Ben Linfoot's Breeders' Cup Diary 2024 | The ghosts of Del Mar, plus updates on Jayarebe and Porta Fortuna

October 31: The ghosts of Del Mar on Halloween

We’re close to the action now, you can smell it. We’re close to the beach here, too, you can smell it. And Del Mar Racecourse is steeped in history, as well, and, you get the picture. The senses have come alive.

Legendary caller Trevor Denman’s “And away they go,” opener almost hangs in the air here, while fading pictures in the betting halls and the grandstands are a reminder of some of the great horses to have graced both turf and dirt surfaces at Del Mar.

There’s Seabiscuit beating Ligaroti in 1938 under George ‘The Iceman’ Woolf. There’s Indian Watch and War Allies dead-heating for the win in the inaugural running of the Bing Crosby Handicap in 1946. There’s Bill Shoemaker. There’s Bobby Frankel. There’s Dare And Go causing an almighty upset when beating Cigar, who was attempting a record 17 consecutive wins, in 1996. There’s Candy Ride setting the track record. There’s 31,000 tonnes of ‘El Segundo Sand’ replacing eight years of polytrack in 2015. There’s American Pharoah training here later the same year. There’s Beholder beating the boys in the Pacific Classic. There’s Gun Runner at Del Mar’s first-ever Breeders’ Cup in 2017. There’s Maximum Security. There’s Knicks Go winning the 2021 Breeders’ Cup Classic. There’s the almighty, unbelievable, Flightline, winning the Pacific by 20 lengths.

Del Mar has a long history, but its Breeders’ Cup love affair is still all relatively seven-years new. With City Of Troy going for this year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic, perhaps he will be the one to leave his hoofprints in the halls this time around.

Meehan pays close attention to Jayarebe

At 6.15am with Del Mar still swamped in darkness, Jayarebe strolls around the parade ring with his trainer, Brian Meehan, paying him close attention given he is on his lead pony right next to him.

He has a look around when he first gets under the track’s floodlights (horse, not trainer), but is soon cantering on the dirt as he exercises his legs ahead of his bid to win the £2,000,000 winner’s cheque in the Breeders’ Cup Turf on Saturday.

It has been somewhat of a bounceback season for Meehan, with Jayarebe and Rashabar leading the way, his team collectively breaking the £400,000 prize-money barrier for the first time in seven years on the domestic front, while you can add another £320,000 from the pots the aforementioned duo have collected in France.

A third Breeders’ Cup Turf win for Meehan, on the back of Red Rocks in 2006 and Dangerous Midge in 2010, would be the icing on the cake, and, while Jayarebe is stepping up to a mile and a half for the first time, his trainer thinks it will be no bother to him – and he revealed he’s been thinking of this race for him since the spring.

“The draw (in stall 5) couldn’t be better,” Meehan said. “We couldn’t have asked for better really. He’s a very adaptable and versatile type of horse the way he is ridden in the races. Sean [Levey] is one of our leading riders in Europe now at this level and he knows him well, so he’s in great shape.

“The trip is no problem. I think all of next year he’ll switch between 10 and 12 furlongs. A mile-and-a-half round here should be very comfortable for him on Saturday, definitely.

“When he won the Feilden we began to think the Breeders’ Cup would be a possibility. He still had to qualify then which meant he had to win a top-level race, but I thought he could do that and that this would be a good target.

“He’s a big boy and he’s definitely going to improve. The Prix Dollar form is good, the Hampton Court form is good and the Feilden form is good. All his form has worked out all season.”

With just the one horse here for the Breeders’ Cup races (Kathmandu is also here for the Goldikova Stakes on the main Breeders’ Cup undercard), Meehan can channel all his energy into Jayarebe and he’s relishing being back at the top table.

“Sat on the pony I can change the exercise and tailor the morning to how I think the horse is feeling which is a huge advantage,” Meehan said.

“Anytime you win a Group 1 race it’s such a high and I’ve been lucky enough to do it a number of times. I guess to take a horse to another continent and win a championship race is huge and that’s a tremendous feeling of achievement for the whole operation.

