Cover image courtesy of Breeders' Cup
America
Breeders’ Cup Classic won by globe-trotting Japanese star Forever Young
By Steve Sherack, TDN
That's why they're called the World Championships.
The globe-trotting Forever Young (Jpn) (Real Steel {Jpn}), third in the 2024 G1 Breeders' Cup Classic, reversed form with last year's top two to bring home the US$7-million (AU$10.7 million) centerpiece to Japan before a crowd of 35,173 at sunsplashed Del Mar Saturday.
Off as the narrow second choice at 7-2, the Susumu Fujita colour bearer raced on top of a fast early pace and held last year's winner Sierra Leone (Gun Runner) safe by a half-length. It was another length back to favoured Fierceness (City Of Light) in third.
The Classic was Forever Young's third appearance on American soil. He was also a painfully unlucky third, beaten just a head, behind Mystik Dan (Goldencents) and the closely related Sierra Leone in a roughly run G1 Kentucky Derby in 2024.
“Fierceness and Sierra Leone will be retired, so this was the last chance against these two guys,” Fujita said. “It is my dream to beat these two horses. So, it's a dream come true.”
Trained by Yoshito Yahagi and ridden by Ryusei Sakai, Forever Young covered the 1 1/4 miles over a fast track in 2:00.19. This is the third Breeders' Cup victory for Yahagi and first for Sakai.
“Last time here on prep race was 75 percent condition, and this time we create 100 percent condition,” Yahagi said. “Everything Forever Young did, my order. That means that Forever Young is an amazing horse.”
Amazing horse, indeed. Forever Young won an epic renewal of the G1 Saudi Cup Feb. 22, then was a disappointing third in the G1 Dubai World Cup on April 5. He had raced only once since, winning his audition for this in Japan on October 1.
Forever Young's loaded resume also includes wins in the G3 Saudi Derby, G2 UAE Derby, Japan Dirt Classic and G1 Tokyo Daishoten.
The Classic was the final career start for Sierra Leone and Fierceness. Both will join Coolmore's stallion roster at Ashford Stud for 2026. “Listen, him and Forever Young are closely related and they've had a wonderful rivalry from the Derby on. Today, it was Forever Young's day to find the winner's circle and hats off to them,” Sierra Leone's trainer Chad Brown said.
Pedigree Notes: Forever Young, a ¥98,000,000 (AU$1.1 million) yearling, is one of five Graded/Group winners for Real Steel. Winner of the 2016 G2 Santa Ynez Stakes, Forever Darling is also the dam of G3 Artemis Stakes heroine Brown Ratchet (Jpn) (Kizuna {Jpn}); the placed 2-year-old filly Darlinghurst (Jpn) (Epiphaneia {Jpn}); and a yearling colt by Rey de Oro (Jpn), who was bought by Forever Young's owner for ¥330,000,000 (AU$3.3 million) at this year's JRHA Select Sale.
Forever Young's second dam is the multiple stakes winner and multiple Grade 1-placed Darling My Darling (Deputy Minister). She is responsible for 2017 G1 Darley Alcibiades Stakes victress Heavenly Love (Malibu Moon), the dam of Sierra Leone.
Ethical Diamond wins the Turf at long odds for Mullins
By Alan Carasso, TDN
There have been some seriously unpredictable results in the 42-year history of the Breeders' Cup World Championships.
Think Lashkari at 53-1 in the inaugural Breeders' Cup Mile in 1984. How about Arcangues at 133-1 in the '93 Classic up at Santa Anita? Spain at 55-1 at Churchill in 2000, Bar of Gold in the 2017 Filly & Mare Sprint right here at Del Mar, what of Order of Australia (Ire) at almost 70-1 at Keeneland in 2020.
A little more than two months ago, Ethical Diamond (Ire) (Awtaad {Ire}) was defeating 21 other stayers in the Ebor Handicap at York. Not long before that, he was competing in hurdling events at Punchestown–he broke his hurdling maiden in the heavy that February 3 afternoon–and at the Cheltenham Festival and at and at Ayr, where he was less successful.
