Last Saturday may have represented the final Group 1 meeting of the domestic flat campaign as Doncaster staged the latest edition of the Futurity Trophy fixture, but we don’t have long to wait before a stream of top-tier international action arrives on the scene.
First up, the spectacular Breeders’ Cup Meeting on Friday and Saturday. Always attracting an international cast of stars, the British and Irish battalions look set to travel in their numbers in 2024. One man who will head to Del Mar with higher hopes than most is Godolphin’s number-one trainer, Charlie Appleby.
No stranger to success on the international stage, Appleby already has an impressive 10 Breeders’ Cup victories on his CV. Given that record, it would take a brave man to bet against him hitting the target this year, with the following eight stars primed and ready for battle.
Notable Speech – Breeders’ Cup Mile
Previously successful with Space Blues (2021), Modern Games (2022), and Master Of The Seas (2023), Appleby bids to become the first trainer to win four successive editions of this event and move one clear of Andre Fabre as the most successful trainer in the history of the race.
In Notable Speech, he may well have the horse to do it. This son of Dubawi got stuck in the mud last time out at Longchamp but is deadly on a quick surface – as displayed in his impressive wins in the 2000 Guineas and Sussex Stakes.
Rebel’s Romance – Breeders’ Cup Turf
Appleby was without a runner in the 2023 edition of this, but having landed the 2021 and 2022 renewals with Yibir and Rebel’s Romance, he will hope to slip back into the winning groove in 2024.
Flying the flag for Godolphin this time is the 2022 champ, who bids to join Conduit and High Chaparral as the only dual winners of this 1m4f contest. An international star of the highest order, the six-year-old has picked up top-level events in Germany, the UAE, Japan, and the US. Arriving on the back of a win in the Preis von Europa at Cologne, he is well fancied to grab a 15th career victory.
Cinderella’s Dream & Beautiful Love – Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf
Shamardal filly, Cinderella’s Dream, lost her unbeaten record when seventh in the 1,000 Guineas but has bounced back with wins in the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks and Grade 2 Saratoga Oaks. She steps up to 1m3f for the first time here but should go close to a US hattrick if coping with the additional distance.
Joining Cinderella’s Dream in the big event for the fillies and mares is daughter of Siyouni, Beautiful Love, who has been campaigned exclusively on the international scene in 2024. An impressive winner out in Meydan earlier in the year, she showed a liking for this trip when claiming the Grade 3 Jockey Club Invitational Oaks at Belmont and again ran well when third over that track and trip last time out.
Al Qudra & Aomori City – Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf
Alongside the Mile, this event for the youngsters is Appleby’s most profitable Breeders’ Cup contest. He sends two into battle in 2024 as he bids to add to the wins of Outstrip (2013), Line Of Duty (2018), and Modern Games (2021).
The No Nay Never colt Al Qudra boasts strong domestic form, having landed the Listed Pat Eddery Stakes at Ascot in July and finished second on his US debut in the Summer Stakes at Woodbine last time. Having missed the break, he did extremely well to finish as close as he did that day and could go close, granted a smoother start.
William Buick will face a tough decision in this contest, with the Oasis Dream colt, Aomori City, bringing an attractive, lightly-raced profile to the table. Posting a career-best effort to claim the Group 2 Vintage Stakes at Goodwood in July, he couldn’t follow up when fourth in the National Stakes at the Curragh, but we may not have seen the best of him yet.
Star Of Mystery – Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint
With Archie Watson’s Bradsell, George Boughey’s Believing, and Michael Appleby’s Big Evs amongst the leading fancies, the Brits boast a strong hand in this five-furlong contest. Star Of Mystery is a little lower in the betting order than that trio but is a remarkably consistent sort, having finished in the first three in 11 of 12 career starts. Already a winner in Britain, UAE, and the US, he warmed up nicely for this with a fast finishing second in a Grade 2 at Keeneland.