“It’s what you’re trying to do play at a high level as often as you can. But we’re not a big outfit, we start each year with 60 horses maybe, but we got to the end of the year and we had a number of horses that could’ve come here, that we decided not to bring.

“But it’s great to be back. It’s been my favourite meeting of the year since I was a kid, so it’s wonderful to be back.”

Jayarebe made the one-horse team. After delivering above market expectations all year long, he has one last chance as a three-year-old to take a swing at another couple of big guns for a trainer that has been there and done it all before in the Breeders’ Cup Turf.

Fortuna favours the brave?

Tagged onto the back of the Aidan O’Brien string the last couple of mornings has been Porta Fortuna for Donnacha O’Brien ahead of the Breeders’ Cup Mile.

“Everything has gone perfectly,” Donnacha said. “She travelled over good and is in good form and moving well. I don’t think you can ever expect a filly who was as busy as she was at two to progress as well as she has but she’s fantastic and we’re lucky to have her.

“She’s very professional. I think the plan is to keep going next year but there are a lot of partners so we’ll see first how she runs and then take it from there. It’s a very deep race; it probably has the most depth of any of the races that I’ve looked at anyway.

“The form looks very strong and she will probably have to step up on what she’s done to win it but I think she’s got a good chance.”

Fillies have a rich history in the Mile. Royal Heroine, Miesque (twice), Ridgewood Pearl, Six Perfections, Goldikova (three times), Tepin and most recently Uni have all won it for the fillies and mares.

The problem for Porta Fortuna is that she’s not the only filly in the race and Ramatuelle, who will have to reverse 1000 Guineas and Coronation Stakes form with her, might just be better suited to the emphasis on speed around the tight turns of Del Mar.

Either way, the Mile is one of the deepest races of the week and the admirable Porta Fortuna, going for a fourth top-level win on the trot, is one of the reasons why.

October 30: Gosden and Frankie hoping for Emily upturn

Frankie Dettori had to take a backseat in the Gator golf buggy as it drove him and Team Gosden away from the quarantine barns on Wednesday morning, but confidence is high he’ll be coming home in front on Emily Upjohn in Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Turf.

The previous half an hour the duo spoke with energy in separate interviews about being back together with Emily Upjohn, Dettori’s first ride for Gosden since his miraculous escape act on Inspiral in last year’s Filly & Mare Turf at this very meeting.

It’s tough on Gosden’s stable jockey, Kieran Shoemark, but it makes absolute sense to book Dettori for this mare in this race at this track after a successful first year riding Stateside.

The bare facts are Emily Upjohn is zero from six for Shoemark and four from seven for Dettori. Judging by the noises emanating from the Gosden camp, it would be no surprise if that is five from eight come Saturday evening.

John Gosden said: "She's just had a nice, leisurely look today and she's really enjoyed it. We'll probably do a little bit more tomorrow.

"It's great to be back here at Del Mar and we used to have a lot of fun here in the old days.

"The ground went against her a couple of times. She likes faster ground and obviously it's going to be quick ground here which will suit. We got quite a bit of rain in Ireland when she was second in the Pretty Polly, and she ran a great race the other day in the Vermeille when it was good to soft, but she's a better filly on faster ground.

“It's tight enough, obviously. It's a tight turf course with a very short straight, but having said all that the first run of her life was at Wolverhampton so she's capable of handling a track like that.

"She's got a decent draw and now you're just hoping she can capitalise on it.”

The key could be the combination of the faster ground, the pace of the race and the continued absence of the hood. Hood off she has been better, much better, at York and at Longchamp, compared to the disappointing efforts at Epsom and Goodwood earlier in the season with the hood on.

When it comes to how she’ll be ridden, Gosden is leaving it up to Dettori while citing her versatility as a crucial advantage.

"It all depends on the pace of the race,” he said. “Entirely on the pace of the race. If they're walking you want to be really handy on her and you can make the running with her, too. Or, if they're going a good pace you can settle her where she's comfortable. That will be up to her and Frankie. She's very pliable that way.”

Yards away, Dettori was holding court with his own slant on things. And Gosden lights up when talking about his old stable jockey.