On Saturday afternoon on a stage as big and bright as the Breeders' Cup, the 5-year-old–a first Breeders' Cup runner for the legendary trainer Willie Mullins and at Del Mar only because a commonly owned runner goes around in Tuesday's G1 Melbourne Cup–jumped out of the ground in upper stretch and raced away from two-time Turf hero Rebel's Romance (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) and also-rans including the irrepressible 3-year-old filly Minnie Hauk (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) and Goliath (Ger) (Adlerflug {Ger}) in the G1 Longines Breeders' Cup Turf at Del Mar. All in a package that returned–wait for it–27-1 for a result as shocking–or more shocking–than those mentioned up above.
Rebel's Romance was second ahead of his stable companion El Cordobes (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) in third.
“Always, you've always got a chance,” jockey Dylan Browne McMonagle said when asked about riding for the leading jumps trainer. “One hundred percent. He's a different class: jumps, flat, anywhere around the world. He turns up every time and he had the horse in good order. A massive thanks to the team, and well done the connections as well.”
Mullins and the H O S Syndicate will be represented in the 'race that stops a nation' this coming Tuesday by Absurde (Fr) (Fastnet Rock).
Pedigree Notes: Ethical Diamond is the 15th stakes winner, seventh Group/Graded winner and third top-level scorer for the 12-year-old Cape Cross (Ire) stallion Awtaad (Ire), the 2016 G1 Irish 2000 Guineas hero who has also supplied three-time Grade 1 winner Anisette (GB) and G1 Champion Stakes and G1 Prix d'Ispahan winner Anmaat (Ire).
Ethical Diamond is the only starter to date for his dam, a half-sister to German highweight Precious Boy (Ger) (Big Shuffle), winner of the G2 Mehl-Muhlens Rennen (German 2000 Guineas) and runner-up in a G1 Bayrisches Zuchtrennen as well as Graded-placed Prema (Ger) (Big Shuffle).
Notable Speech gives Godolphin their fourth Mile in five years
By Alan Carasso, TDN
Some 90 minutes after Rebel's Romance (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) finished a brave second in the G1 Longines Breeders' Cup Turf, Godolphin's Notable Speech (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) came running at the fence with time ticking away and was along in time to prevail in the G1 FanDuel Breeders' Cup Mile at Del Mar.
It was a fourth win in five years for Godolphin, jockey William Buick, trainer Charlie Appleby and the legendary Dubawi and came 12 months after Notable Speech finished a valiant third in a bid to run the Mile winning skein to four straight.
Godolphin won the Mile from 2021 through 2023 with Dubawi sons Space Blues (Ire), Modern Games (Ire) and Master of the Seas (Ire), respectively.
“He's a horse we've always thought highly of,” said trainer Charlie Appleby, winning his 12th Breeders' Cup race. “He came here and had a great trip around there and was comfortable the whole way. He was following the right horse, there, and I knew The Lion In Winter would take him into the race from where he was. We were always waiting for the cutaway–that's all it was. He had to get out and get on that fence and ride that rail, but he's the right horse to do with that, you know.”
Pedigree Notes: Dubawi is now the sire of nine Breeders' Cup winners and sits at the top of that particular leaderboard with Into Mischief, who was represented this weekend by Juvenile winner Ted Noffey.
Notable Speech is the only runner to date for his dam, herself runner-up in the G3 UAE Oaks in 2019 and a half-sister to G3 Burj Nahaar winner Desert Wisdom (GB) (Dubawi) and Wild Beauty (GB) (Frankel {GB}), victorious in the 2021 Natalma Stakes and winner on her 3-year-old debut in the G3 Fred Darling Stakes. She was represented by her second foal this season, a filly by Dubawi.
