Moira earns her 1st Grade 1 in Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf

The third time was the charm as Moira assumed command entering the stretch and held off a late bid from Cinderella’s Dream by a half-length to win the 26th running of the $2 million Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf at Del Mar on Saturday afternoon.

Trained by Kevin Attard for X-Men Racing, Madaket Stables and SF Racing and ridden by Flavien Prat, Moira completed the 1 3/8 miles over a firm turf course in 2:14.95. The victory is the first for Attard at the Breeders' Cup. It was the seventh for Prat and first in the Filly & Mare Turf.

The 5-year-old Ghostzapper mare had been fifth in this race in 2022 at Keeneland and third last year at Santa Anita.

Moira’s stablemate Full Count Felicia set the pace with fractions of 25.38, 49.84 and 1:15.08 with Moira racing in mid-pack. On the far turn, Sunset Glory went after Full Count Felicia with Moira on the move right behind and taking over at the top of the lane.

Moira opened a daylight advantage in the lane and had enough left to hold off Cinderella’s Dream, who got up to get second by a nose over Didia.

“Just fantastic,” Attard said. “She’s such a good horse. It’s so rewarding to finally see her get that Grade 1. Had a great trip. She trained really well going into this race and it just unfolded in the right direction for us.”

The victory, her first Grade 1, was worth $1,040,000 and boosted Moira’s earnings to $2,996,017 with a record of 17-7-6-2.

The race was the second Breeders' Cup win in a row for Prat, who won the Breeders' Cup Classic with Sierra Leone in the previous race. “It's great obviously,” Prat said. “I thought I had some good chances earlier and yesterday, it didn't happen. I kept my head up and just went out there and was trying to ride good races. Those horses rewarded me.”