“He's in as good of form as ever,” he said. “I think he enjoys it here. He got sick of all the travelling and being on the road back home, and all the traffic in the UK. Let's face it, he really liked the big races at the weekends at the big meetings. It was the day-to-day stuff.

"Jockeys are not riding every day over here. People underestimate how hard it is on jockeys in the UK and in Ireland. They're riding seven days a week. They can be riding at 8.30 at night on some all-weather track. Then, getting home when it's dark and getting up in the morning at 5am to ride work. It's the same in the summer. The workload on jockeys in our country is much too harsh. They're phenomenal athletes and a lot of them aren't able to eat or drink normal amount of food. They can't sweat at the races anymore. I think they have a really, really tough time and that is underestimated by our authorities.

"What do they race over here? Three or four days a week. It's a much nicer, better lifestyle over here.”

Look to your left and Dettori expands on his American adventure.

“Listen, I am enjoying what I am doing,” Frankie says. “It has been a challenge but it was what I needed. It has gone better than I thought it would.

“Coming to America and taking on the Americans in their own backyard, not many people have done that. But my agent has done a great job. I’ve ridden for everyone, not just one single stable. It has been a very successful year.”

Does Dettori miss anything from England?

“The football! I do watch it but it’s not the same when you are getting up at 7am to watch it. I miss going to the game and, of course, I miss the big days and the big races, the Derby, the Arc… I was there for Royal Ascot. I’m not going to lie.

“But I have moved on and I have got this challenge. I’m enjoying what I am doing. The only thing that hasn’t changed is John… he’s still bossing me around, wanting me in work at 645am!”

Dettori had his first sit on a Gosden horse in 12 months at 7am on Wednesday morning. At 2.05pm local time at Del Mar on Saturday afternoon, he might be draped with a flower garland if his old pal Emily Upjohn has read the script.

Two from the Yorkshire Oaks?

I am warming to the claims of Emily Upjohn in the Breeders’ Cup Turf. Having backed her in the Yorkshire Oaks when she was a much-improved third, the combination of Del Mar, fast ground, 1m4f and the Frankie factor have me interested.

And given she was put in her place by Aidan O’Brien’s Content on the Knavesmire, a filly who pulled hard early and still won, has me thinking we could easily have two Breeders’ Cup winners from that same race come this weekend.

Content has been poor at Longchamp and Ascot on her last two runs. But at York she screamed Breeders’ Cup and soft ground over shorter trips has not suited her on her last two starts.

“She ran a very good race that day,” says Aidan O’Brien. “It was a good pace and she wants an even pace to run at. She has to relax early, hopefully she won’t be too aggressive early, hopefully there’s pace in the race and hopefully she comes home well.”

The Emily Upjohn – Content Yorkshire Oaks double pays around 23/1. Such a bet might have to be landed as I fear a rejection of some increasingly dodgy San Diego expenses.

October 29: Appleby out to extend Cup record

Charlie Appleby is 10 from 20 at the Breeders’ Cup. Ten from twenty. It’s an incredible statistic and one that will surely not be enhanced this weekend. That would mean he’d have four or more winners from his seven runners.

But it’s a strong team again. Big chances and it’s clear the Breeders’ Cup has become an annual target for Appleby, unlike say, QIPCO British Champions Day, where he did not have one representative at Ascot earlier in the month.

So it was great to bump into him in a typically jovial mood on my first morning at the Breeders’ Cup. After trains, planes and rom-coms filling my world for the previous 24 hours, it was good to finally chat racing ahead of this weekend’s Del Mar shindig.

“It’s a meeting that we plan for the day after this weekend,” Appleby said, when I mentioned his extraordinary record. “I always think we come here with the right horses and you need a bit of lady luck on your side, as well, but we bring the right horses to be competitive.”

Asked to pick his favourite big gun on Saturday, out of Rebel’s Romance in the Turf and Notable Speech in the Mile, Appleby was diplomatic, like he had been asked to pick between his children.

“My heart is ruling my head with Rebel’s, he’s done it for us on so many occasions and of course I’ll be willing him to do it.

“Notable Speech is the best three-year-old we’ve come to the Breeders’ Cup with and he’s a 2000 Guineas winner and a Sussex winner. It’s hard to split them but I am pleased with the pair of them and they look great.

