A Preview to the Breeders’ Cup Mile Race

Del Mar Race Track

The Breeders’ Cup is exclusively held in America, with the exception of the 1996 event that was held in Canada. This year features a return to the Californian race track Del Mar, built by Bing Crosby. Built in 1936 and opened the following year, the racetrack is one mile long, and has both turf and dirt tracks.

Breeders’ Cup Mile Regulations

A Weight For Age race, the runners will be given weights depending on sex, age, weight and running distance. This is a fair play measure to make the races more balanced.

In the Mile, the runners are limited to fourteen places, with up to ten automatic berths from the “Win and You’re In” races, which are held internationally.

FanDuel Mile Presented By PDJF Entries

Blowout

The British filly won the First Lady Stakes in Keeneland to secure a position in the Mile race. She is trained by Chad Brown, the four time Eclipse Award for trainer of the year winner, and the filly is no stranger to graded races. She won on her career debut in Tampa Bay Downs, and now she has two wins from three starts going into this year's Breeders’ Cup. In her career she has a total of five wins, seven second places and one third place from her fourteen starts, winning over $980,000.

Casa Creed

Casa Creed had a forgettable performance at the Mile last year, where he placed at 12th. The bay horse has had a string of good performances this year, with a win in the Jackpocket Jaipur Stakes at Belmont Park, his first grade 1 win. In a career starting in 2018, he has started twenty two times, winning five, and placing second and third places three and four times respectively. He has career earnings of $840,000.

Got Stormy

This six year old mare started her career in 2017 with a third place finish in Gulfstream. With trainer Michael Casse, it did not take long before she was winning on the grass tracks. In 2020 she had her first Breeders’ Cup race in the Turf Sprint, and this year she won the grade 1 FourStarDave race in Saratoga to get a position in the Breeders’ Cup Mile. She has started thirty one races, winning twelve and claiming five second places and three third places, earning her over $2.4 million.

Hit The Road

Hit the Road gave trainer Dan Blacker his career first grade 1 win in the Frank E. Kilroe Mile Stakes in Santa Anita. This will be the colt’s second Breeders’ Cup, having raced here in 2019 in the Juvenile Turf. He finished third in both the Del Mar Mile Stakes and City of Hope Mile, which granted him a position in this year's Mile. He has started twelve times, winning six times and achieving two third places, earning $560,000.

In Love

In 2020, when In Love arrived from Brazil, he only had one win in five starts. He only raced twice in that season, and claimed a win in Keeneland. This year, he started slow, but picked up three more wins including a grade 1 race, again in Keeneland, earning him a place in the Breeders’ Cup. He has five wins, two second places and two third places from thirteen starts, with a career earnings of $720,000.

Ivar

Also a native of Brazil, Ivar started his career in Argentina, where he won three out of three starts in his debut season, including two grade 1 events. In 2020, the following year, he entered the Breeders’ Cup Mile, where he placed fourth. This year he looks to improve on his career of five wins and one third place from ten starts, from which he has earned $725,000.

Master of The Seas

The three year old Irish colt made his debut in 2020 when he won at Newmarket. This year he has raced in more graded events, and with help from trainer Charles Appleby, he notched another win at Newmarket in a grade 3 event. Rarely finishing less than third place, he has won three races, with two second places and one third place, he has earned $230,000.

Mo Forza

Mo Forza has a good track record on the Del Mar grass, where he has won two grade 2 races. He was entered into last year’s Breeders’ Cup but was forced to withdraw due to a minor setback. The colt was co-owned by the late Barry Adams, who passed away recently after a fifteen year battle with throat cancer. Trainer Peter Miller said that Mo Forza kept Adams going, the colt was fortunately able to give Adams one final victory in Santa Anita Park. Mo Forza has won eight times from fourteen starts, with three second places and one third, earning over $1 million.

Mother Earth

This bay filly was bred in Ireland, she won once in the Coolmore Stud Irish EBF Fillies Stake and came second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf in 2020. This year she hit the ground running with wins in the One Thousand Guineas Stakes and Prix Rothschild. She is conditioned by trainer Adrian O’ Brien, who looks to add a second Breeders’ Cup Mile to his trophy cabinet after winning it in 2020 with Order of Australia. Mother Earth has three wins, five second places and six third places from her fifteen career starts, accumulating $1.1 million in race earnings.

Pearls Galore

French bred Pearls Galore debuted in 2019. She won her first races in 2020, at the Adare Fillies Maiden in Limerick and the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Fillies in Cork. This year she has stepped up her game, racing exclusively in graded events, and she has picked up two grade 3 wins in Fairyhouse and Tipperary in Ireland, as well as two runner up places in Longchamps and Leopardstown. In her eleven starts, she has won four races, placed second three times and third once, and she has collected $280,000.

Raging Bull

Also French, Raging Bull started his career with two straight wins in Keeneland and Belmont Park in 2018. His first year was the most successful of his career to date, but the colt has started this year with a win in the Maker’s Mark Mile Stakes in Keeneland, and with trainer Chad Brown, he hopes to prove his doubters wrong with a strong show at this year’s Breeders’ Cup. He has amassed over $1.6 million in his career, and won seven times with four second and third places out of twenty one starts.

Smooth Like Straight

Smooth like Straight won the grade 1 Shoemaker Mile race in May to qualify for the Breeders’ Cup Mile. He won by 1 ½ lengths and led every point of call. This year, the colt has put in a number of strong performances, racing only grade 1 or 2 events and never finishing in less than third place. However, he has only one win, and will hope to increase his tally at the Mile. He has won seven, placed second six times and placed third twice in his eighteen starts, and he has earned over $1 million in his career.

Space Blues

Irish colt, Space Blues, won his debut race in Nottingham in 2018. Since then he has won many graded races, including at Longchamp, Deauxville, Goodwood, Haydock Park and York. Like fellow Irish horse Master of the Seas, he is trained by Charles Appleby. With his win this year in the Qatar Prix de la Foret in Longchamp, he secured a position in the Mile. He has won ten times, came second three times and third once, earning $1.5 million.

Vin De Garde

Vin de Garde is a Japanese thoroughbred horse, he had his first start in 2018, where he won at Hanshin. He has only travelled out of his native Japan when he went to Dubai for the Dubai Turf in the Meydan Racecourse, a grade 2 event where he came second place. Though he has been very successful in Japan, winning in tracks at Tokyo, Kyoto and Hanshin. He has won five times, placed second once and third three times in his career seventeen starts, collecting $2.2 million.

More about Breeders' Cup:

• Betting on the Breeders’ Cup Turf
• Breeder’s Cup Classic Betting Guide
• Breeders’ Cup Distaff Betting Preview
• Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf Race Guide