Juddmonte homebred Scylla wins Distaff
By Jill Williams, TDN
A week ago, if Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott had been able to look into the future and see a preview of himself heading to the winner's circle on Breeders' Cup Saturday, he would likely have rested easily, fairly certain he would be winning the G1 Classic for a third time.
It was not to be. Wednesday morning saw Mott make the dreaded announcement Sovereignty would be scratched after spiking a fever. The disappointment throughout the sport was palpable.
If Mott was tempted to pack up and head back home, he'll be glad he stayed. He may have had to sit out the Classic, but he got a pretty nice consolation prize as he extended his record as the winningest trainer in the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff when 5-year-old mare Scylla (Tapit), a Juddmonte homebred ran away with the US$2 million (AU$3 million) race.
“I'll tell you, it's been a mixed bag of emotions,” mused Mott after the Distaff. “We were really disappointed, but it didn't take long really to accept what happened to Sovereignty. I think everybody that's connected has been through it, and I've been through it. We knew when that happened that he wouldn't be able to compete, not at the level that he would need to.
“It seems as though he's recovering well, but he's really not the story here. He's not the story for this race. This one is all about Scylla and about Junior [Alvarado] and the Juddmonte connections. Today we were a great team. Scylla did it for us.”
Nitrogen finished second, while G3 Delaware Handicap winner Regaled (Mohaymen) and G1 Cotillion Stakes winner Clicquot (Quality Road) were third and fourth, respectively.
Pedigree Notes: With Scylla's Distaff victory, Gainesway sensation Tapit moves into a tie for second by all-time Breeders' Cup winners among sires. She is his eighth overall Breeders' Cup winner and his second winner in the Distaff following Untapable in 2014. Tapit, who will be 25 next year and is scheduled to stand for US$185,000 (AU$282,000), has 107 Graded winners and 171 black-type winners, in addition to seven North American champions.
Scylla's female family is equally regal. Her dam, five-time Grade 1 winner Close Hatches (First Defence), also trained by Mott, finished second to Beholder in the 2013 Distaff. In the dozen years since, she's added an Eclipse championship (2014) and has produced three Graded winners, including the Mott-trained Tacitus, a full brother to Scylla.
Close Hatches is a full sister to the dam of Juddmonte's 2023 Distaff winner Idiomatic and is a great-great granddaughter of 1982 Broodmare of the Year Best in Show. Close Hatches has an unraced 2-year-old filly named Crowning Glory (Uncle Mo), and has been bred to Gun Runner three years running, resulting in a yearling filly, a weanling colt, and a full sibling to those two due in 2026.
Gezora adds another one for Europe
By Heather Anderson, TDN Europe
Already a winner of the G1 Prix de Diane (French Oaks) in June, Gezora (Fr) (Almanzor {Fr}) unleashed a devastating late kick to down stretch leader She Feels Pretty (Karakontie {Jpn}) in the dying strides and claim the G1 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf by half-length. The final time for the 1 3/8 miles was 2:12.54. The bay gave her trainer Francis-Henri Graffard his first Breeders' Cup victory. He is champion trainer elect in France this year.
Graffard said, “It's a meeting I've always loved and tried to win one, but it's very hard. I saw that again today how hard it is and you really need a horse like Gezora, who has a big heart, travels really strongly and is able to quicken. She's a champion filly and it's fantastic to win a race like that, especially for Mr. Brant in his famous colors.”
Pedigree Notes: The most decorated runner for her sire, who won the Prix du Jockey Club, Champion Stakes and Irish Champion Stakes at the top table himself, Gezora is one of 25 stakes winners worldwide for Almanzor. His Sydney Cup-winning son Circle Of Fire and Victoria Derby hero Manzoice are also Group 1 winners.
Sold to Horse France from the Mill Ridge Sales agent out of the 2004 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, subsequent G1 Prix Saint-Alary heroine Germance was runner-up in the Diane in 2006. Gezora is her 11th and final foal.
