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Saturday, 2nd November, saw the eyes of the racing world turn to California. Always one of the most spectacular fixtures of the year, the 2024 Breeders’ Cup Meeting – taking place at Del Mar for the first time since 2017 – appeared well up to scratch.
As ever, the British and Irish battalions traversed the Atlantic in search of gold. Aidan O’Brien, Charlie Appleby, and John & Thady Gosden were all represented on a card featuring no fewer than eight Grade 1 contests. Charlie Appleby’s pursuit of a fourth successive win in the Breeders’ Cup Mile and Emily Upjohn’s swansong in the Turf were compelling storylines. However, the biggest talking point came in the Breeders’ Cup Classic – could City Of Troy conquer the best of the US dirt performers on their own patch?
Here, we look back at the eight Grade 1 events on the card, with a focus on the fortunes of the British and Irish contenders.
PNC Bank Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint
1st: Soul Of An Angel – 198/10
2nd: Society – 7/2
3rd: Pleasant – 147/10
The Juddmonte duo of Pleasant and Scylla and Coolmore’s Society provided a pair of recognisable silks in this 7f dirt contest. William Knight’s Frost At Dawn was the only UK representative and boasted some dirt experience, having finished second in a Meydan Conditions contest in December 2023.
Stumbling as the stalls opened, Frost At Dawn’s race was over almost as soon as it began. However, the rest of the field served up a frenetically run thriller. Coolmore’s Society and Juddmonte’s Pleasant cut out the running and were bang in contention inside the final furlong. However, the duo had no answer to the relentless late surge of the wide-running Soul Of An Angel, who got up close home to score by half a length.
Prevagen Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint
1st: Starlust – 34/1
2nd: Motorious – 126/10
3rd: Ag Bullet – 93/10
Having sent out the first ten home in the Prix de l’Abbaye on Arc Day, the British and Irish likely headed into this 5f turf sprint with high hopes. However, a seemingly tall obstacle stood in their way, in the shape of odds on favourite Cogburn. Unbeaten in 2024, Steve Asmussen’s blisteringly quick five-year-old looked tough to beat.
The first part of the race appeared to be going to plan for the market leader, although being pestered for the lead by Hollie Doyle and Bradsell possibly wasn't part of the plan.
Bradsell was a spent force turning into the straight and, whilst Cogburn led, those early exertions left him a sitting duck to the closers. Motorious and Ag Bullet swamped him, but the late-charging outsider Starlust mowed them all down to score by a neck. Jockey Rossa Ryan had to survive a Steward's Enquiry, but the result was confirmed to cap a remarkable year for Ralph Beckett.
Michael Appleby’s Big Evs briefly threatened but was forced out wide and faded into eighth. Star Of Mystery, going for Michael’s brother Charlie, looked like the unlucky horse in the race, being blocked at a crucial stage before finishing well for fourth.
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Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff
1st: Thorpedo Anna – 2/5F
2nd: Raging Sea – 41/10
3rd: Candied – 78/10
Five from six in 2024, with her only defeat seeing her go down by a rapidly diminishing neck to Breeders’ Cup Classic favourite Fierceness, Kenneth McPeek’s Thorpedo was unsurprisingly the shortest-price favourite on the card.
Whilst Cogburn burnt the fingers of odds-on backers in the previous contest, the result of this fillies-only affair was never in doubt. Kicked into the lead by B J Hernandez, the daughter of Fast Anna didn't see another rival as she cruised home 2½l clear of the field. The three-year-old faces stiff competition for US Horse of the Year Honours but did her claims no harm with this facile victory.
Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf
1st: Rebel’s Romance – 19/10F
2nd: Rousham Park – 221/10
3rd: Shahryar – 17/2
Having claimed 10 of the previous 14 editions, this was always the race most likely to fall to a British or Irish yard.
Charlie Appleby’s Rebel’s Romance may be without a Group 1 win in his homeland, but with top-level triumphs in Germany, Japan, UAE, and the US, he takes high rank amongst Godolphin’s cast of globe-trotting stars. Successful in the 2022 edition of this race, this latest victory owed much to a perfect mid-race tactical move from William Buick. Displaying all his nous, Buick pushed forward at the 3f poll and into the lead 2f from home to get first run on his main dangers. The Japanese duo of Rousham Park and Shahyrar gave it their all but never looked like getting to Rebel’s Romance, who hung on to score by a neck.
