Cody’s Wish with Junior Alvarado up battled National Treasure to the wire for the win in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile for trainer Bill Mott. (Ernie Belmonte/Past The Wire)
Two with Defending Champions
Breeders’ Cup Notes
ARCADIA, Calif.—Bill Mott was the training star of the 40th Breeders’ Cup World Championships Nov. 3 and 4 at Santa Anita Park, saddling three winners from six starters.
Two of the winners successfully defended their titles from victories in 2022 at Keeneland. Cody’s Wish repeated in the $1 million Big Ass Fans Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) and Elite Power repeated in the $2 million Qatar Racing Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1).
Mott’s third winner was Just F Y I in Friday’s NetJets Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1).
Two trainers picked up two victories each: Aidan O’Brien and Chad Brown.
O’Brien won Friday’s $1 million Prevagen Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1) with Unquestionable (FR), with stablemate Mountain Bear (IRE) running second. O’Brien saddled Auguste Rodin (IRE) to victory in Saturday’s $4 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1), the seventh time he has won that race.
Brown won Friday’s $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1) with Hard to Justify; the sixth time he has won that race. On Saturday, Goodnight Olive repeated as the winner of the $1 million PNC Bank Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1).
Irad Ortiz Jr. Wins Fifth Bill Shoemaker Award
Irad Ortiz Jr., who guided three horses to Breeders’ Cup victories, won the 21st Bill Shoemaker Award as the outstanding jockey of the event.
Ortiz clinched his fifth Shoemaker Award by riding Elite Power to victory Saturday afternoon in the Qatar Racing Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1), the final Breeders’ Cup race of the 2023 World Championships.
Ortiz also rode his other winners on Saturday: White Abarrio in the $6 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) and Goodnight Olive in the $1 million PNC Bank Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1).
Two riders had two victories each over the weekend: Junior Alvarado and Ryan Moore.
Alvarado won Friday’s $2 million NetJets Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) and Saturday’s Big Ass Fans Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) on Cody’s Wish.
Moore won Friday’s Prevagen Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1) on Unquestionable (FR) and Saturday’s Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1) on Auguste Rodin (IRE).
Two Jockeys and Trainers Achieve Initial Breeders’ Cup World Championships Victories
Two jockeys and two trainers teamed up to score their first victories in the World Championships.
In the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G1) on Friday that kicked off the 40thWorld Championships, Big Evs (IRE) posted a half-length victory to give jockey Tom Marquand and trainer Michael Appleby a win with their first Breeders’ Cup participants.
In Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (G1), Nobals gave jockey Gerardo Corrales and trainer Larry Rivelli their first victory in the World Championships. For Corrales, riding in his third Breeders’ Cup, Nobals represented his fourth mount.Nobals was the sixth Breeders’ Cup starter for Rivelli.
Eight Favorites Won Over the Weekend
Eight favorites delivered victories from the 14 Championship races during the 2023 Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita.
The winning favorites were Unquestionable (FR) (Prevagen Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf-G1), Cody’s Wish (Big Ass Fans Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile-G1), Inspiral (GB) (Maker’s Mark Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf-G1), Goodnight Olive (PNC Bank Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint-G1), Idiomatic (Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff-G1), Auguste Rodin (IRE) (Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf-G1), White Abarrio (Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic-G1) and Elite Power (Qatar Racing Breeders’ Cup Sprint-G1).
The highest-priced winner of the weekend was Fierceness ($35) in the FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) Presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance.
New York and European-Based Runners Dominate at Santa Anita
There were 14 World Championship races this weekend at Santa Anita and horses based in New York and Europe accounted for victories in 12 of them.
The seven New York-based winners were: Just F Y I (NetJets Juvenile Fillies-G1), Hard to Justify (Juvenile Fillies Turf-G1), Fierceness (FanDuel Juvenile-G1), Cody’s Wish (Big Ass Fans Dirt Mile-G1), Goodnight Olive (PNC Bank Filly & Mare Sprint-G1), White Abarrio (Longines Classic-G1) and Elite Power (Qatar Racing Sprint-G1).
The five European-based winners were: Big Evs (IRE) (Juvenile Turf Sprint-G1), Unquestionable (FR) (Prevagen Juvenile Turf-G1), Inspiral (GB) (Maker’s Mark Filly & Mare Turf-G1), Master of The Seas (IRE) (FanDuel Mile-G1) and Auguste Rodin (IRE) (Longines Turf-G1).
Kentucky-based Idiomatic won the Longines Distaff (G1) and Nobals, winner of the Turf Sprint (G1), completed his training for the Breeders’ Cup at Turfway Park in Kentucky although his main base is Hawthorne in Chicago.
Breeders’ Cup World Championships Leading Jockeys (by earnings)
| Jockey | Earnings |
| