Golden Tempo continued his usual routine of a gallop around the main track with exercise rider Enrique Miranda aboard. The Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) contender for trainer Cherie DeVaux draws a crowd whenever he steps on the track, and Miranda said the son of Curlin seems to understand all the fanfare.
"He's doing very well and is very happy on the track, checking out the surroundings," Miranda said of the homebred for Phipps Stable and St. Elias Stables. "He's very interested in watching what's going on around him. He likes the attention."
This year's Kentucky Derby (G1) and Belmont Stakes (G1) champion will square off against a field that includes the 2025 Kentucky Derby-winner Sovereignty, marking the first time since 1991 that two Kentucky Derby victors will compete against each other in the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic.
The Puma - It's not like The Puma was running badly. His 3-year-old season had included a win in the Tampa Bay Derby (G3), a nose defeat in the Florida Derby (G1) and fourth place finishes in the Haskell Stakes and Travers Stakes, both Grade 1 races.
But something was missing. The colt maybe needed a little something extra to put him into another league.
That came before he ran in the million Pennsylvania Derby (G1) at Parx Racing last month. After the Aug. 29 Travers, Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano suggested it was time to try and equipment change.
And The Puma welcomed blinkers. They were put on for the Pennsylvania Derby and the son of Essential Quality responded with a half-length win.
"We think he is more focused," Gustavo Delgado Jr., assistant to his father, Gustavo Sr., said. "Before, he wasn't giving us the full run. It was more stop and go, stop and go."
The thought of putting on blinkers on was kicked around earlier this year, but it went on the back shelf because the horse wasn't running horribly. It was Castellano who got the change moving.
"He said he knew that he had more underneath him, but he was not using it," Delgado Jr. said of The Puma. "Once we put the blinkers on, it has helped."
The Puma is 10-1 on the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic morning line and will break from post position four.
Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff
Immersive - There's an embarrassment of riches in this year's Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1), with three Eclipse Award champions among the six Grade 1 winners in the field of eight now expected to start. All three were on the track Wednesday morning at Keeneland for routine gallops. Godolphin's homebred Immersive turned in her usual energetic early-morning gallop as the sun began to rise for Brad Cox. Just after the renovation break, the crowd on the track included D. J. Stable's homebred Nitrogen, trained by Mark Casse; and John Sadler trainee Super Corredora, who is owned by Spartan Equine Racing, West Point Thoroughbreds, Robert Gardiner, and Michael Olszewski.
Immersive, winner of the 2024 NetJets Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1), and Super Corredora, who locked up her championship in that race last year, are both trying to pull off a very rare double. To date, 17 winners of the Juvenile Fillies have returned to contest another Breeders' Cup event later in their careers. Only one has claimed the Distaff. Hall of Famer Beholder won the 2012 Juvenile Fillies, then the 2013 and 2016 editions of the Distaff.
"It would honestly be huge," Cox said of Immersive's possibility of joining that all-time great. "I think that'd be a monster accomplishment."
Eunomia - Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) contender Eunomia galloped around the training track this morning for trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr. Campaigned by St. Elias Stables, WSS Racing, Turf Express Racing and Miller Racing, the 4-year-old Tiz the Law filly looks to double up on Grade 1 wins in the Distaff following a determined win in Del Mar's Clement L. Hirsch Stakes (G1) on August 1.
Jospeh, Jr. said the short respite wasn't by design and came after scratching from an intended start in the Delaware Handicap (G2), which was rescheduled from Sept. 26 to Oct. 3.
"She was supposed to run at Delaware, she shipped there and they canceled the race, shipped her back, and then there again," Joseph, Jr. explained. "It was sloppy (and) she doesn't like a sloppy track, so we scratched her an hour before. She runs well fresh, and she won the Clement Hirsch off a three-month break, so since we knew she runs well fresh, we didn't mind scratching her."
Eunomia has hit the board in 4-of-5 starts this year, and has been effective both stalking and pressing the pace across five career wins. Her conditioner is hoping Eunomia can loom behind favorites Nitrogen, Fully Subscribed and Splendora early in Saturday's affair.
"There's a lot of speed in there - hopefully the three top fillies go and we can just (sit) in behind them," Joseph, Jr. said. "We feel if she gets the right kind of pace and trip, it's possible she can win. In our opinion, it's not a race that she can't win."
Eunomia was bred in Kentucky by Breed First LLC.