Germance, in turn, is a daughter of stakes winner and G1 Prix de la Salamandre second Majestic Role (Fr) (Theatrical {Ire}), responsible for G3 Prix Fille de l'Air heroine Aiglonne (Silver Hawk). The latter is the dam of the sire Mekhtaal (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), a winner of the G1 Prix d'Ispahan, and Aigue Marine (GB) (Galileo {Ire}), a multiple Graded stakes winner. The sire White Muzzle (GB) (Dancing Brave), who won the G1 Derby Italiano and was second in the 1993 Arc is also a member of this family.
Close duel for Nysos in Dirt Mile
By Patrycja Szpyra, TDN
It looked like a close contest on paper, and in the end, the G1 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile turned into one of those events where it deserved no loser, but there had to be one.
The juvenile champion of 2024, Citizen Bull (Into Mischief) set 'supersonic' splits early (as Larry Collmus called them at one point), and ran the race of his life, but it was stablemate Nysos (Nyquist) who ultimately played the spoiler as he nailed the photo to win the Dirt Mile in one of the closest finishes of the weekend.
“It should have been a dead heat!” said Baffert. “I knew I was going to win. Citizen Bull caught another gear and Nysos–he hadn't run in a while–he dug in and it was just unbelievable. We work so hard and there are so many ups and downs and you just want to be able to cheer for them coming down the stretch. That Citizen Bull, he looked like a champion that he was last year.”
“Nysos is a great horse. It was actually his first Grade 1 win; a lot of people thought he was a superstar. They were on their bellies and they ran…what a race. It's a shame that one of them had to lose.”
Pedigree Notes: Nysos is by far the most accomplished runner for his dam Zetta Z, but is her fourth winner from five to the races with one sibling being placed in the UAE during his career. His half-sister stakes placed Attabe (Distorted Humor) has a 2025 colt by Nyquist this year while their dam has produced an unraced 3-year-old named Bernetta (Street Sense), a juvenile colt named Warnock (Yaupon), and a yearling filly by Cyberknife since Nysos hit the ground. She did not produce any offspring this season after a trip to Justify but she went back to the Triple Crown winner for 2026.
Nysos is Nyquist's fourth Grade 1 winner in 2025 behind Cavalieri, Velocity, and Argos.
Bentornato avenges last year’s second in the Sprint
By Steve Sherack, TDN
Bentornato (Valiant Minister) avenged his too-good-to-lose second at last year's Championships with a powerful, front-running performance in Saturday's G1 Breeders' Cup Sprint at Del Mar. Imagination (Into Mischief) just held off Dr. Venkman (Ghostzapper) for second.
“So happy to stand here again,” trainer Jose D'Angelo said after saddling his second career winner at the Championships. “We prepared these two horses all year round to have them ready for today and it worked perfectly. We think about all the small details, like the travel and everything. They figured it out and they showed up today. I am just grateful to God to stand here.”
A 25% interest in Bentornato brought US$1 million (AU$1.53 million) from Michael and Jules Iavarone at the Keeneland Championship Sale held in the Del Mar paddock on Wednesday evening. Angel Lozano's Leon King Stable Corp. remains the 4-year-old's majority owner.
“We knew he was ready,” said Iavarone, the former frontman of the now-defunct IEAH Stables. “How many times in life do you get to buy into the Breeders' Cup favorite four or five days before?”
D'Angelo added that Bentornato will be aimed at next year's G2 Riyadh Dirt Sprint and G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen, both held in the Middle East. He finished third behind Saturday's GI Breeders' Cup Classic winner Forever Young (Jpn) (Real Steel {Jpn}) in last year's G3 Saudi Derby.
Pedigree Notes: Bentornato is the lone Graded winner for Florida stallion Valiant Minister, who stands at Bridlewood Farm in Ocala. Valiant Minister won his lone career start for Baoma Corp and Bob Baffert at Santa Anita in 2017.
