP TURF SPRINT!
The runners are out on the track for the Turf Sprint, the local punters are not piling into Khaadem with any enthusiasm and Frankie’s mount is 13-1. Motorious remains the popular pick at 3-1, and Ag Bullet is 9-2 along with Shisospicy. Bucanero Fuerte is 11-1 to give Amo Racing a first Breeders’ Cup success.
PREVIEW: Sprint, 6f, dirt
One of the most significant pieces of form ahead of the Sprint is often the form from last year’s running of the race and it could be the same again this time around as Straight No Chaser and Bentornato, the 1-2 12 months ago, are both back for another crack. Straight No Chaser has been busier than Bentornato since, and last year’s runner-up did not see a track again until returning from a 10-month layoff with a win at Churchill Downs. Others to consider include Imagination, bidding to give Bob Baffert a quick double after his win in the opener, and Kopion, whose 59-year-old rider, “Big Money” Mike Smith, will be the oldest winning jockey in Breeders’ Cup history if he gets home in front.
KEY FORM:
G1 Breeders’ Cup Sprint, Del Mar, 2 Nov 24 (Straight No Chaser, Bentornato, Mullikin, Nakatomi)
Louisville Thoroughbred Society Stakes, Churchill Downs, 13 Sep 25 (Bentornato)
G2 Santa Anita Sprint Championship, Santa Anita, 6f, 29 Sep 25 (Imagination, Dr Venkman, Straight No Chaser)
G1 Clement L Hirsch Stakes, Del Mar, 8.5f, 3 Aug 25 (Kopion)
SELECTION: BENTORNATO
We’re onto the turf next for the Turf Sprint, Motorious is the marginal favourite at 3-1 while it’s 11-1 that Frankie will get another Grade One on Khaadem on his final day at a major meet.
Splendora paid $7.80 to a $2 stake – a shade under 3-1.
Hope Road cruised through the race until the final turn and eased to the front just over a furlong out, but Splendora rocketed past soon afterwards and the race was as good as over. That’s a 20th Breeders’ Cup winner for Bob Baffert, who is now just one behind Aidan O’Brien, the winning-most trainer in Breeders’ Cup history since about 18 hours ago, when Gstaad took the Juvenile Turf.
BREEDERS’ CUP FILLY & MARE SPRINT RESULT:
1. SPLENDORA (Flavien Prat), 2. Vahva, 3. Hope Road.
Photograph: Steven Cargill/racingfotos.com/Shutterstock
OFF AND RUNNING IN THE FILLY & MARE SPRINT!
They are going into the gates for the first Breeders’ Cup race of the day … Hope Road is an even-money shot to get the punters off to a flier …
Just over 15 minutes to post time for the depeleted Filly & Mare Sprint and the full list of the latest prices on the US tote is:
4-5 Hope Road
3-1 Splendora
5-1 Richi
9-1 Vahva
11-1 Praying
14-1 Haulin Ice
16-1 Zeitlos
PREVIEW: Turf Sprint, 5f, turf
One of the big European hopes for this race, Arizona Blaze, was among the veterinary scratches yesterday but there are still a few visitors with a chance and all – well, most – eyes will be on Khaadem and Frankie Dettori as they attempt to follow up a Grade One win in the Woodford Stakes at Keeneland in October.
Adrian Murray, Arizona Blaze’s trainer, still has a runner in Bucanero Fuerte, who will now be ridden by Amo Racing’s retained rider, David Egan, while She’s Quality, another Irish-trained runner, has decent prospects too having finished third in the Prix de l’Abbaye at Longchamp last time and has been aimed at this race all year.
A fair squad of US-trained turf sprinting rivals includes Motorious, Ag Bullet and Reef Runner, and all three have form in the book this year that puts them in with a live chance. They also, obviously, have experience of racing at high speed around a tight turn and that is not to be underestimated. Ag Bullet in particular has Grade One winning form in the Jaipur at Saratoga in June and could be the one to beat the visitors and register a fourth US win in this race in the last five runnings.