“I’m very confident [that we’ll see the Notable Speech that turned up at Newmarket and Goodwood]. I think track conditions will suit him. I still to this day don’t know what happened at Ascot and then the ground was pure and simple just too soft in France.

“Even looking back to his last start at Kempton in the spring it was mooted by quite a lot of people that he might have the potential to be a Breeders’ Cup Mile horse.

“To be fair Rebel’s Romance, he’s ticked every box. His last win here came off the back of a win in Germany which he’s gone and done again.

“The improvement we’ve seen from Germany to date we’ve been very pleased with him, so he’s the horse I would – there’s never a banker bet at this meeting – but the one who has had the perfect run into it, it’s Rebel’s Romance.”

Bankers. We’ll get on to those later in the week. It feels like Appleby has a couple of them up his sleeve once again – after all, it is the Breeders’ Cup.

Ram raid aiming to uphold family honour

Christopher Head is a man out to make Breeders’ Cup history of his own.

The Breeders’ Cup Mile is synonymous with the Head family after his father, Freddy, won the race twice as a jockey on Miesque and three times as a trainer with the legendary mare Goldikova.

And now Head jr, on the back of a tumultuous year which saw Big Rock and Blue Rose Cen move on from his yard, has an opportunity to win the same race with his own star mare, Ramatuelle.

“This filly is incredible, she has been doing incredible things all season,” Head said on Tuesday. “She’s travelled over well. She’s very easy and I’m very optimistic for the next race.

“She has quite a change of speed. She is capable of waiting, capable of going in front, she’s an interesting and versatile filly.

“It’s a mile but not really a mile. If we were capable of nearly winning a Guineas in a straight line we will be fine on the two turns.

“We can win by any draw, it’s just a matter of taking a good position and I’m sure Aurelian [Lemaitre] will do the best job with the plan we have for the race.

“I just hope that everything goes right for Ramatuelle, she deserves a win at the Breeders’ Cup.”

The daughter of Justify – yes, him again – could be one of the stars of the weekend. Either way, she’s a fascinating contender from the one box in the Breeders’ Cup Mile.

Knight going for a touch with Frost

City Of Troy isn’t the only European-trained runner going for glory on the dirt this weekend.

William Knight runs Frost At Dawn in the PNC Bank Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint on Saturday with a certain Frankie Dettori booked to take the ride on the 33/1 chance.

Watching her canter on Tuesday morning Knight said: “She’s been training really well. She’s been over in Keeneland where she ran in the Franklin Stakes and she ran in that race very well.

“She shipped in here last Wednesday and has taken to her training lovely, we couldn’t be happier with her.

“At Meydan she ran well on the dirt and she trained on it well over there, while she’s really taken to it here, moving really well off it.

“The pace of the race will be slightly different, but she’s raced two races on the dirt out in Meydan which gives you a little bit of confidence.

“I’m quite happy to be the outsider. She could run a big race, she’s got a nice draw, a top jockey on board in Frankie Dettori, I think she can go well.”

After running over five-and-a-half lengths on turf at Keeneland last time, things will be a bit different for Frost At Dawn on Saturday.

But she ran well over seven furlongs on the dirt at Meydan and she’s an interesting outsider in against the well-fancied American hopefuls Ways And Means and Society.

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Breeders’ Cup 2024 race times (GMT) and schedule

Friday, November 1

• 9.45pm: Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint
• 10:25pm: Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies
• 11:05pm: Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf
• 11.45pm: Breeders’ Cup Juvenile
• 12:25am: Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf

Saturday, November 2

• 7:00pm: Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint
• 7:41pm: Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint
• 8:21pm: Breeders' Cup Distaff
• 9:01pm: Breeders’ Cup Turf
• 9:41pm: Breeders’ Cup Classic
• 10:25pm: Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf
• 11:05pm: Breeders’ Cup Sprint
• 11:45pm: Breeders’ Cup Mile
• 12:25am: Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile

British and Irish Breeders’ Cup winners in last six years

2023 (Santa Anita): Auguste Rodin, Inspiral, Master Of The Seas, Unquestionable, Big Evs

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

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