A year ago, for the first time since 2019, an American horse won the Breeders’ Cup Mile, and while More Than Looks was retired without racing again, the two behind him last November, Johannes and Notable Speech, are among 15 horses pre-entered in this year’s Breeders’ Cup Mile.
Johannes is one of six Americans who made it into the main body of the $2 million Mile, which also includes seven horses from Europe and one, Argine, from Japan. The connections of Bucanero Fuerte, one of the Europeans, have first preference in the Turf Sprint. If Bucanero Fuerte goes there, it allows the lone horse excluded from the potential 14-runner field, Woodbine-based longshot Gas Me Up, to get into the race.
Johannes didn’t kick off his 2025 campaign until August, when he suffered through a dismal trip and finished ninth in the Fourstardave at Saratoga. Johannes overcame a little trouble of his own making when he rebounded to win the City of Hope Mile on Sept. 27 at Santa Anita, a race in which BC Mile pre-entrant Almendares finished third. Johannes, Almendares, and pre-entered Formidable Man all train in Southern California. Formidable Man’s connections skipped the City of Hope to bring a fresh horse to Del Mar, where Formidable Man has gone 6 for 6.
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Chad Brown, who trained 2019 Mile winner Uni, pre-entered Program Trading, a solid second in the Grade 1 Coolmore Turf Mile on Oct. 3 at Keeneland, a race that produced two more Mile pre-entrants. Rhetorical won the Turf Mile, his graded stakes debut, and gives fourth-year trainer Will Walden a legitimate Mile contender. Jonquil, trained in England but second by a head May 11 in the French 2000 Guineas, finished fourth in the Turf Mile with a less-than-ideal trip.
Notable Speech heads the European contingent. He will be making his third start in North America and hails from connections – owner Godolphin, trainer Charlie Appleby, and jockey William Buick – that won the Mile in 2021 with Modern Games, in 2022 with Space Blues, and in 2023 with Master of The Seas.
Notable Speech lost his four overseas starts this year before shipping to Canada to win a modest renewal of the Woodbine Mile. In his previous start, he’d finished a close second to Diego Velazaquez, fifth in the Turf Mile at Keeneland.
Two more European 3-year-olds, Sahlan and The Lion In Winter, were pre-entered. The pair finished one-three Sept. 7 in the Group 1 Prix du Moulin de Longchamp.
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Sahlan, ninth in the French Guineas, nearly five lengths behind Jonquil, ran a career-best in the Moulin, as did The Lion In Winter, beaten a nose and a neck in that right-handed mile. While Sahlan, who relishes fast going, comes fresh to Del Mar, The Lion In Winter finished second Oct. 18 in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, a straight mile at Ascot won by a 100-1 shot.
The Lion In Winter’s trainer, Aidan O’Brien, won his only Mile in 2020 with Order of Australia, who paid $148.40. And, sticking with the longshot theme, the final European, Qirat, ran July 30 as a purported pacemaker in the Group 1 Sussex, part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series, and wound up winning at 150-1.
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