Nitrogen - Morning-line favorite Nitrogen is flying the flag for the late, great sire Medaglia d'Oro in this year's Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1).
Medaglia d'Oro died less than two weeks ago, at age 27, at Darley's American stallion hub, Jonabell Farm, less than 10 minutes from Keeneland. Darley is the brand name under which the worldwide Godolphin operation stands its stallions.
"He knew he was special," Dan Pride, COO of Godolphin's American operations, said, adding the sire "leaves a legacy that will not be forgotten."
Nitrogen is among Medaglia d'Oro's 31 Grade/Group 1 winners worldwide - including four Breeders' Cup winners to date. He is the sire of 2015 Juvenile Fillies (G1) winner Songbird, 2016 Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1) winner New Money Honey, 2017 Filly & Mare Sprint (G1) winner Bar of Gold, and 2017 Longines Turf (G1) winner Talismanic.
Nitrogen makes her third Breeders' Cup appearance looking to add to that tally. The D. J. Stable homebred, trained by Mark Casse, was third in the 2024 Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1), and second in last year's Longines Distaff. Her efforts have added to Medaglia d'Oro's Breeders' Cup bankroll, helping make him the 12th-leading sire by money won in the history of the event, first contested in 1984. He stands at $7,695,345 entering this weekend. The stallion is easily within striking range of the top 10, with More Than Ready, who died in 2022, ninth at $7,871,900, and Street Cry, who died in 2014, 10th at $7,728,000.
Medaglia d'Oro will also have a chance to continue to burnish his resume. In addition to current 2-year-olds and current yearlings, the stallion has a final crop of 24 foals who arrived this year, according to statistics from The Jockey Club.
Jon Green, who manages his family's D. J. Stable, said Nitrogen's homebred status makes her ongoing campaign extra-special. The Medaglia d'Oro filly is out of the Uncle Mo mare Tiffany Case.
"I think it's always a joy to have a horse running in these Grade 1 races, but the fact that it's a homebred of ours, the fact that we did the analysis and decided to breed Tiffany Case to Medaglia d'Oro, everything came together for all the right reasons, and we just feel very blessed and fortunate," Green said earlier this week.
Splendora - A year ago, Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert asked his then 4-year-old filly Splendora to finish off her season with a win in the PNC Bank Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (G1).
She obliged, winning the race by 4 3/4 lengths.
This year, Baffert is asking her again, but this time, he wants Splendora to go a little farther. The daughter of Audible is entered in Saturday's $2 million Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff. She is the 9-2 third choice behind the imposing Nitrogen (6-5) from Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse and Fully Subscribed (8-5) from Chad Brown.
"We know she can go seven eighths, no problem," Baffert said.
Since winning the Filly and Mare Sprint, Splendora has won five of six starts, the farthest being a mile.
In late May, Baffert decided to stretch his 5-year-old mare out and she responded in a big way.
The last three starts - all Grade 2 races around two turns - Splendora has shined, winning them all by a combined 13 1/4 lengths.
"She wasn't mentally ready for it last year," Baffert said about the two turns.
In her last start, Splendora won the Sept. 12 Locust Grove Stakes (G2) at Churchill Downs by 5 1/4 lengths in front running fashion. He had hoped to see Nitrogen in that 1 1/16-mile race, but Casse changed course. He decided not to ship Nitrogen to Kentucky from Saratoga Springs, N.Y. and went to Belmont Park to run in the Beldame Stakes (G2), a race she won easily.
"I was hoping that Nitrogen was going to use (Locust Grove) as a prep," Baffert said. "We would have liked to run against her there to see if we should go short or long. We are going to find out the hard way."
Splendora will have a new rider in Tyler Gaffalione, who replaces Flavien Prat, who sticks with Fully Subscribed.
Longines Breeders' Cup Turf
Minaret Station - After getting past the injuries that stymied his early career, OXO's homebred Minaret Station arrives at the Longines Breeders' Cup Turf (G1) following a string of strong performances. In his most recent start, the son of Instilled Regard prevailed in the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic (G1) on Oct. 1.
"All his progressions have been done this year," trainer Will Walden said. "He just only ran three times at two, one time at three, and he's had to learn everything that all these other horses learned at two and three at age four and without any conditions to mess around with, either. I give him all the credit in the world for putting it all together. The last two races I think is indicative of what you're going to see of him starting to put the final pieces together and really become a racehorse."