Poor old Emily Upjohn found herself all dressed up with nowhere to go under a helpless Frankie Dettori. Cantering all over the back of weakening rivals in the straight, when the gap came, it was all too late.
The improving Wingspan fared best of the Aidan O’Brien duo in fifth, ahead of a one-paced Luxembourg in sixth.
Spare a thought for the Brian Meehan operation, whose runner Jayarebe ran with credit in seventh, only to suffer a fatal cardiac incident shortly after the line.
Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic
1st: Sierra Leone – 69/10
2nd: Fierceness – 14/5F
3rd: Forever Young– 41/10
If City Of Troy were to win this, he would need to break smartly, ideally lead, and slowly but surely wind it up from the front. Instead, he found himself readily outpaced from the off, up against it from there, and seemingly far from in love with the underfoot conditions. Finishing eighth of 14 and 13 lengths behind the winner, Aidan O’Brien must wait another year to break his Classic hoodoo.
In hindsight, it is no surprise that the mount of Ryan Moore failed to keep tabs on the pacesetters. With Dermo Sotogake as the protagonist, aided and abetted by Fierceness, Forever Young, and Mixto, the leaders set a furious, record-setting galop.
That pace looked unsustainable at the halfway mark, and so it proved, with Sierra Leone swooping around the outside in the straight to score by a 1½l. The second and third did remarkably well, having raced up with the pace throughout.
Maker’s Mark Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf
1st: Moira – 198/10
2nd: Cinderella’s Dream – 13/5F
3rd: Didia – 107/10
The US were without a win in the past five editions of this turf contest, with Britain and Ireland landing two apiece and one falling to Japan. The hosts were upset once again in 2024 but, this time, by a raider who hadn’t travelled quite so far.
Having finished a creditable third in the 2023 edition at Santa Anita, Moira went two places better to confirm her status as the most popular racehorse in her homeland of Canada.
Switched wide in the straight, Moira toughed out well to cap a golden hour for Classic-winning jockey Flavien Prat. Whether she would have held on had Cinderella’s Dream obtained a clear run is doubtful, with the Charlie Appleby filly looking unlucky to fill only second spot.
Elsewhere amongst the raiding party, Appleby’s Beautiful Love ran a big race in fourth; Aidan O’Brien’s Content was never really involved, having been shuffled back early; and George Boughey’s Soprano lost all chance at the start.
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Cygames Breeders’ Cup Sprint
1st: Straight No Chaser – 61/10
2nd: Bentornato – 28/1
3rd: Mullikin – 16/5F
Three Japanese speedballs turned up to tackle the home contingent in this 6f dirt contest, to no avail. History suggested the US sprinters would be nigh on impossible to beat, and so it proved, with US runners filling the first seven positions.
In another fiercely run affair, Irad Ortiz, Jr. set the fractions aboard Federal Judge, closely pursued by Bentornato. The latter edged that battle in the straight and did well to hold on for second. However, he had no answer to Straight No Chaser. Given a canny ride just off the pace by John R Velazquez, the five-year-old had more than enough left in the tank and scored by a cosy half-length.
FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Mile presented by PDJF
1st: More Than Looks – 69/10
2nd: Johannes – 22/5
3rd: Notable Speech – 23/10F
Two wins from seven Grade 1 events represented a solid return for the British and Irish, and they had strong claims of adding to that tally in the finale.
Donnacha O’Brien’s star filly Porta Fortuna arrived seeking a top-level four-timer, whilst the market viewed Charlie Appleby’s Notable Speech as the most likely winner. Successful in 2021, 2022, and 2023, could the Godolphin handler become the first man to win four in a row?
Not quite. Held up in his usual manner, the 2000 Guineas and Sussex Stakes champ quickened well down the outside but couldn’t quite get to the prominently ridden Johannes. However, the late-charging More Than Looks trumped them all with an irresistible burst down the outside. This may have been one race too many for Porta Fortuna, who managed only eighth.
Paul Harrison
Falling in love with racing at a young age, Paul’s passion for sports and betting took him to Salford University, where he obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Business Economics with Gambling Studies. Having spent ten years in the employment of a leading bookmaker, Paul opted to go it alone and pursue his dream job as a freelance writer.
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