40th Breeders' Cup World Championships

Midnight Lute gave a masterclass in devastating closing speed in his back-to-back Breeders' Cup Sprint wins, with his 4 3/4-length score in 2007 an eye-popping performance visually and his 1:07.08 time in 2008 still holding the Sprint record. Veteran yearling-to-juvenile reseller Eddie Woods broke the champion, who was a $290,000 RNA at OBS March in 2005 as a 2-year-old. "He was a wonderfully big, good-looking black horse," said Woods. "Tom McGreevy bought him to pinhook him to OBS. It's shameful to say for a champion sprinter, but he didn't work...

As the wide-reaching Godolphin operation has used the names of different arms throughout the years--for example, 2001 Juvenile Fillies winner Tempera (A.P. Indy) was bred by Darley Stud Management, LLC but raced for Godolphin, LLC--it may be a surprise to learn Essential Quality was the first official Godolphin homebred to win the Breeders' Cup. Remarkably, in the two renewals since his win, another seven Godolphin homebreds have added to that number. Undefeated at two, Essential Quality was a Belmont and Travers winner at three. His first foals were born this...

Dual Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse was coming off his first two Breeders' Cup wins just the year before when he entered Classic Empire in the Juvenile. Second choice on the board, Classic Empire made back-to-back Grade Is look easy following a powerful victory in the GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity. Casse indicated looks can be deceiving. "Any hair I had left, he made sure it was gone," said Casse recently with a laugh. "He was a pistol. A lot of people didn't know this, but six days before the...

John Ferguson acquired Round Pond on behalf of Darley for $5.75 million at Fasig-Tipton's fall sale in 2007. The elegant bay produced two stakes winners for the Darley/Godolphin banner--MSW & GISP Long River (A.P. Indy) and SW & GSP Lake Lucerne (Dubawi {Ire})--while an unraced daughter produced 2022 GI Carter H. winner Speaker's Corner. The latter, a Godolphin homebred by home stallion Street Sense, stood his first season in the Darley stud barn alongside his sire this year. "Round Pond is a sweet girl," said Darley's Gainsborough division farm manager...

Ashado's Breeders' Cup win in 2004 was sandwiched by placings both the year prior and the year after. The grand mare's 11 black-type wins included seven Grade Is, ranging from the Spinaway at two to the Kentucky Oaks at three and the Ogden Phipps at four. No wonder John Ferguson went to $9 million--then a world record--for her at the 2005 Keeneland November sale on behalf of Darley. Her final foal, a Bernardini yearling, is a full-brother to her stakes winner Westwood. "She is the dominant mare in her retired...

Led by MGISW Arcangelo (Arrogate), GISW Arabian Knight (Uncle Mo), and MG1SW Ushba Tesoro (Jpn) (Orfevre {Jpn}), 205 horses, including 59 from overseas, and four 2022 champions who return to defend their titles, have been pre-entered for the 40th Breeders' Cup World Championships Nov. 3-4 at Santa Anita Park. The Breeders' Cup will be televised live domestically on NBC, Peacock, USA Network, and FanDuel TV. Additionally, the NBC World Feed will be sent to more than 150 countries around the globe. Click here to view all of the 2023 Breeders'...

Surely there's not much that hasn't been said about the inimitable Gun Runner. A top 3-year-old--Grade I winner who placed in the Kentucky Derby, Travers, and Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile--he was nearly perfect at four. After a runner-up finish behind Arrogate halfway across the world in the Dubai World Cup, he never lost again, reeling off a string of Grade I scores which included the Breeders' Cup Classic. He hasn't broken stride at stud either, currently and remarkably ranked second on the U.S. general sires list with only his third...

The late owners Bob and Beverly Lewis, universally beloved in the industry and honored with the Eclipse Award of Merit in 1997, got their third and final Breeders' Cup win with Folklore, made all the more special as she was a homebred. Although they used a variety of trainers, all three of their of their Breeders' Cup wins were with D. Wayne Lukas. "We partnered with WinStar on Tiznow and Folklore was in his first crop," said Mark Taylor of Taylor Made Farm, where Folklore was raised. "She was bred...

Coolmore's late super sire, Galileo, added his sixth Breeders' Cup winner with Tuesday just last year. He is a joint second by winners, but stands alone as the leading Breeders' Cup sire by money won with nearly $16 million in purses--more than $4.5 million more than his closest pursuer. Tuesday, who also captured the G1 Cazoo Oaks in 2022 and now holds the 1 3/16-mile course record at Keeneland after her Breeders' Cup win, was retired shortly after the race and bred to Into Mischief this spring. "She was such...

Some horses never seem to set a foot wrong. Speightstown is one of those. From $2-million Keeneland July yearling to Breeders' Cup winner to champion to influential sire, he's not only done it all, but done it all extremely well. When WinStar's David Hanley was asked if he had a few words to say about the remarkable 25-year-old, he said with a laugh: "I've more than a few words. He's a wonderful horse. I've been very lucky and fortunate to be around him for the past 10 years. He's a...

With the 40th Breeders' Cup World Championships less than two weeks away, a number of hopefuls worked Saturday morning at Keeneland as they make their final preparations before shipping to Santa Anita. Trainer John Ortiz took GISW Brightwork (Outwork) out for a spin on Saturday with William Simon, owner of WSS Racing, on hand as the bay filly points towards the GI NetJets Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Nov. 3. Working with 4 G Racing's GSP Crown Imperial (Classic Empire), a candidate for the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf also...

With a patented Calvin Borel ride, Street Sense skimmed the rail and ricocheted off the turn with such momentum that perhaps even Borel was caught by surprise, as he glanced back several times before finally easing the Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner past the wire while 10 lengths clear. Much was made at the time of the 'Juvenile Jinx,' as no Juvenile winner had yet won the GI Kentucky Derby the following year. The charismatic Street Sense promptly put that myth to bed the next spring, then added the GI Travers...