Workouts from anticipated Breeders' Cup starters picked up Oct. 24 across much of the country, one week before the start of the two-day Breeders' Cup World Championships at Del Mar.
Fierceness , Mindframe , and Antiquarian breezed in preparation for the $7 million Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) at Saratoga Race Course for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher, while elsewhere horses breezed toward other major Breeders' Cup races. One of those was 2024 Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Mystik Dan , who logged a half-mile breeze at Churchill Downs leading toward a start in the Nov. 1 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1).
Fierceness, known as an eager work horse, was the fastest of the Pletcher runners, clocked in :48 for a half-mile over Saratoga's Oklahoma Training track. Antiquarian covered the same distance in :48.67, while Mindframe went in :49.88. All three are grade 1 winners this year.
Centennial Farms' Antiquarian won the Aug. 31 Jockey Gold Cup (G1) in his last start, while Fierceness won the Aug. 30 Pacific Classic (G1) at Del Mar for owners Repole Stable and the Coolmore-affiliated Derrick Smith, Michael Tabor, and Susan Magnier. Mike Repole's Repole Stable co-owns dual grade 1 winner Mindframe with St. Elias Stable. The latter captured the May 3 Churchill Downs Stakes (G1) and June 28 Stephen Foster Stakes (G1) before unseating jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. in the Jockey Club Gold Cup when bumped and interfered with early.
The Kenny McPeek-trained Mystik Dan, who will begin a stallion career next year at Airdrie Stud in Kentucky, was timed in :48 1/5 at Churchill Downs. Workout times there, as in most places across the country, are in fifths of a second, compared to hundredths of a second, as is the practice in New York and Florida.
Owned by Lance Gasaway, 4 G Racing, Daniel Hamby III, and Valley View Farm, the 4-year-old comes off a victory in the Sept. 27 Lukas Classic (G2) over 1 1/8 miles at Churchill Downs. Bottled up behind horses until the midstretch, he dove to an opening on the inside and outkicked Disarm for a three-quarters-length victory under Francisco Arrieta. Arrieta retains the mount in the Dirt Mile with Mystik Dan's regular jockey, Brian Hernandez Jr., remaining sidelined due to injury, McPeek said.
The Lukas Classic win was his second in nine starts since his Derby triumph, with the other win coming in the Blame Stakes (G3) at Churchill Downs in the spring.
Although victorious at 1 1/4 miles in the Derby—the distance of the $7 million Breeders' Cup Classic (G1)—McPeek chose to run instead in the $1 million Dirt Mile, believing it allows Mystik Dan to utilize his turn-of-foot most effectively and calling the Dirt Mile "a stallion race."
"The Classic's going to have a lot of depth to it," McPeek said. "We're not scared of the Classic. We kind of know where he fits in the Classic. We think he's close to those."
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A lifetime earner of more than $4.8 million, Mystik Dan is a son of Goldencents , who won back-to-back runnings of the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile in 2013-14.
McPeek also breezed his other intended Breeders' Cup starter on Friday: Breeders' Futurity (G1) runner-up Blackout Time, who went four furlongs in :49 2/5 in advance of a start in the Oct. 31 Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) at 1 1/16 miles. He chased the expected Breeders' Cup Juvenile favorite Ted Noffey in the Oct. 4 Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland in his third career start.
Gasaway co-owns the son of Not This Time with Brookdale Racing and Magdalena Racing.
Besides Mystik Dan, another grade 1 winner to breeze Friday at Churchill Downs was D. J. Stable's Nitrogen, the leading 3-year-old filly in the country and one of the top contenders for the Nov. 1 Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1). The Mark Casse trainee, a daughter of Medaglia d'Oro , was timed in :48 4/5 for a half-mile.
Winner of the Alabama Stakes (G1) this summer at Saratoga Race Course, Nitrogen comes off a close runner-up finish, beaten a head by Gin Gin, with a wide trip against older rivals in the Oct. 5 Spinster Stakes (G1) at Keeneland.
"You always worry when you know you have a 3-year-old filly running against older mares for the first time. How do they stack up?" Casse said. "I came away from there saying, 'OK, she can run with any filly in the country."
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Other workers in Kentucky included Argos, who went a half-mile in :48 3/5 in a tuneup for the Oct. 31 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1T). The Nyquist 2-year-old is set to become trainer Riley Mott's first Breeders' Cup starter.
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Elsewhere in Kentucky, Lael Stables' She Feels Pretty—one of the top American hopes for the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G1T)—was among a group of intended Breeders' Cup starters who breezed at Keeneland. The Cherie DeVaux trainee went a half-mile on the Keeneland main track in :48 2/5, the same time posted by her stablemate Vahva, who is pointed to the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (G1). They worked separately.
Describing She Feels Pretty's workout, which came in company with grade 3 winner Taking Candy, DeVaux said She Feels Pretty displayed the "same good energy as she showed last week with a really nice gallop out."
"She's just such a treat to train, really special," she added. "Fillies like her don't come around too often, so we just enjoy this all while we can."
One of the fastest workouts from Friday was turned in by Zedan Racing Stable's Del Mar Futurity (G1) winner Brant, who zipped six furlongs in 1:12 3/5 at Santa Anita Park for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert. The Gun Runner colt, unbeaten in two starts but untested at a route, is expected to be one of the supporting favorites behind Ted Noffey in the Juvenile.
