Turf action from Santa Anita

Breeders' Cup details: schedule, race times and horses to follow

By Matt Brocklebank

Horse Racing

Tue October 10, 2023 · 1y ago

We look ahead to the 2023 Breeders' Cup including all the key details and some British and Irish horses to keep an eye on.

Tweak to the schedule brings big races forward

The 40th edition of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships will be held at Santa Anita on Friday November 4 and Saturday November 5. It'll be the 11th occasion it has been staged in the considerable shadow of the San Gabriel mountains on the outskirts of Los Angeles. No course has played host as many times, with Churchill Downs having held the Breeders’ Cup nine times, though not once since 2018.

The switch back to California’s Pacific Time means the big races on the Saturday don’t get going until quite late, although in what looks a positive move for European racing fans, there has been a change to the schedule for 2023, meaning the Turf (9.50pm) and the Classic (10.40pm) switch into earlier slots prior to the Turf Sprint (11.25pm) and the Sprint (12 midnight) which now closes the Saturday card.

Future Stars Friday remains the same and this year starts at 9.00pm with the Juvenile Turf Sprint and ends at 11.40pm with the Juvenile Turf.

Santa Anita Racecourse

Breeders’ Cup 2023 race times and schedule

Friday, November 3

9pm: Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint
9:40pm: Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies
10:20pm: Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf
11pm: Breeders’ Cup Juvenile
11:40pm: Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf

Saturday, November 4

6:30pm: Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile
7:10pm: Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf
7:50pm: Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint
8:30pm: Breeders’ Cup Mile
9:10pm: Breeders’ Cup Distaff
9:50pm: Breeders’ Cup Turf
10:40pm: Breeders’ Cup Classic
11:25pm: Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint
12am: Breeders’ Cup Sprint

How is the recent record for the raiders?

There are 14 races at the modern-day Breeders’ Cup and over the past five seasons (since the introduction of Future Stars Friday for the two-year-olds), Britain and Ireland have been responsible for 17 of the 70 winners.

Six of those winners came at Keeneland last November when Aidan O’Brien and Charlie Appleby picked up three apiece, though neither was on target when Santa Anita last staged the championships in 2019, at which the Joseph O’Brien-trained Iridessa was the sole non US-based winner across the two days when landing the Filly & Mare Turf.

Japan claimed a first ever BC winner when Loves Only You took the same race at Del Mar in 2021, rapidly followed by Yoshito Yahagi stable companion Marche Lorraine, who struck gold in the Distaff later on the same Saturday card.

Talismanic, who won the Turf at Del Mar in 2017, is the only French-trained winner since Karakontie (Mile) in 2014, with Fabrice Chappet's Onesto among those expected to fly the flag this year.

Iridessa just prevails at Santa Anita

British and Irish Breeders’ Cup winners in last five years

2022 (Keeneland): Meditate, Mischief Magic, Victoria Road, Tuesday, Modern Games, Rebel’s Romance

2021 (Del Mar): Modern Games, Space Blues, Yibir

2020 (Keeneland): Glass Slippers, Audarya, Order Of Australia, Tarnawa

2019 (Santa Anita): Iridessa

2018 (Churchill Downs): Line Of Duty, Expert Eye, Enable

How big could the O'Brien team be?

This is unquestionably the crunch question when it comes to weighing up how much success will be enjoyed by the Euros at this year's Breeders' Cup as, while we're still a couple of weeks away from the pre-entries deadline (Monday October 23), the O'Brien squad for Santa Anita really could be as deep as it is wide.

We're quite used to seeing O'Brien pull the odd rabbit out of his hat at this meeting, surprise wins for Victoria Road and Order Of Australia prime examples in recent seasons, but when you consider the likes of Auguste Rodin and Warm Heart are reportedly being held back for this year's Breeders' Cup then you get a glimpse into the sheer strength of the travelling party from Ballydoyle.

That pair would not have been out of place among the market leaders for the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and are already seriously well fancied for the Turf and the Filly & Mare Turf respectively, although maybe the latter event being run over 10 furlongs this year could raise the possibility of Warm Heart even being thrown into the Turf too. I'd be a little surprised if she wasn't entered in both as speed isn't exactly her forte.

O'Brien doesn't mind backing up a fortnight after Champions Day so Paddington running in the QEII certainly doesn't rule him out of the Breeders' Cup Mile, even after a really busy campaign that began at Naas in March.

Aesop's Fables could be the dark horse if lining up in the Turf Sprint following his far more promising run in the Abbaye, while not a lot has been said of Adelaide River since his Leopardstown win at the Irish Champions Festival. Another shot at Irish Derby conqueror Auguste Rodin ("good luck with that project" - Angus McNae) in the Turf could be on the agenda as I don't really see him taking up either Champions Day entry in the Long Distance Cup or Champion Stakes.

