Breeders’ Cup 2025: More notes & quotes, more than Classic
It is not just the Classic. There were Breeders’ Cup notes and quotes from Sunday at Del Mar and across the country about some of the other championship races.
Distaff
Alice Vérité
Trainer: Kazuya Nakatake
Morning activity: Cantered once around
The quote: “Her strong point is that she has a strong heart.” – stable representative Yoshitake Hashida
Breeders’ Cup Classic notes and quotes.
Trainer: George Weaver
Morning activity: Worked four furlongs in 49 seconds flat under exercise rider Raul Múñoz
Planned activity: To be determined, possible to short gallop.
The quote: “She broke off a little slow, but she finished up well, so I had the rider let her gallop on out. She got off in 26 and 1 and finished up in 49 and 1, so a strong finish. I was happy with her and the way she cools out. She’s fit, it’s just letting her blow off some mental steam.” – Blair Golen, assistant to Weaver
The process of shipping horses from their familiar racetrack to a new one is often made easier with the presence of home comforts; the horse’s regular groom, a favorite blanket, or even a companion goat are common remedies to ease any travel anxieties.
For Distaff contender Dorth Vader, a large teddy bear is her constant comfort, and she does not leave home without it.
“We’ve always had horses that had a bear. Daddy Is a Legend had one, and I see a few trainers do it,” assistant trainer Blair Golen said. “Hers is big and sits in the corner, and she just kind of looks at it. It’s comforting. Some people have goats, and some have teddy bears.”
Golen said the team has yet to name Dorth Vader’s constant companion, but that she’s partial to John after the mare’s owner and breeder John Ropes, who named Dorth Vader after his partner Dorothy Harden.
“We should just call it John, so it can be John and Dorothy,” Golen said. “She takes the bear and her pink Jolley ball everywhere. Sometimes she paws at it, but for the most part they just hang out.”
Clicquot and Gin Gin
Trainer: Brendan Walsh
Jockey: Flavien Prat on Clicquot, Luis Sáez on Gin Gin
Set: Clicquot at Churchill Downs, Gin Gin at Keeneland
Morning activity: Clicquot walked and jogged, Gin Gin galloped
Planned activity: Ship to California Monday from Kentucky
Quote: “All good with them both. They came out of their works well and are flying out tomorrow.” – Brendan Walsh
Dry Powder
Trainer: Chad Summers
Morning activity: Jogged two miles, schooled in the paddock
Planned activity: Gallop at time to be determined
The quote: Dry Power routinely heads to the track in the company of a pony. At home at Belmont Park, her pony is the $2 million 2-year-old and stakes-winner Chestertown. “She goes with the pony and back home. We have our own. He’s a rock star, Chestertown. He ponies her every day. She’s quick to get set off. She trains in earmuffs every day. If she’s comfortable, she’s OK, but she likes her personal space. She knows where she is and she’s content right now. The Cotillion was obviously a big crowd and a big day, and she handled herself and ran well, so we’ll keep our fingers crossed. Sometimes you come because your horse is dragging you there, and sometimes you come because your horse is doing really well and the race sets up how it looks on paper.” – Chad Summers
Gun Song
Trainer: Mark Hennig
Morning activity: Boarded plane to ship to Del Mar.
Majestic Oops
Trainer: Dan Ward
Morning activity: Majestic Oops is en route from her New Jersey base to California. Trainer Dan Ward was driving to Hot Springs, Arkansas to set up his winter base at Oaklawn and is expected to arrive in California on Tuesday.
Nitrogen
Trainer: Mark Casse
Morning activity: Nitrogen arrived Saturday from Kentucky. Casse was traveling Sunday and expected to be at Del Mar on Monday morning.
Regaled
Trainer: Whit Beckman
Jockey: Joe Ramos
Morning activity: Galloped 1 3/8m under Josue Rodriguez
Planned activity: Same as Sunday
The quote: “She will probably go to the gate Wednesday or Thursday and paddock school at least once.” – T.C. Stevens, assistant to Whit Beckman
Stevens is the son of 11-time Breeders’ Cup winning jockey Gary Stevens.
“I used to come here all the time when I was a kid,” Stevens said. “This is my first time back at Del Mar since 2009.
Sarawak Rim
Trainer: Nacho Correas
Jockey: Irad Ortiz Jr.