Two races back in his first try at the Turf distance of 1 1/2 miles, he was caught in the stretch by Survie and finished second by three-quarters of a length in the Christophe Clement Turf (G1) at Saratoga Race Course. Under his regular rider, Jose Ortiz, he won the Hirsch by a half-length.
Minaret Station looked like a budding star two years ago when he broke his maiden in his second start then took the Bourbon (G2) at Keeneland. An injury ended his season and he did not compete again for nearly nine months before winning the listed American Derby at Churchill Downs.
"He came back and he won the race and then got sidelined again," Walden said. "I give Don Chatlos and Larry Best. Larry owns OXO, and Don, who runs it, all the credit. After the second time he got hurt, Larry said, 'Look, we're going to give this horse six months.' The doctor said, you get go 90 days or 120 days, and Larry said, "No, we'll do six months where we're going to do it right, and we're giving one more chance." And it's paid off."
Ten months later, Minaret Station returned with a fourth-place finish, one length behind the winner, in the Opening Verse.
Asked to pick out the colt's best outing of the season, Walden said the easy answer would be the Hirsch, but he was most impressed with the Opening Verse on the Kentucky Derby program. The one mile is not Minaret Station's preferred distance
"That impressed me most as a trainer," Walden said. "Lagynos was in the field. It was a super-stacked field on the day. Even though it's a listed stake, you usually get those fields stack up pretty tough, almost like a graded stake. People want to run on the big days, and I couldn't have been prouder of the horse to come back with every excuse to say, 'you know what, I've done this a couple times. It hadn't worked out. I don't really want to do it anymore.' It just is a testament to the horse's mental fortitude and willpower to be a racehorse."
Survie and Libertango - Amid a huge year in which he trained Europe's best miler, Bow Echo, and saw his profile skyrocket on the global stage, 34-year-old trainer George Boughey will look to expound upon such success this weekend at the Breeders' Cup, saddling the live pair of Survie and Libertango in the $5 million Longines Breeders' Cup Turf and $1 million Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint, respectively.
Mrs. Doreen Tabor's Survie is no stranger to American racing fans after impressively winning Saratoga's Glens Falls (G2) and Christophe Clement (G1) within 13 days' time in August, but must shake off a non-effort when last seen in Longchamp's Prix Vermeille (G1) on September 6.
"Her saddle slipped that day," Boughey said. "It happened when jumping out of the gates, so Ryan Moore was hanging on for dear life all the way around. We forget that run and off the back of the Christophe Clement, she comes in in good shape."
Purchased for $2,636,068 at last year's Tattersalls December Mare Sale, she kicked off her campaign with a smart conditions win over the left-handed, flat all-weather course of Lingfield. Heading to the American-style turf course at King Abdulaziz on Saudi Cup day, she ran a blinder to be third with traffic trouble in the Neom Turf Cup (G1) before a pair of semi-disappointing runs at the Snowdrop Fillies (Listed) and Dahlia (G2). Sent to Royal Ascot's Wolfterton (Listed) against the boys, she ran with credit, hinting at a return to form, before being sent stateside for her two notable triumphs.
"My inclination when we bought her was that American racing would suit her well and luckily it did. We've been trying to get her to learn how to sprint, really, in those final 400 meters. She looked pretty electric at Saratoga. The final 400-to-600 meters of the race are really when we are going to see her, so hopefully she can just relax in the second-half of the field and be produced late. I think the different conditions over here suit her better. It's a completely different style of racing. I just think the bigger, galloping tracks in Europe kind of exposed her a little bit."
Assigned a morning line of 15-1, the 5yo mare will be ridden by Flavien Prat from post 11 of 14. Meanwhile, Vefa Ibrahim Araci's Libertango looms large in the Juvenile Turf Sprint as the clear favorite in the market, assigned a 5/2 morning line and set to be ridden by Prat from post 3 of 12. Winner of three out of five races, including Royal Ascot's Albany (G3) over divisional leader Sun Goddess and Yorkshire Ebor's Lowther (G2), she exits a strong second in the Cheveley Park (G1) behind Sun Goddess, who is the heavy favorite in the John Deere Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1).
Preparing for her first trip stateside and around a turn within the body of a race, Boughey sent the daughter of 2014 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1) runner-up No Nay Never to Lingfield to breeze.
"She'd always run in a straight line, so we kind of wanted to get her away and let her switch leads turning in over a sharp five furlongs," Boughey explained. "She seemed to do it very well. I think she's had the perfect preparation and has had enough time to have an easy week after (the Cheveley Park) and we've built her up into this and she looks fantastic.