The two-year-olds Opera Singer and City Of Troy are about as exciting as they come and would light up Future Stars Friday if making the trip. Justify colt City Of Troy is odds-on for the Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket next weekend and if he runs again at two then it's highly likely to be the Breeders' Cup.

Dream alive following promising recce

After two and a half years out of action, the winding, downhill and frankly quite terrifying six and a half-furlong turf sprint course at Santa Anita was reopened again a couple of years ago. However, the Breeder's Cup Turf Sprint, and the Juvenile Turf Sprint, will remain on the flat five furlongs of the main turf track (inside the dirt course), as they were for the first time here in 2019.

The Peter Miller-trained Belvoir Bay went wire-to-wire from stall 12 (of 12) that day, so it's not worth reading into the draw too much when it comes to these races, but there will be plenty of attention from this side of the pond as Live In The Dream (Turf Sprint) and Big Evs (Juvenile Turf Sprint) aren't just leading contenders on form, they are also two of the most engaging success stories of the Flat season.

From relatively humble beginnings - he cost just £24,000 as a yearling - the Adam West-trained Live In The Dream has this year emerged as one of the fastest horses in Europe, highlighted by his brilliant victory over Highfield Princess in the Nunthorpe Stakes at York in August, providing his trainer with a first G1 success in the process.

Connections were keen to try their hand in the States before the Breeders' Cup and evidently took great heart from his effort in Saturday's Woodford Stakes at Keeneland, the five-year-old showing tremendous early speed from an inside stall to lead the field after a rapid opening two furlongs, in a time just shy of 21 seconds.

He ended up sliding back into fourth inside the final furlong, but the other pace-setter finished dead last and Live In The Dream was running on a more galloping track than Santa Anita – and over an extra half-furlong, too – so it was a creditable run to say the least.

Highfield Princess, winner of the Abbaye since York, could be the horse to beat again in California, although last year's runner-up Emaraaty Ana looks to have been brought to the boil again for this venture following Saturday's Listed victory in the cheekpieces (on for the first time since 2020) at Ascot. They'll both have to go some to chase down the lightning-quick Live In The Dream on Santa Anita's short stretch.

Breeders' Cup joy for... Appleby?

Charlie Appleby has sent out nine winners from just 18 Breeders' Cup runners over the years which is an extraordinary record, but quite what the Godolphin team will look like this time around sits under a considerable question mark.

Perhaps Saeed bin Suroor will ride to the rescue courtesy of 1000 Guineas winner Mawj, though we've not seen her since the Classic and she missed a possible engagement at Keeneland recently.

Across town, it's frankly been a year to forget for Moulton Paddocks man Appleby and defeat, albeit a narrow one, for Master Of The Seas – seemingly one of his principal Breeders' Cup hopes – at Keeneland on Saturday won't have done much to lift the mood.

He will reportedly be "assessed" before being confirmed for a crack at completing Appleby's Breeders' Cup Mile hat-trick, which doesn't sound all that encouraging, while hopes in a potentially red-hot edition of the Turf could rest with last year's beaten favourite Nations Pride, who runs over 10 furlongs at Woodbine on Sunday night.

Whatever lines up for the Juvenile Turf is usually worthy of maximum respect and with a bit of luck we'll see Arabian Crown among the entries when they filter through. He definitely looks to harbour that "professionalism" the trainer seeks in all of his BC runners and this colt's Salisbury win over the well-backed Arabic Legend in mid-August was quite striking.

Big Evs blitzes his rivals in the Flying Childers

Charlie clearly has plenty to weigh up, but Mick Appleby [no relation] has nominated the Juvenile Turf Sprint for Big Evs from a long way out and doesn't look like wavering. The East Midlands-based Appleby has been champion all-weather trainer on seven occasions but has yet to deem a single horse good enough for a trip to the Breeders' Cup. Until now.

Windsor Castle Stakes winner Big Evs was also deemed good enough for a crack at the Nunthorpe in August, don't forget, and although that didn't go to plan, a tough race in soft ground at Goodwood was put forward as a possible excuse for the relatively flat effort at York, and the son of Blue Point has since confirmed himself the fastest juvenile in Britain with an easy win in Doncaster's Flying Childers.

Dreams can quickly be dashed in the unforgiving environment of a Breeders' Cup but, much like Live In The Dream, Big Evs looks to possess the sort of brazen early speed required to go head-to-head with the best that America has to offer, and there's every chance we could be talking about yet another Appleby winner at this famous meeting in four week's time...

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