US Face Challenge to Hang on to Breeders’ Cup

With the conclusion of Doncaster’s St. Leger meeting and the Irish Champions Festival, British and Irish flat highlights become a little thin on the ground for the remainder of the season. However, we still have the Ayr Gold Cup Meeting and British Champions Day at Ascot to look forward and, if that isn’t enough, the international scene provides a host of top-class contests.

Sunday 6th of October, 2024 sees the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in France; Tuesday 5th of November is the highlight of the Australian year as the Melbourne Cup lights up the Flemington track, and sandwiched in between from 28th October to 3rd November, we have the always excellent Breeders’ Cup Festival – this year taking place at the California track of Del Mar.

Focussing on the US fixture, the home team regularly prove vulnerable in the turf contests but are a tough nut to crack on dirt – including in the feature event of the $7m Breeders’ Cup Classic. Not since the 2008 success of the John Gosden-trained, Raven’s Pass, has the headline prize headed overseas. However, the hosts may do well to fend off the raiders in 2024, in what is shaping up to be an outstanding international clash.

The Home Team

California Del Mar Racetrack
California Del Mar Racetrack where the race will take place (Credit Andrew Chen via Wikipedia)

Barring the victory of Raven’s Pass, every 21st-century edition of the Classic has fallen to a US-trained runner. As ever, the hosts will dominate in terms of numbers, with the following trio deemed most likely to prevail.

Fierceness

Todd Pletcher claimed the 2019 edition with Vino Rosso and has strong claims with this son of Breeders’ Cup Mile and Pegasus World Cup winner, City Of Light. Successful four times in Grade 1 company, he arrives on a hot streak following wins in the Jim Dandy Stakes and Travers Stakes. If able to avoid his occasional tendency to fly-jump from the gates, he looks like a big player.

Sierra Leone

Leading US handler, Chad C Brown, has yet to claim the Classic but will hope to break his duck with the talented three-year-old, Sierra Leone. Having finished second to Fierceness in the Jim Dandy Stakes and third to that rival in the Travers Stakes, he has work to do with the Pletcher runner. However, he may be ideally bred for this particular test, with his sire, Gun Runner, winning the 2017 Breeders’ Cup Classic, which was also held at Del Mar.

Muth

No trainer has tasted more Classic success than the California-based Bob Baffert. Victorious with Bayern (2014), American Pharoah (2015), Arrogate (2016), and Authentic (2020), Baffert sends Muth into battle this time. Only second to Fierceness in the 2023 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, he looks an improved performer this term and hacked up in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby last time.

Best of the Raiding Party

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The aforementioned runners represent a strong trio to overcome, but both Ireland and Japan will feel they may have the horse to do it.

City of Troy

Aidan O’Brien has taken a few swings at Breeders’ Cup Classic gold – coming closest with Henrythenavigator, who finished second to Raven’s Pass in 2008, and Giant’s Causeway, who lost out by an agonising neck to Tiznow in 2000. If the market is to be believed, this may be the year he goes one better. The 2023 Champion Juvenile, City Of Troy, flopped in the 2000 Guineas but has been excellent since, with wins in the Derby, Coral-Eclipse, and Juddmonte International. By US triple-crown winner, Justify, he’s more likely to handle the dirt than many European runners and is a hugely exciting contender.

Forever Young

Recent seasons have witnessed the emergence of Japan as a superpower on the global racing stage, with wins in the Dubai World and at this fixture. Derma Sotogake went close for the Land of the Rising Sun, when second to White Abarrio in the 2023 Classic, and hopes are high that Forever Young may claim the top spot in 2024. Yoshita Yahagi’s stable star has tasted defeat just once in five career starts, and showed he handled the dirt when losing out by an unlucky short head in the Kentucky Derby. Absent since that May event, he arrives fresher than many and his presence adds significantly to the November 3rd showstopper.