The horses currently off-site that are scheduled to compete in the Breeders' Cup must travel to Del Mar this weekend or early next week before the Oct. 28 deadline for domestically based horses to be on the grounds. McPeek said his horses fly out to California Oct. 25.
The following pre-entered Breeders' Cup horses worked Friday:
| Horse | Track | Distance | Time | Division |
| Antiquarian | Saratoga Training Track | 4F (Dirt-Fast) | :48.67* | Classic |
| Argos | Churchill Downs | 4F (Dirt-Fast) | :48 3/5 | Juvenile Turf |
| Blackout Time | Churchill Downs | 4F (Dirt-Fast) | :49 2/5 | Juvenile |
| Brant | Santa Anita Park | 6F (Dirt-Fast) | 1:12 3/5 | Juvenile |
| Brave Deb | Santa Anita Park | 6F (Dirt-Fast) | 1:14 3/5 | Juvenile Fillies Turf |
| Caro Buono | Santa Anita Park | 4F (Dirt-Fast) | :47 3/5 | Juvenile Turf |
| Celebrity Warrior | Saratoga Training Track | 4F (Dirt-Fast) | :49.05* | Juvenile Fillies Turf |
| Dry Powder | Del Mar | 5F (Dirt-Fast) | 1:01 | Distaff/Dirt Mile |
| Fierceness | Saratoga Training Track | 4F (Dirt-Fast) | :48* | Classic |
| Gimme a Nother | Fair Hill | 4F (Tapeta-Fast) | :49 2/5 | Filly & Mare Turf |
| Haulin Ice | Palm Meadows Training Center | 4F (Dirt-Fast) | :51.95* | Filly & Mare Sprint |
| Hope Road | Santa Anita Park | 5F (Dirt-Fast) | :57 4/5 | Filly & Mare Sprint |
| Hey Nay Nay | Churchill Downs | 5F (Dirt-Fast) | 1:00 2/5 | Juvenile Turf |
| Imaginationthelady | Turfway Park | 4F (Tapeta-Fast) | :48 | Juvenile Fillies Turf |
| Incanto | Santa Anita Park | 4F (Dirt-Fast) | :48 3/5 | Turf Sprint |
| Infinite Sky | Churchill Downs | 4F (Dirt-Fast) | :50 | Juvenile Fillies Turf |
| Imagination | Santa Anita Park | 5F (Dirt-Fast) | :57 4/5 | Sprint |
| Intrepido | Santa Anita Park | 4F (Dirt-Fast) | 1:04 | Juvenile |
| Iron Orchard | Saratoga Training Track | 4F (Dirt-Fast) | :48.93* | Juvenile Fillies |
| Khaadem | The Thoroughbred Center | 4F (Dirt-Fast) | :37 1/5 | Turf Sprint |
| La Ville Lumiere | Del Mar | 5F (Dirt-Fast) | :59 2/5 | Juvenile Fillies Turf/Juvenile Fillies |
| Meaning | Del Mar | 5F (Dirt-Fast) | :59 2/5 | Juvenile Fillies |
| Mindframe | Saratoga Training Track | 4F (Dirt-Fast) | :49.88* | Classic |
| Mullikin | Keeneland | 4F (Dirt-Fast) | :48 2/5 | Sprint |
| Mystik Dan | Churchill Downs | 4F (Dirt-Fast) | :48 1/5 | Dirt Mile |
| Nitrogen | Churchill Downs | 4F (Dirt-Fast) | :48 4/5 | Distaff |
| One Stripe | Fair Hill | 4F (Tapeta-Fast) | :48 4/5 | Mile |
| Proton | Fair Hill | 5F (Tapeta-Fast) | 1:01 3/5 | Juvenile Turf |
| Rebel Red | Keeneland | 4F (Dirt-Fast) | :49 | Turf |
| She Feels Pretty | Keeneland | 4F (Dirt-Fast) | :48 2/5 | Filly & Mare Turf |
| Richi | Santa Anita Park | 5F (Dirt-Fast) | :58 1/5 | Filly & Mare Sprint |
| Skipping Stars | Palm Meadows Training Center | 4F (Turf-Firm) | :51.60* | Juvenile Turf Sprint |
| Stark Contrast | Del Mar | 5F (Dirt-Fast) | 1:04 3/5 | Juvenile Turf |
| Super Corredora | Santa Anita Park | 4F (Dirt-Fast) | :47 2/5 | Juvenile Fillies |
| Ted Noffey | Saratoga Training Track | 4F (Dirt-Fast) | :49.19* | Juvenile |
| Third Beer | Santa Anita Park | 5F (Dirt-Fast) | 1:01 3/5 | Juvenile Turf |
| Time to Dream | Saratoga Training Track | 4F (Dirt-Fast) | :49.05* | Juvenile Fillies Turf |
| Tommy Jo | Saratoga Training Track | 4F (Dirt-Fast) | :47.88* | Juvenile Fillies |
| Turf Star | Fair Hill | 5F (Tapeta-Fast) | 1:01 3/5 | Juvenile Turf |
| Vahva | Keeneland | 4F (Dirt-Fast) | :48 2/5 | Filly & Mare Sprint |
| Will Take It | Churchill Downs | 4F (Dirt-Fast) | :47 3/5 | Dirt Mile |
*Note: Clockers in Florida and New York time in hundredths of a second. Other times are listed in fifths.
