Immersive Remains Undefeated With Alcibiades Victory

Few owners and breeders have been more successful in North American racing than Godolphin, especially in recent years. Since 2021, the global racing and breeding operation has netted six Eclipse Awards for leading owner and breeder, nine Breeders' Cup wins, and a classic win in the 2021 Belmont Stakes (G1) with Essential Quality. Yet year after year, one race seemed to elude them: the Alcibiades Stakes (G1), the prestigious opening-day feature at Keeneland, sponsored since 2003 by Darley, the Thoroughbred stallion division of Godolphin. Now, even that race has Godolphin's name in its stake-winning history. On Oct. 4, their talented homebred 2-year-old filly Immersive ended the winless spell in the 1 1/16-mile, $600,000 contest, defeating Quickick by 1 1/4 lengths, with show finisher Quietside another two lengths back in third. The victory improved Immersive to 3-for-3 following a maiden victory and a triumph over Quietside in the Spinaway Stakes (G1), both at Saratoga Race Course over the summer. Always well positioned after breaking from the outside post under Manny Franco, Immersive stalked Rich City Girl and Liam in the Dust through fractions of :23.01, :46.89, and 1:11.26 before taking command in the stretch. She seemed to lose focus down the lane, and a rallying Quickick loomed a danger. "I thought I was gonna catch her," Quickick's jockey, Dylan Davis, told her trainer, Tom Amoss, after the race. But despite a final sixteenth in a slow :07.14, Immersive, a bay Nyquist filly, remained in front, completing 1 1/16 miles in 1:44.64. She paid $5.34 to win. "We wanted to go farther with her since she won first time out, and today she proved that she wanted to go the distance," Franco said. Winning trainer Brad Cox seemed pleased to have won for Godolphin and Darley, an important client for his stable, noting with a smile that he heard about their past winless mark from Godolphin representatives in a good-natured way. He had won the race twice before for other owners. "When they were loading the horses, I saw all the assistant starters were in Darley jackets, I didn't know if that was good luck or bad luck," he said. "But it was good luck today." As part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In, Immersive earned an automatic, fees-paid berth in the Nov. 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) at Del Mar. Additionally, the top five finishers earn qualifying points to the 2025 Kentucky Oaks (G1) on a 10-5-3-2-1 scale. Five Alcibiades winners have repeated in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies: British Idiom (2019), Countess Diana (1997), Eliza (1992), Silverbulletday (1998), and Wonder Wheel (2022)—all of whom were later honored as champions. Last year's winner, Candied, finished third in the 2023 Juvenile Fillies with a troubled trip. Asked if he felt Immersive could head west to Southern California and win the Breeder's Cup Juvenile Fillies, as British Idiom did at Santa Anita Park five years ago, Cox responded, "I sure hope so. This is a very talented filly." Amoss said the Breeders' Cup would be considered for Quickick if she comes out of the race well, and John Ortiz seemed open to the possibility for Quietside, who was farther off the pace than expected when fifth early. Bred in Kentucky, Immersive is the second winner from as many foals to race out of the Bernardini mare Gap Year. Nyquist, who stood this past breeding season for $85,000 at Darley, is the sire of four grade 1 winners this year. Besides Immersive, they include Tenma, Randomized, and Johannes.