By Alan Carasso
Bolstered by a record 80 entries from the connections of horses based overseas–smashing the previous mark of 60 set just last year–some 212 horses have been pre-entered for the 2024 Breeders' Cup World Championships to be held Friday and Saturday, Nov. 1 and 2. For the third time, the festival will take place at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, which hosted the event for the first time in 2017 and again in 2021.
“The record number of outstanding international contenders pre-entered this year speaks to the truly global nature of the Breeders' Cup World Championships and is a testament to the connections who have targeted our festival of racing,” said Drew Fleming, President & CEO of Breeders' Cup Limited.
“We express our gratitude to the skilled individuals worldwide who provide the exceptional care that allows these remarkable Thoroughbreds to excel at the highest level. We also thank our hosts at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club for their wonderful hospitality and extend our appreciation to our breeders and nominators, whose dedication helps underwrite the World Championships. We also thank the bettors and fans from around the globe for their unwavering support, and look forward to hosting a Breeders' Cup for the ages at Del Mar.”
Among the entries are four previous Breeders' Cup champions, including three from last year's event at Santa Anita. 'TDN Rising Star' Fierceness (City of Light) will look to add to his eye-popping success in the 2023 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile in what promises to be a cracking renewal of the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Classic; Idiomatic (Curlin) will try to become the third filly or mare to go back-to-back in the Distaff while squaring off with 'Rising Star' and champion 3-year-old filly elect Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna); Big Evs (Ire) (Blue Point {Ire}), last year's Juvenile Turf Sprint winner, goes in the GI Turf Sprint; and Rebel's Romance (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), victorious in the 2022 GI Turf at Keeneland, returns for another crack off a globetrotting season.
The 2021 Breeders' Cup at the seaside oval proved a watershed moment for Japan, as Loves Only You (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and Marche Lorraine (Jpn) (Orfevre {Jpn}) became the country's first two winners at the meeting in the Filly and Mare Turf and Distaff, respectively. After fielding a team of nine runners in 2023, Japan is back in force with a record 19 pre-entries, chief among them Forever Young (Jpn) (Real Steel {Jpn}), whose lone career defeat to date came when third in a tight three-way go at this year's GI Kentucky Derby. Trained by Yoshito Yahagi, who called the shots on the 2021 winners, the son of Forever Darling (Congrats) is joined by his compatriots Derma Sotogake (Jpn) (Mind Your Biscuits), runner-up 12 months ago; and Ushba Tesoro (Jpn) (Orfevre {Jpn}), the 2023 G1 Dubai World Cup hero who ran on bravely to be fifth last year.
Adding immeasurable intrigue to what will be the most internationally flavored edition of the Classic in its history is champion City of Troy (Justify), deemed by trainer Aidan O'Brien 'the best I've ever trained.' Also entering the Classic with the same six-from-seven mark as Forever Young, the homebred colt failed to show up when ninth in this year's G1 QIPCO 2000 Guineas, but he's been flawless since, including wins in the G1 Betfred Derby, G1 Coral-Eclipse Stakes and G1 Juddmonte International Stakes. If he handles the dirt, he could prove an elusive first Classic winner for Ballydoyle.
Fan-favorite Next (Not This Time) has been entered in the Classic and Turf by trainer Doug Cowans, with a first preference for the Classic. The rest of the Classic pre-entries, in alphabetical order, are: Arthur's Ride (Tapit), Highland Falls (Curlin), Mixto (Good Magic), Newgate (Into Mischief), Senor Buscador (Mineshaft, second preference in the Dirt Mile), 'TDN Rising Star' Sierra Leone (Gun Runner), Skippylongstocking (Exaggerator) and 'Rising Star' Tapit Trice (Tapit). Also-eligibles are Pyrenees (Into Mischief) and Rattle N Roll (Connect). Derma Sotogake and Skippylongstocking also have a second preference in the Dirt Mile.
A total of 16 Breeders' Cup Classic winners have gone on to be named Horse of the Year.
Rebel's Romance, already a Group 1 winner in Dubai and Hong Kong and victorious in Group 3 company in Qatar all this season, was last seen taking the G1 Preis von Europe at Cologne, the same race he used en route to victory in the 2022 Turf. He faces a potentially full field that is set to include Japan's Shahryar (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), an excellent third to Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) last year; G1 Yorkshire Oaks victress Content (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}); the in-form Far Bridge (English Channel); and this year's G1 St Leger runner-up Illinois (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}).
While Idiomatic and Thorpedo Anna will vie for favoritism in the Distaff, a most-intriguing new shooter is the American-bred but Japanese-based Awesome Result (Justify), a half-sister to Grade I winner Sippican Harbor (Orb), whose seven wins from as many starts includes a pair of listed victories over the deeper dirt tracks on the National Association of Racing circuit in Japan. Her most recent win came in the Breeders' Gold Cup at Mombetsu in late August, the same race used by Marche Lorraine in 2021.
Click here for the full list of pre-entered horses.
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