Unbeaten Touch of Destiny Tackles Elders in Dirt Mile

The Nov. 1 Breeders' Cup card features nine grade 1 races showcasing some of the best horses in the world over their respective distance and surfaces. Yet, despite all of the incredible talent, only one entrant has never tasted defeat: Touch of Destiny (URU). That perfect 6-for-6 record will be put to the fullest test Saturday in the $1 million Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) as the son of Midshipman finds himself at an age disadvantage. A homebred in Uruguay for Haras Phillipson, Touch of Destiny is an August 2022 foal, putting him just three months into his 3-year-old season. The Southern Hemisphere's breeding season occurs in their winter and spring, leading to every Thoroughbred being awarded an Aug. 1 birthday. In the Northern Hemisphere, Jan. 1 is considered the day Thoroughbreds increase in age. However, that age disadvantage has already been conquered once. As a 2-year-old in June, while trained by Raimundo Soares, he defeated his elders in gate-to-wire fashion by 5 lengths after setting quick early fractions in the Clasico Asociacion Uruguaya de Propietarios de Caballos de Carrera (G3) at Hipodromo Nacional de Maronas. The race earned the young star an automatic, fees-paid berth to the Dirt Mile at Del Mar Nov. 1, an invitation that has been accepted. In July, he moved to the Southern California barn of trainer Michael McCarthy and has already made a nice impression. "He's been an interesting prospect for us, we've enjoyed having him here over the last couple months," McCarthy said. "He came to us with a big reputation." The field, which McCarthy called one of the strongest Dirt Mile fields in recent years, is stacked with experienced talent, featuring multiple graded stakes winner Nysos, 2024 Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Mystik Dan, multiple grade 1 winners White Abarrio and Chancer McPatrick, and last year's winner Full Serrano (ARG), among others. Although not against the same level of competition, his display as a 2-year-old against older gives confidence he could possibly answer the challenge again. "It certainly says a lot about the horse and the job that was done with him down there," McCarthy said about beating older horses as a 2-year-old. "Getting him ready to get to this point and getting him here to us—the horse showed up in fantastic fashion when we got him. We're just trying to mimic what they've been doing all along." Quick in his qualifying run, setting fractions of :22.94 for 400 meters (about a quarter-mile) and :45.59 through 800 meters (about a half-mile), McCarthy is making sure he has the colt ready to get good position early. "He's really turned the corner," McCarthy said of his recent training. "Bounced him out of the gate yesterday (Oct. 29) just to get used to how things might be here on Saturday. I imagine the pace will be fairly brisk leaving there on Saturday afternoon, so we just wanted to go ahead and make sure he wasn't left behind."