Europe Can Deliver Big in Breeders’ Cup Once Again
In 1984, Alain de Royer-Dupre trained Lashkari to become the first-ever European-trained race winner at the Breeders’ Cup. Since then, this World Championships of Horse Racing has attracted a steady and often successful stream of challengers from all over Europe.
Epsom Derby winner Auguste Rodin during morning exercise at Santa Anita ahead of his appointment with the Breeders’ Cup Turf. ©GettyImages
Lashkari, ridden by the legendary French jockey Yves Saint-Martin, was owned by The Aga Khan and won the inaugural running of the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Turf at odds of 53/1. The prize has since doubled to $4 million.
Further success followed in 1985 when the Clive Brittain-trained and Pat Eddery-ridden Pebbles landed the same race for her owner, Sheikh Mohammed. In the subsequent years, there has been at least one European success in all but four Breeders’ Cup renewals.
The challenge from the European stables is as strong as ever this year. The Breeders’ Cup, now in its 40th year, returns for an 11th time to California’s picturesque Santa Anita Park. The track has the San Gabriel Mountains as its stunning backdrop.
May Hero Mawj Can Master the Mile
Trainer Charlie Appleby, who had three winners from seven runners at Keeneland in Kentucky last year – taking his Breeders’ Cup tally to nine winners from 18 runners – will be hopeful of more success with Master Of The Seas in the Breeders’ Cup Mile.
Although he has not been the easiest to train, Master Of The Seas has come right this year and won the valuable Woodbine Mile Stakes in Canada in September. He was beaten by a narrow margin by Up To The Mark in the even more valuable Coolmore Turf Mile at Keeneland last month.
At first glance, the five-year-old appears poorly drawn in gate 14. But Master Of The Seas is not the sort to race up with the pace, and despite Breeders’ Cup betting sites quoting 6/1, he will go close if the gaps open up for him in the home stretch.
The best chance of European success in this contest appears to be Saeed bin Suroor’s Mawj. The mount of Oisin Murphy has been lightly campaigned this season and is unbeaten in four starts.
Her haul includes the 1000 Guineas in May and her only run since, last month’s £250,000 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup at Keeneland. Mawj comes into the race in the form of her life and is the 3/1 favourite with the top UK bookmakers. French challenger Kelina is marked up on 7/1.
Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup 2023 Race Times and Schedule
Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile 6.30 pm
Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf 7.10 pm
Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint 7.50 pm
Breeders’ Cup Mile 8.30 pm
Breeders’ Cup Distaff 9.10 pm
Breeders’ Cup Turf 9.50 pm
Breeders’ Cup Classic 10.40 pm
Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint 11.25 pm
Breeders’ Cup Sprint 12.00 am
All nine of Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup races will be shown on ITV4. A marathon show will go on air at 6 pm and finish at 12.15 am. Breeders’ Cup races can also be watched on Sky Sports Racing (Sky Channel 415). The best live streaming betting sites will show the racing action live.
Home Turf Means Little on This Patch
Europe is mob-handed in the Breeders’ Cup Turf, fielding half of the runners in the race and dominating the betting. Frankie Dettori, now based in California, rides at the meeting for what may be the last time. And he will be keen on the chances of King Of Steel whom he partnered to success in last month’s Qipco Champion Stakes.
King of Steel giving the impression of royalty just a few minutes ago. pic.twitter.com/xA5guqLB1m
— Breeders’ Cup (@BreedersCup) November 2, 2023
The Roger Varian-trained horse is an attractive looking 6/1 shot with the UK’s bookmakers behind Aidan O’Brien’s Auguste Rodin, who beat King Of Steel in the Epsom Derby and the Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown.
John and Thady Gosden’s Prince Of Wales Stakes and Juddmonte International winner Mostahdaf is also in the field. To cloud things further, French challenger Onesto looked good when finishing third in the l’Arc de Triomphe. And local miler, Up To The Mark, was a comfortable winner when he stepped up to 10 furlongs.
Inspiral Can Win Under the Inspirational Frankie
Dettori will be aboard Inspiral in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf earlier on Saturday evening. The John and Thady Gosden-trained filly shares favouritism on 5/2 with Aidan O’Brien’s Warm Heart, the mount of Ryan Moore.
There will be plenty of interest in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint, where Live In The Dream booked his ticket with a stunning win in the Nunthorpe Stakes at York at the end of September. Adam West’s four-year-old was three lengths clear at halfway and never looked like being caught.
He has since raced in a five-and-a-half-furlong sprint at Keeneland, where turning for home, he was clear of the field before he ran out of petrol near the wire. Significantly, the sprint at Santa Anita is a spot on five furlongs, and Live In The Dream, who has improved out of all recognition as a four-year-old, should be in his element.
Connections have kept faith with leading apprentice Sean Kirrane, who has been on board the out-and-out sprinter in every race this year, and the combination has an outstanding chance to take the sprint crown.
