Key events
With around 10 minutes to post time for the Sprint, Bentornato is 8-5 to improve on his second place in this race last year. The top of the list is:
8-5 Bentornato
4-1 Kopion
6-1 Imagination & Straight No Chaser
16-1 Lovesick Blues & Mullikin
25-1 bar
PREVIEW: Distaff, 1m 1f, dirt
The filly and mare version of the Classic, and a race where the “big three” of Seismic Beauty, Nitrogen and Dorth Vader take out a big chunk of the betting market. They are tightly grouped in terms of their Timeform ratings too, with only a couple of pound between the three of them.
Seismic Beauty, though, is a solid favourite, and arrives off the back of a Grade One success in the Clement L Hirsch at this track in August.
Dorth Vader is making her first trip to the west coast and does not arrive with winning form last time out, but she could not have been much closer to the now-retired Thorpedo Anna, last year’s Distaff champion, in the Personal Ensign at Saratoga, where she was gaining all the way to the line and went down by a nose.
Nitrogen too was a close second last time, she was held off by the re-opposing Gin Gin in the Spinster Stakes, where it looked – to me at least – as though she was a little reluctant to pass the winner. Scylla, another runner worth running a rule over, was third in that race.
KEY FORM:
G1 Clement L Hirsch Stakes, Del Mar, 8.5f, 2 Aug 25 (Seismic Beauty)
G1 Personal Ensign Stakes, Saratoga, 9f, 23 Aug 25 (Dorth Vader)
G1 Spinster Stakes, Keeneland, 9f, 5 Oct 25 (Gin Gin, Nitrogen, Scylla)
SELECTION: DORTH VADER
Scott Hay, the senior vet at Del Mar, has been talking to NBC Sport about She’s Quality:
The jockey eased her on the backside, probably just out of an abundance of caution, but she’s showing some right-hind lameness currently. There’s nothing obvious on the limb. She’s going to be transported in an equine ambulance to the hospital.
And here’s the closing stages of the Turf Sprint, Shisospicy was in command from start to finish:
Here’s the finish of the Filly & Mare Sprint from earlier, Splendora’s change of gear at the top of the stretch is quite something.
She’s Quality walked onto the ambulance, which is a positive sign.
In the race itself, Shisospicy was straight to the head of affairs and never really looked like being reeled in. She paid around 5-1 on the tote.
She’s Quality was very slowly away from the stalls and trailed the field before being pulled up after about two furlongs. She was immediately dismounted and is currently being examined by the vets. More news as soon as I have it.
BREEDERS’ CUP TURF SPRINT RESULT:
1. SHISOSPICY (Irad Ortiz jun), 2. Ag Bullet, 3. Khaadem.
Approaching the gates … going in steadily ….
OFF AND RUNNING IN THE BREEDERS’ CUP TURF SPRINT!
The runners are out on the track for the Turf Sprint, the local punters are not piling into Khaadem with any enthusiasm and Frankie’s mount is 13-1. Motorious remains the popular pick at 3-1, and Ag Bullet is 9-2 along with Shisospicy. Bucanero Fuerte is 11-1 to give Amo Racing a first Breeders’ Cup success.
PREVIEW: Sprint, 6f, dirt
One of the most significant pieces of form ahead of the Sprint is often the form from last year’s running of the race and it could be the same again this time around as Straight No Chaser and Bentornato, the 1-2 12 months ago, are both back for another crack. Straight No Chaser has been busier than Bentornato since, and last year’s runner-up did not see a track again until returning from a 10-month layoff with a win at Churchill Downs. Others to consider include Imagination, bidding to give Bob Baffert a quick double after his win in the opener, and Kopion, whose 59-year-old rider, “Big Money” Mike Smith, will be the oldest winning jockey in Breeders’ Cup history if he gets home in front.
KEY FORM:
G1 Breeders’ Cup Sprint, Del Mar, 2 Nov 24 (Straight No Chaser, Bentornato, Mullikin, Nakatomi)
Louisville Thoroughbred Society Stakes, Churchill Downs, 13 Sep 25 (Bentornato)
G2 Santa Anita Sprint Championship, Santa Anita, 6f, 29 Sep 25 (Imagination, Dr Venkman, Straight No Chaser)
G1 Clement L Hirsch Stakes, Del Mar, 8.5f, 3 Aug 25 (Kopion)
SELECTION: BENTORNATO
We’re onto the turf next for the Turf Sprint, Motorious is the marginal favourite at 3-1 while it’s 11-1 that Frankie will get another Grade One on Khaadem on his final day at a major meet.
Splendora paid $7.80 to a $2 stake – a shade under 3-1.
Hope Road cruised through the race until the final turn and eased to the front just over a furlong out, but Splendora rocketed past soon afterwards and the race was as good as over. That’s a 20th Breeders’ Cup winner for Bob Baffert, who is now just one behind Aidan O’Brien, the winning-most trainer in Breeders’ Cup history since about 18 hours ago, when Gstaad took the Juvenile Turf.
BREEDERS’ CUP FILLY & MARE SPRINT RESULT:
1. SPLENDORA (Flavien Prat), 2. Vahva, 3. Hope Road.
Photograph: Steven Cargill/racingfotos.com/Shutterstock
OFF AND RUNNING IN THE FILLY & MARE SPRINT!