KEY FORM:
G2 Woodford Stakes, Keeneland, 5.5f, 4 Oct 25 (Khaadem)
G1 Jaipur Stakes, Saratoga, 5.5f, 8 Jun 25 (Ag Bullet)
G3 Green Flash Handicap, Del Mar, 5f, 31 Aug 25 (Motorious, Reef Runner)
G1 Prix de l’Abbaye, Longchamp, 5f, 5 Oct 25 (She’s Quality)
G1 Flying Five, the Curragh, 5f, 14 Sep 25 (She’s Quality, Bucanero Fuerte)
SELECTION: AG BULLET
PREVIEW: Filly & Mare Sprint, 7f, dirt
This was shaping up to be one of the better runnings of this somewhat quirky event for female horses over seven furlongs, which does not count as a sprint trip in Europe but apparently does on this side of the pond.
The vets, however, decided to scratch nearly a third of the field this morning, including two of the big-name runners, Sweet Azteca and Tamara – the veteran rider Mike Smith’s best chance to become the oldest winning jockey in Breeders’ Cup history.
It has been left looking decidedly thin as a result, though Bob Baffert has been handed a huge chance to notch a 20th Breeders’ Cup win, which would put him alongside the late D Wayne Lukas and just one behind Aidan O’Brien in the all-time list. Baffert fields Richi, the runner-up in the Zenyatta Stakes last time, and Splendora, a winner over a mile at Del Mar in September, while Hope Road, the Grade One Ballerina Stakes winner at Saratoga looks likely to be the main threat to the Baffert duo.
KEY FORM:
G1 Ballerina Stakes, Saratoga, 7f, 23 Aug 25 (Hope Road)
G2 Santa Maria Stakes, Santa Anita, 8.5f, 19 Apr 25 (Richi, Splendora)
SELECTION: HOPE ROAD
Here’s the full running order at Del Mar today, with times in GMT:
19.00: Filly & Mare Sprint
19.41: Turf Sprint
20.21: Sprint
21.01: Distaff
21.41: Turf
22.25: Classic
23.05: Mile
23.45: Dirt Mile
00.25: Filly & Mare Turf
Preamble
Hello from Del Mar racetrack near San Diego, where it is day two of the 2025 Breeders’ Cup and it is also, in case you’ve just returned from Mars, Frankie Dettori’s final day as a top-level jockey. His mutterings about taking a few rides in South America before finally calling it a day spoil the sense of finality just a little, but there is no doubt that Khaadem, in the Turf Sprint (19.41 GMT), Wimbledon Hawkeye in the Turf (21.41 GMT) and Argine, in the Mile (23.05 GMT), will be the last Grade One rides of a remarkable 40-year career.
All three fall into the category of live each-way chances, and all three were winners at a high level last time out. Even so, Dettori will need to conjure up a career-best performance from somewhere among them if he is to bow out with one last flying dismount.
Dettori is far from being the only legend on the card, however. Rebel’s Romance, one of the best and most consistent Group One performers in the game, will join Beholder and Goldikova as a three-times Breeders’ Cup winner if he can get another victory in the Turf on the board. Charlie Appleby’s gelding is up against Minnie Hauk, the Arc runner-up, and last year’s King George winner, Goliath, in one of the best renewals of one of the seven original Breeders’ Cup races.
Goliath is joined by two stable companions at the Francis-Henri Graffard yard, Sahlan in the Mile and Gezora, in the concluding Filly & Mare Turf, as France’s new champion trainer bids to end a cold streak for French-trained horses at the meeting that dates back to 2017. And in addition to the European interest in the four contests on turf, the action on the dirt includes a renewal of the Classic that pits the first three home in last year’s race against two of the first three home in the Kentucky Derby.
There has been some drama here already this morning, as Tamara and Sweet Azteca, two of the top three in the betting for the Filly & Mare Sprint, were among the “veterinary scratches” announced earlier this morning, along with another runner in the same race, Fee Blanche, and Donnacha O’Brien’s Atsila, in the Filly & Mare Turf. With the much fancied Arizona Blaze having been ruled out of the Turf Sprint yesterday, that takes the total of veterinary scratches on today’s card to six.
The main card at the Breeders’ Cup is always a giddy ride which throws up commanding performances, compelling finishes and, as a rule, a big upset or two along the way. Picks for the nine races are here (if you scroll to the end), the action is underway with the Filly & Mare Sprint on the dirt at 19.00 GMT, and I’ll be tapping away trackside to keep you up to date with all the news and results until the final horse home in the Filly & Mare Turf is across the line.
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