By my reckoning, the “World Thoroughbred Championships” – the Breeders’ Cup to you and me – ended with the USA on four and the Rest of The World on 5, in the races that were truly international rather than parochial affairs, and three to four on the turf.
It threatened to be a rout at one stage, but Blue Bolt fluffed her lines in the Filly & Mare Turf, while Notable Speech should have won the Turf Mile but could not quite overcome a brutal trip, and so things remained respectable.
I will have to save my “Colonel Sanders, Taylor Swift, Denzel Washington, Donald Trump – can you hear me, Donald Trump? – your boys and girls took one hell of a beating” line for another day, and perhaps for a different President.
It was an event that promised much and delivered even more. For the equine stars, you could take your pick between the Japanese-trained T O Elvis (rated 120+7 upgrade on my figures) in the Dirt Sprint, the Irish-trained Benvenuto Cellini (121+4) in the Turf and the US pair of Bacio (120+4) in the Turf Sprint and Sovereignty (123+1) in the Classic.
Let us not forget, either, the superlative two-year-old wins on Friday for Hughes (120) in the Juvenile Dirt, Sun Goddess (119) in the Juvenile Filly Turf and Emphatic (119) in the Juvenile Filly Dirt, or the immense run in second by the unlucky Miss Monica (115+7) behind the last-named.
Incidentally, it was widely reported that Emphatic was 0.02s slower than Hughes overall, but that is only if you ignore the untimed “run-up” section (which you should not). Her full gate-to-wire time was in fact 0.14s quicker. Elsewhere, the Dirt Mile had added yardage of which Market Rasen would be proud. These things matter.
The majority of my regular readers are likely to be most interested in how events reflect on racing in Europe, past, present and future, so that will now be my focus.
Some may wonder why Benvenuto Cellini has not been upgraded more for his spectacular win, which included an 11.06s final furlong during which he flashed a mighty 26.8-feet stride, and strictly speaking he should be, but there is a suspicion that the bare form might not be up to much, with runner-up Map Of Stars (no higher than 119 previously) finishing nearly as well.
Nonetheless, there looks to be a good chance that Benvenuto Cellini will be a dominant force in the 2027 season, at a well-run 10f as well as this 12f I reckon, on ground that has not been watered to a swamp, and as long as he waits until the covering shed (rather than his starting stall) to get his leg over in future.
The Arc – in which Benvenuto Cellini failed to get the rub of the green – needs to be downgraded officially, if not by quite as much as Diamond Necklace’s and Bay City Roller’s efforts here might imply.
Incidentally, the race finishing speed % of the Turf was the second-fastest of all 2026 Breeders’ Cup races (103.2%, though not including the run-up) according to the Results Section on this site. The pace in the Turf was not “overly-fast”, simply because the first two came from the back, despite what some bizarrely maintained.
Notable Speech (still rated 124) clearly should have won that Turf Mile rather than finishing second to 119-rated Deterministic, but those seeking to slaughter William Buick for his ride should really pause to consider the reality of making split-second decisions on half a ton of thoroughbred travelling at close to 40 mph. Without the benefit of hindsight, should you angle left, right, or continue straight on, when your rival jockeys are contemplating the very same options in close quarters? Can you expect the pace to collapse, or are the leaders not coming back?
Sorry, you took too long to respond: the race is over.
It turned out gloriously right for Ryan Moore on Benvenuto Cellini, but might not have, and it turned out horrendously wrong for Buick on Notable Speech, but might not have. Reserve your vitriol for jockeys genuinely not trying their best, if they exist. Or perhaps take up a different hobby altogether.
Good jockeys, of which Buick is undoubtedly one, get it right more often than wrong, of course. Billy Loughnane on Libertango (ran to 113, remains on 116) in the Juvenile Turf Sprint and Ryan Moore on both Sun Goddess (ran to 119, remains on 124) in the Juvenile Fillies Turf and Haffner (117) in the Juvenile Turf judged things impeccably.
I have stated that Sun Goddess is one of the very best two-year-old fillies in my (ever-lengthening) experience, and am confident that is true. It is less this performance than her Moyglare win at the Curragh, where she beat subsequent Group 1 winner Green Empress by more than twice as far as on Friday, which makes me say that.
The fact that Sun Goddess can race close up, or come from behind, and always deliver, on all types of ground and at a variety of trips, ensures her brilliance should be in no danger of being under-appreciated. Champion Two-Year-Old, surely.
That all said, 117-rated Amusingly should have been second to her rather than fourth – getting into a poor position before finishing best of all – and remains a major player for 2027 at this trip of a mile or shorter.
The colt that Amusingly had beaten in the Lagardere the time before, Folsom Blues, chased home Haffner on Friday but never quite got in a blow. Sectionals do not suggest Folsom Blues was unlucky, but he was a little better than the result again.
My ante-post dreams for Folsom Blues for the Guineas – straight mile and (with luck) fewer tactics involved – are not quite dead and buried yet, but I have reduced his rating to 118 now.
Talk of jockeyship and sectionals brings me to a notable incident on a lesser-track in Britain last week.
The ride of Jack Garritty on Red Derek at Leicester on 26 October was enquired into by the local stewards after the horse passed several of his rivals in the closing stages to finish third.
Sectionals showed that the race had been run at an overly-strong pace in testing conditions and that Red Derek had merely kept on past beaten horses. Or that is according to “a world-renowned sectional-timing expert” engaged by the Professional Jockeys Association. Let’s face it, there are not many to choose from.
Bafflingly, the local stewards chose to quote those same sectionals, without any context or apparent understanding, as evidence of guilt for Garritty, handing him a 10-day ban. This was overturned only after someone else from within the BHA realised just how foolish, or worse, it looked and stepped in.
Contrary to some of what you might have read, it was not a badly-judged ride, for all that it might have looked so, and the educated use of sectionals in evidence should be very much encouraged. Just not the ill-educated misuse of the same.
Quite how BHA stewards can have so little understanding of sectional times – when they have been comprehensively available for years now due to an initiative promoted by the BHA itself, and are widely understood and used within the sport – is a head-scratcher even by their recent standards.
They could start with finishing speed %s and how they relate to sectional pars. In fact, they could both start and end there, and that would be a big improvement.
I believe that the BHA’s own handicappers have a good knowledge of sectionals and use them regularly. The solution to a problem that really ought not to exist – the stewards’ inexplicable ignorance of sectional timing – might just be found close to home.
We can very nearly call that a wrap on the 2026 turf flat racing season, and what a season it has been. I am taking a break now, but will be keeping an eye on proceedings, both near and far. See you all in April.