They are going into the gates for the first Breeders’ Cup race of the day … Hope Road is an even-money shot to get the punters off to a flier …
Just over 15 minutes to post time for the depeleted Filly & Mare Sprint and the full list of the latest prices on the US tote is:
4-5 Hope Road
3-1 Splendora
5-1 Richi
9-1 Vahva
11-1 Praying
14-1 Haulin Ice
16-1 Zeitlos
PREVIEW: Turf Sprint, 5f, turf
One of the big European hopes for this race, Arizona Blaze, was among the veterinary scratches yesterday but there are still a few visitors with a chance and all – well, most – eyes will be on Khaadem and Frankie Dettori as they attempt to follow up a Grade One win in the Woodford Stakes at Keeneland in October.
Adrian Murray, Arizona Blaze’s trainer, still has a runner in Bucanero Fuerte, who will now be ridden by Amo Racing’s retained rider, David Egan, while She’s Quality, another Irish-trained runner, has decent prospects too having finished third in the Prix de l’Abbaye at Longchamp last time and has been aimed at this race all year.
A fair squad of US-trained turf sprinting rivals includes Motorious, Ag Bullet and Reef Runner, and all three have form in the book this year that puts them in with a live chance. They also, obviously, have experience of racing at high speed around a tight turn and that is not to be underestimated. Ag Bullet in particular has Grade One winning form in the Jaipur at Saratoga in June and could be the one to beat the visitors and register a fourth US win in this race in the last five runnings.
KEY FORM:
G2 Woodford Stakes, Keeneland, 5.5f, 4 Oct 25 (Khaadem)
G1 Jaipur Stakes, Saratoga, 5.5f, 8 Jun 25 (Ag Bullet)
G3 Green Flash Handicap, Del Mar, 5f, 31 Aug 25 (Motorious, Reef Runner)
G1 Prix de l’Abbaye, Longchamp, 5f, 5 Oct 25 (She’s Quality)
G1 Flying Five, the Curragh, 5f, 14 Sep 25 (She’s Quality, Bucanero Fuerte)
SELECTION: AG BULLET
PREVIEW: Filly & Mare Sprint, 7f, dirt
This was shaping up to be one of the better runnings of this somewhat quirky event for female horses over seven furlongs, which does not count as a sprint trip in Europe but apparently does on this side of the pond.
The vets, however, decided to scratch nearly a third of the field this morning, including two of the big-name runners, Sweet Azteca and Tamara – the veteran rider Mike Smith’s best chance to become the oldest winning jockey in Breeders’ Cup history.
It has been left looking decidedly thin as a result, though Bob Baffert has been handed a huge chance to notch a 20th Breeders’ Cup win, which would put him alongside the late D Wayne Lukas and just one behind Aidan O’Brien in the all-time list. Baffert fields Richi, the runner-up in the Zenyatta Stakes last time, and Splendora, a winner over a mile at Del Mar in September, while Hope Road, the Grade One Ballerina Stakes winner at Saratoga looks likely to be the main threat to the Baffert duo.
KEY FORM:
G1 Ballerina Stakes, Saratoga, 7f, 23 Aug 25 (Hope Road)
G2 Santa Maria Stakes, Santa Anita, 8.5f, 19 Apr 25 (Richi, Splendora)
SELECTION: HOPE ROAD
Here’s the full running order at Del Mar today, with times in GMT:
19.00: Filly & Mare Sprint
19.41: Turf Sprint
20.21: Sprint
21.01: Distaff
21.41: Turf
22.25: Classic
23.05: Mile
23.45: Dirt Mile
00.25: Filly & Mare Turf
Preamble
Hello from Del Mar racetrack near San Diego, where it is day two of the 2025 Breeders’ Cup and it is also, in case you’ve just returned from Mars, Frankie Dettori’s final day as a top-level jockey. His mutterings about taking a few rides in South America before finally calling it a day spoil the sense of finality just a little, but there is no doubt that Khaadem, in the Turf Sprint (19.41 GMT), Wimbledon Hawkeye in the Turf (21.41 GMT) and Argine, in the Mile (23.05 GMT), will be the last Grade One rides of a remarkable 40-year career.
All three fall into the category of live each-way chances, and all three were winners at a high level last time out. Even so, Dettori will need to conjure up a career-best performance from somewhere among them if he is to bow out with one last flying dismount.
Dettori is far from being the only legend on the card, however. Rebel’s Romance, one of the best and most consistent Group One performers in the game, will join Beholder and Goldikova as a three-times Breeders’ Cup winner if he can get another victory in the Turf on the board. Charlie Appleby’s gelding is up against Minnie Hauk, the Arc runner-up, and last year’s King George winner, Goliath, in one of the best renewals of one of the seven original Breeders’ Cup races.
Goliath is joined by two stable companions at the Francis-Henri Graffard yard, Sahlan in the Mile and Gezora, in the concluding Filly & Mare Turf, as France’s new champion trainer bids to end a cold streak for French-trained horses at the meeting that dates back to 2017. And in addition to the European interest in the four contests on turf, the action on the dirt includes a renewal of the Classic that pits the first three home in last year’s race against two of the first three home in the Kentucky Derby.
There has been some drama here already this morning, as Tamara and Sweet Azteca, two of the top three in the betting for the Filly & Mare Sprint, were among the “veterinary scratches” announced earlier this morning, along with another runner in the same race, Fee Blanche, and Donnacha O’Brien’s Atsila, in the Filly & Mare Turf. With the much fancied Arizona Blaze having been ruled out of the Turf Sprint yesterday, that takes the total of veterinary scratches on today’s card to six.
The main card at the Breeders’ Cup is always a giddy ride which throws up commanding performances, compelling finishes and, as a rule, a big upset or two along the way. Picks for the nine races are here (if you scroll to the end), the action is underway with the Filly & Mare Sprint on the dirt at 19.00 GMT, and I’ll be tapping away trackside to keep you up to date with all the news and results until the final horse home in the Filly & Mare Turf is across the line.