Morning activity: Galloped 1 3/8m under Geovanny Vences
The quote: Comparing Sarawak Rim with Blue Prize, who won the 2019 Breeders’ Cup Distaff a year after running fourth in same race: “She is very talented and I expect her to run well. They are two different horses. One was finishing her career and the other is just getting started. Kind of like preseason. She is going to be very good next year, but somebody else will have her.” – Correas
Correas, 66, is retiring from training after the Breeders’ Cup.
Scottish Lassie
Trainer: Jorge Abreu
Morning activity: En route to Del Mar from Belmont Park
Scylla
Trainer: Bill Mott
Jockey: Junior Alvarado
Morning activity: Galloped 1 1/2m with assistant trainer Neal Poznansky up; walked through the paddock
Planned activity: Will work a 4f at 8 a.m. with Poznansky up
The quote: “She is a little quirky. She doesn’t want to be restrained too much; she prefers to be walking by herself rather than have someone hold on to her. She is strong for a filly. She has good hind quarters. She is pretty solid. She has muscles that can get her going. I can’t make a lot of excuses for her (no wins in five starts this year, all graded stakes, with two seconds and two thirds). We did hit the mud a couple of times, and I think that really compromised her. Fortunately, there is only a 1% chance of that happening out here.” – Bill Mott
Seismic Beauty
Jockey: Juan Hernandez
Morning activity: Shipped to Del Mar from Santa Anita
Planned activity: Will jog at Del Mar
The quote: “She is a very fast filly. She is also a very big filly with a lot of speed. This could be a very big week for Juan (Hernandez). He is going to be on some horses that are very live. He has a chance to get lucky and win a few races.” – Bob Baffert
Mile
Johannes
Trainer: Tim Yakteen
Jockey: Umberto Rispoli
Morning activity: Walk day following a five-furlong breeze in 1:00.4 Saturday at Santa Anita.
Planned activity: Scheduled to train Monday morning at Santa Anita and later ship to Del Mar.
The quote: “It was a straightforward drill. It was what we were looking for, basically a maintenance drill just to maintain his fitness. The horse is fit. He looked beautiful moving and came back in great shape. We were just looking for those green lights, they were all green, so it’s all good. ... He’s obviously been a special horse for us. We’re looking forward to this coming up weekend. Things have been very smooth. As a trainer, uneventful is something that is comforting. Let’s keep it that way. We’re still a week out. It’s been good.” – Tim Yakteen.
Notable Speech
Trainer: Charlie Appleby
Jockey: William Buick
Activity: Arrived Saturday afternoon, in quarantine
Godolphin trainer Charlie Appleby is not a fan of failure, to say the least, so when he the master of Moulton Paddocks returns to the Breeders’ Cup with a previous beaten favorite like Mile futures choice Notable Speech, the racing world takes note.
A winner of 30 North America Grade 1 events with a sparkling 11-for-27 Breeders’ Cup record, Appleby is bullish that the homebred son of Dubawi can make amends for a three-quarter-length third last year in the same affair.
“I think he’s coming in this year with more experience under his belt, being a year older, obviously, and you can’t beat the experience he has behind him,” said Appleby, who seeks his fourth Mile victory in five years and his fifth Breeders’ Cup win at Del Mar.
Notable Speech entered the 2024 Mile as a well-touted 3-year-old with authoritative victories in the 2,000 Guineas (G1) and Sussex Stakes (G1) during the meat of his season before a disappointing final prep in the Prix du Moulin (G1) over soft ground, all over either straight or right-handed courses. After last year’s Breeders’ Cup, his first over a tight, left-handed bend, Appleby designed a plan to have him that much more prepared for a second attempt.
“He’s taken on the best European and American horses, and he’s had a nice prep there at Woodbine around the tight inner track, so he goes there in good order and with his head in front last time, which he deserved to,” he said. “The reason we went to Woodbine was to give him that much more experience on that kind of track, as well as to give him a little bit of confidence with a win immediately under his belt, and that’s what he got.”
This season commenced with two fourths in Group 1 company, the Lockinge and Queen Anne, beaten by just over two lengths. In the Lockinge, he was left with too much to do while ring-rusty and in the Queen Anne rider William Buick lost the whip inside the final furlong in what was a paceless, oddly-run race.
He then returned to finish a 2 1/4-length fifth when cutting back to six furlongs in the July Cup (G1) before flying home to just miss by a head in August’s Prix Jacques le Marois (G1), an effort that hinted that he was coming back to his very best. He underlined that sentiment by handing the Woodbine Mile field its backside four weeks later in mid-September.