Bentornato's dam two-time winner Her Special Way (Put It Back) RNA'd for US$120,000 (AU$183,000) at the 2025 Keeneland January Sale. She had a filly by Oscar Performance this year and was bred back to Girvin.
Shisospicy beats the boys in Turf Sprint
By J.N. Campbell, TDN
“Tum-ta-tum-tum-TUMS!!”
Ordering up some hot sauce with the ring of the bell, Shisospicy (Mitole) dished out a torrid serving of pace and winged her way to World Championship glory as she downed the G1 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint to beat the boys and give them a dose of heartburn.
“I knew that she was going to explode today with her speed, and it worked out perfectly,” said trainer Jose D'Angelo. “With her speed, I just trained her for the race.”
Ag Bullet (Twirling Candy) was the runner-up in the Turf Sprint. Herself a 5-year-old mare who was third in this race last year, she will be offered at the upcoming Fasig-Tipton's 'Night of the Stars' sale. Khaadem (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}), a stalwart 9-year-old, finished a respectable third.
During the running of the race, She's Quality (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) was pulled up by rider Colin Keane.
Later, the AAEP said in a written statement, “She's Quality was eased by jockey Colin Keane out of an abundance of caution during the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint and was immediately attended to by multiple members of the Breeders' Cup Veterinary Team. 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.”
Pedigree Notes: The winner's sire Mitole, by Eskendereya, now has his first top-level scorer for his wall at Spendthrift.
Mischief Galore's first foal is Shisospicy's older full sister, Sapphire Nights. The winner's dam is responsible for 2-year-old unraced colt Yasup (Yaupon), who was sent from the US to the UAE this year, and a yearling filly also by Yaupon. Mischief Galore was entered in Jackie's Warrior's book for this coming season.
Shisospicy was bred by the Heiligbrodts and the grey hammered down for US$100,000 (AU$153,000) as a short yearling during Keeneland January when she went to Fish Stables. The Breeders' Cup winner then was purchased for US$200,000 (AU$306,000) six months later by Hartley/De Renzo Thoroughbreds at the Fasig-Tipton July sale.
Splendora wins the Filly & Mare Sprint
By Stefanie Grimm, TDN
Derived from the Latin word 'splendor', Splendora (Audible) equates in the dictionary to magnificent brilliance or a dazzling display of beauty. Putting in a performance worthy of her name, the 4-year-old daughter of Audible upset her favoured stablemate Hope Road (Quality Road) to capture the G1 PNC Bank Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint, the first Breeders' Cup race of the card on Saturday.
Splendora's win gave Baffert his second in the Filly & Mare Sprint after he captured it first with Gamine (Into Mischief) in 2020. It was the first victory in the race for jockey Flavien Prat and his eighth overall in a Breeders' Cup race.
“She has been working really well and she loves this track,” said Baffert following the race. “I told (Flavien) Prat, when she ran here this summer, going six furlongs, she ran an incredible race and just sat off the pace. When he swooped up to the outside (today) and she took off, it was over. Hope Road, she ran great. I thought she would be off the pace a little bit. These races, they are so tough to win.
“I honestly was a bit worried that we might have a lack of speed because of all the scratches, but the pace was fair and I was able to travel good,” Prat added. “I really felt like I was traveling well all the way around and as soon as I was able to go around everybody, she just give me a good run.”
Pedigree Note: Splendora was a US$125,000 (AU$191,000) yearling purchase for Talla Racing and Rockingham Ranch at Fasig-Tipton's July Sale in 2022. Her breeder, The Elkstone Group, picked up first dam Miss Freeze with the winner in utero for US$45,000 (AU$69,000) at Keeneland November in 2020 and she's since produced two foals from two to race.
She is the first Grade 1 winner for Audible, a young son of Into Mischief who captured the G1 Xpressbet Florida Derby himself before retiring to stud at WinStar Farm. From three crops, he's been represented by 141 winners and seven stakes winners including My Mane Squeeze.
