A deep group of European-based runners are likely to overwhelm a small domestic team in the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Turf on Nov. 1 at Del Mar.
Of the 14 pre-entered runners for the BC Turf at 1 1/2 miles, there are five 2025 Grade 1 or Group 1 winners, all based in Europe.
Two of them, the filly Minnie Hauk and veteran gelding Rebel’s Romance, are expected to dominate the betting in an expected big field.
Rebel’s Romance won the 2022 BC Turf at Keeneland and the 2024 running at Del Mar, He can become the first three-time winner of the BC Turf.
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Rebel’s Romance, based in England, will arrive at Del Mar after a comfortable win by 3 1/2 lengths in the Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic at 1 1/2 miles on turf on Sept. 27 at Aqueduct. Owned by Godolphin Racing and trained by Charlie Appleby, the 7-year-old Rebel’s Romance has won 17 stakes in a 27-race career.
To win on Nov. 1, Rebel’s Romance must beat the exceptional 3-year-old Minnie Hauk, who had a five-race winning streak end with a game second by a head in the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, Europe’s leading race, at 1 1/2 miles at Longchamp Racecourse in Paris on Oct. 5.
Minnie Hauk is trained by Aidan O’Brien, who has won the BC Turf a record seven times, most recently at Santa Anita in 2023 with Auguste Rodin. Minnie Hauk, owned by the Coolmore syndicate, also is pre-entered in the $2 million BC Filly and Mare Turf at 1 3/8 miles on Nov. 1. The BC Turf is listed as her first preference.
Minnie Hauk’s recent winning streak included three Group 1 races at 1 1/2 miles – the English Oaks, Irish Oaks, and Yorkshire Oaks – from early June to mid-August.
Overall, there are nine pre-entrants from European stables and five from American stables.
There are notable absences from both sides of the Atlantic.
Ombudsman, who earned a fees-paid berth to the BC Turf with a win in the Group 1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot in England in June, finished second in the Group 1 Champion Stakes at Ascot last Saturday.
Ole Crazy Bone, winner of the Grade 2 Kentucky Turf Cup on Sept. 6 at Kentucky Downs, was not pre-entered. Ole Crazy Bone earned a fees-paid berth with the win in the $2.5 million Kentucky Turf Cup.
A win by any of the five American-based runners – Gold Phoenix, Hill Road, Rebel Red, Redistricting, or Tawny Port – would be a surprise.
This is Gold Phoenix’s fourth consecutive appearance in the BC Turf. Trained in California by Phil D’Amato, Gold Phoenix finished fourth at 32-1 at Del Mar last year, the best finish of an American-trained runner.
Redistricting, trained in New York by Chad Brown, won the Grade 2 United Nations Stakes at 1 3/8 miles at Monmouth Park in July and was second to Rebel’s Romance in the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic.
Tawny Port, trained in New York by Miguel Clement, was beaten a nose by BC Turf pre-entrant Silawi in the Grade 1 Canadian International on Oct. 4 at Woodbine. Tawny Port was second in the Kentucky Turf Cup.
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