“He’s always impressed and pleased us at home, which gives you confidence, but to be honest, he’s not disappointed us on the track,” Appleby said. “Some of those runs, especially at Deauville and Royal Ascot, every run this season he has done well, especially as you break down the individual races. He was probably unlucky in the races he’s lost. Even when he ran in the July Cup, had the field not split and if he been covered up a little bit more and given a target, it would have been a different story.
“I think that the July Cup, as well as the typical way we train throughout the season has got him to this point. We go hard in the spring and then the summer comes for us and we target the Breeders’ Cup, so he is at his best at this time. He ticks every box and is ready for another crack at the Mile.”
There are some notable stats for Notable Speech. Appleby has brought three horses back for a second run in the Breeders’ Cup, all winners. Modern Games returned a year after winning the Juvenile Turf to take the 2022 Mile. Master of The Seas won the 2023 Mile two years after scratching at the gate of the 2021 edition. Rebel’s Romance won the 2024 Turf two years after his triumph in the same race.
Sprint
Nakatomi and Whatchatalkinabout
Trainer: Wesley Ward
Set: Keeneland
Morning activity: Breezed five furlongs together in 1:01.6
Planned activity: Ships Monday from Kentucky to California
The quote: “Whatchatalkinabout breezed (started) in front (of Nakatomi). They just clicked off around there and went home and everything went well. They finished up right together and everything was good.” – Wesley Ward
Straight No Chaser
Trainer: Dan Blacker
Morning activity: Worked four furlongs in 49.0 seconds at Santa Anita under assistant trainer Juan Landeros
Planned activity: Will walk his Santa Anita barn and then ship to Del Mar Monday after training
The quote: “It was a good work. His last two or three works have been really good. He has good enthusiasm, good energy. That’s what I want to see. He did pick up some company today, which wasn’t ideal, but my assistant, Juan (Landeros), did a great job.” – Dan Blacker
Turf Sprint
Motorious
Trainer: Phil D’Amato
Jockey: Antonio Fresu
Morning activity: Worked furlongs in 1:01.2 on synthetic track at Santa Anita
Planned activity: Ship to Del Mar on Monday
The quote: “He worked really well. It was nice and easy today, being six days out from the big race. It was an easy work on his own after what was his fast and heavy work last week. We were really happy with the way he went and today he looked beautiful on the training track. I just kept him going easy. He’s ready to go.” – Antonio Fresu
Dirt Mile
Goal Oriented
Trainer: Bob Baffert
Morning activity: Worked four furlongs in 47.4 seconds at Santa Anita
Planned activity: Shipped to Del Mar Sunday night
The quote: “He always works well; he is a good work horse. He was within himself and did it the right way, he was just cruising around there. It was nothing for him. He has been running against some good horses and has only had one easy race. That was the race at Churchill Downs (allowance on May 3). Then I threw him in the deep end of the pool (fourth in the Preakness, third in the Grade Haskell, third in the Grade Pennsylvania Derby) and he hung in there. I didn’t want to run him at a mile-and-a-quarter. I think he will get the distance later on. I was surprised when he got beat at Parx; he looked like a winner turning for home. We are here, we don’t really have to ship. We went ahead and threw him in there. You never know. Crazy things happen in the Breeders’ Cup.” – Bob Baffert
Juvenile Fillies
Explora
Trainer: Bob Baffert
Jockey: Juan Hernandez
Morning activity: Worked 5f in 1:00 1/5 at Santa Anita
Planned activity: Shipped to Del Mar Sunday night
The quote: “She went nice. She is a very classy filly, and she cruised around there by herself. I like the fact that she can go two turns. That is not going to be an issue for her, and she has speed if she wants to use it. She is not a one-dimensional horse.” – Bob Baffert
Europe report
This year sees an international contingent of eight Japanese horses, 18 from the United Kingdom, 18 from Ireland and four from France that includes a runner on the undercard for Francis-Henri Graffard.
The Charlie Appleby horses arrived in quarantine Saturday afternoon with the team pleased with how they traveled. ’s Romance, the two-time winner of the Turf, looked in great shape when stepping off the horse truck.
The Europe horses with the exclusion of Turf Sprint candidate Khaadem who shipped in from Keeneland, arrived in quarantine Saturday night.
Khaadem did not require to quarantine as he has been at Keeneland since his win there on Oct. 4 in the Woodford Stakes (G2) which booked his ticket to run in the Turf Sprint. He had a trot on the main track Sunday morning followed by a light canter on the turf.
The Europe horses will remain in quarantine until Monday, which means they will be out on the Del Mar track Tuesday.