"She's a very straightforward horse to train and makes my job easy," Boughey concluded. "For a No Nay Never to travel as well as she does, she's got a super mind. He's the gun stallion for two-year-olds in Europe and obviously needs no introduction, being that he nearly won out here. Hopefully she can get the job done."
European Report
Trainer Aidan O'Brien was on hand at Keeneland Wednesday morning to oversee his Breeders' Cup contenders as the European runners continued their preparations for this weekend's World Championships.
O'Brien watched his horses train on the main track before they headed to the paddock for schooling. The internationally renowned trainer expressed confidence in his group while acknowledging the challenges of competing against the world's best.
"It's great to be back at the Breeders' Cup," O'Brien said. "As always, we try to bring our best horses to America at this time of the year. It's never easy to win here but we'll give it our best shot. We feel we've got a nice team of horses."
Among O'Brien's leading contenders for Saturday is Diamond Necklace (IRE), who enters the $5 million Longines Breeders' Cup Turf (G1) following a strong performance in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at ParisLongchamp. The race marked her first attempt at 1 1/2 miles, and O'Brien believes the experience could benefit her this weekend.
"She was drawn wide so Christophe Soumillon had to take his time, which was the right thing, and she came to win her race but got run down late, I suppose," O'Brien said. "You couldn't say she didn't get a mile and a half as she was there and had every chance."
O'Brien said Diamond Necklace has trained well since that effort and could improve with the added experience at the distance.
Stablemate Benvenuto Cellini (IRE), who finished behind Diamond Necklace in the Arc, also will contest the Turf. O'Brien said the colt is doing well both physically and mentally and expects a strong performance with Ryan Moore aboard.
"He's got a good draw and we think he'll run a big race," O'Brien said.
O'Brien also expressed optimism about Precise (IRE), who will compete in the Maker's Mark Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1). The 1000 Guineas winner missed last year's Breeders' Cup after developing a respiratory issue following her arrival in the United States.
Her preparation this season also was complicated by an illness that affected several horses in O'Brien's stable. After two defeats during that period, Precise returned to compete in the Prix de l'Opera, making her first start at 1 1/4 miles.
O'Brien said the filly has handled this year's trip to America much better.
"She's traveled well and hasn't coughed this time round and cantered on the main track," he said. "We're very happy with her and could be very classy in the race. There's every chance this race could really suit her."
True Love (IRE), another accomplished filly in O'Brien's lineup, will take on males in the FanDuel Breeders' Cup Mile (G1). Her victories include the Queen Mary Stakes at Royal Ascot, Cheveley Park Stakes and 1000 Guineas at Newmarket.
"She is a very classy filly and it's going to be interesting," O'Brien said.
Wayne Lordan has the mount on True Love, who drew post 12. O'Brien said the outside draw will require a patient ride.
Puerto Rico, who drew post 14 for his Breeders' Cup assignment, also faces a challenging starting position. O'Brien said the colt has only recently returned to his best form after a difficult season. Moore will ride.
Among the stable's 2-year-olds, O'Brien was particularly complimentary of Sun Goddess (IRE), who will compete in the John Deere Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1).
"She's been great all year," O'Brien said. "She's a very special filly who is very tough. We think the track will suit her, and she seems to have traveled over well."
Great Barrier Reef (IRE) will represent the stable in the Brown Advisory Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1) following a third-place finish in the Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket. His preparation has been interrupted by ringworm and an inconsistent racing schedule, but O'Brien said his most recent starts have helped bring him along for the Breeders' Cup.
Elsewhere on the Keeneland grounds, Hotazhell (GB), another contender for the Longines Breeders' Cup Turf, cantered on the main track Wednesday morning.
Trained by Jessica Harrington, Hotazhell enters Saturday's race off a victory in the Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes (G1) at Leopardstown on Sept. 12.
"Hotazhell has been excellent since arriving at Keeneland," said Kate Harrington, the trainer's daughter and assistant. "He has been training really well, and we couldn't be happier with him."
Trainer Kevin Philippart de Foy was the first European trainer to send horses onto the main track Wednesday, with Crownbreaker (IRE) and Silent Beauty (IRE) appearing shortly after 6:30 a.m.
Crownbreaker is entered in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G1), while Silent Beauty will contest the John Deere Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1).
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