Breeders' Cup Mile

There was a buoyant atmosphere at the Lane's End Farm stallion complex on Tuesday as a steady stream of breeders came to admire new arrival More Than Looks (More Than Ready), but a few hundred miles away in Atlanta, Georgia, the dreary weather matched Anthony Bartolo's mood. The managing partner of Victory Racing Partners, Bartolo had gotten the call from trainer Cherie DeVaux at 6:30 in the morning the day before informing him that their stable's Breeders' Cup champion had an injury that would delay any possible return to the...

Victory Racing Partners' More Than Looks (More Than Ready--Ladies' Privilege, by Harlan's Holiday), who most recently stormed home from the back of the field to win the GI FanDuel Breeders' Cup Mile at Del Mar, has been retired from racing and will enter stud at William S. Farish's Lane's End in 2025. He will command an introductory fee of $15,000, live foal, stands and nurses terms. Bred in Kentucky by Hinkle Farms, More Than Looks was acquired by Victory Racing Partners for $135,000 at the 2021 Keeneland September sale and...

Tourist (Tiznow--Unbridled Melody, by Unbridled's Song), upset winner of the 2016 GI Breeders' Cup Mile, has been sold to Fazli Yurdabak and will continue his stallion career at Izmit Stallion Complex in Turkey in 2025. The deal was brokered by Bowling Bloodstock's Matt Bowling and Murat Sancal. Also victorious in the GI Fourstardave Handicap, the 13-year-old entered stud at his part-owner's WinStar Farm in 2018, accounting for nine stakes winners from his five American crops of racing age, including GIII Valedictory Stakes winner Wentru. He is also the sire of...

French Group 1 winner Ramatuelle (Justify) sold late in the Fasig-Tipton November sale Monday for $5.1 million to Coolmore's M.V. Magnier. Consigned by Bedouin Bloodstock as Hip 310, the 3-year-old filly was trained by Christopher Head for a large partnership and was a controversial scratch from Saturday's Breeders' Cup Mile after a PET scan showed bone remodeling. Named a 'TDN Rising Star' at two, Ramatuelle is out of GSW Raven's Lady (GB) (Raven's Pass).

Victory Racing Partners' More Than Looks (More Than Ready) has spent a fair bit of the last 16 months in the shadow cast by his talented contemporary, 'TDN Rising Star' Carl Spackler (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}). In three previous head-to-head battles, the $135,000 Keeneland September graduate had finished behind his rival each time, but the quirky dark bay managed to flip the script on one of racing's biggest stages, coming with a barnstorming rally--in particular in the final 100 yards--to win Saturday's GI FanDuel Breeders' Cup Mile at Del...

Diego Velazquez (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) will be a non-runner for Saturday's FanDuel Breeders' Cup Mile having been scratched by Aidan O'Brien on Friday morning.  ''We just weren't 100 per cent happy with him this morning on the track so we decided to take him out ourselves," said the trainer.  The three-year-old colt is the second withdrawal from the Grade I contest in the last 24 hours after the French-trained Ramatuelle (Justify) was scratched by the vets on Thursday afternoon. O'Brien also had Ylang Ylang (GB) (Frankel {GB}) withdrawn from the Filly...

Leading European contender Ramatuelle (Justify) has been withdrawn from Saturday's GI Breeders' Cup Mile on veterinary advice. Trained by Christopher Head for owners including NBA Hall of Famer Tony Parker, Ramatuelle was last seen making the breakthrough at the top level with an emphatic victory in the Prix de la Foret at Longchamp, impressing with her turn of foot as she powered clear in the closing stages to win by three lengths. Connections had been confident of a bold bid at Del Mar after being handed an inside draw but...

He's been on board for both her Group 1 wins and on Wednesday morning Frankie Dettori was reunited with Emily Upjohn (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) for a spin on the grass track at Del Mar ahead of lining up for the Breeders' Cup Turf. It has been exactly a year since Europe's most recognisable jockey signed off with a Champion Stakes triumph in Britain before jetting to his new life in California. This new chapter started in the best possible way with another top-flight win, in the Breeders' Cup...

Donnacha O'Brien is looking forward to taking on the boys with Porta Fortuna (Ire) when she bids for her fourth top-level victory of the campaign in the Breeders' Cup Mile at Del Mar on Saturday, November 2. The daughter of Caravaggio has been on a roll since returning to action this season with a narrow defeat to Elmalka (GB) in the 1,000 Guineas, subsequently reeling off a Group 1 hat-trick in the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot, Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket and Matron Stakes at Leopardstown. All roads now lead...

Cuyathy LLC's Johannes (Nyquist) consolidated his position at the top of the West Coast turf mile division with a comprehensive victory in Saturday's GII City of Hope Mile Stakes, in so doing locking up a spot in the field for the GI Breeders' Cup Mile at Del Mar on Nov. 2. Favored at 4-5 to add to victories in this track's May 27 GI Shoemaker Mile Stakes and the nine-furlong GII Eddie Read Stakes last time at the seaside July 28, the homebred made best use of his low draw...

A plan was hatched by owner Peter Lau and trainer Danny Shum as early as last June to set their multiple champion Romantic Warrior (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) on a course towards the G1 W S Cox Plate in Melbourne some four months later. Having departed Hong Kong in mid-September, the gelding endured a sub-optimal period in quarantine at Werribee until the Australian government approved the shipment of his regular feed from Hong Kong to Victoria and Romantic Warrior was an underdone fourth in the G1 Turnbull S. at Caulfield Oct....

Making his fourth straight appearance on the North American continent, Godolphin's Master Of The Seas (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) overcame easy underfoot conditions and five other rivals to add Friday's GI Maker's Mark Mile to his previous victories in the GI Ricoh Woodbine Mile and GI Breeders' Cup Mile when last seen at Santa Anita last November. Naval Power (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}), conversely racing for the first time on these shores, completed the exacta for the 'Boys In Blue.' Sent off at 77 cents on the dollar while making his 6-year-old...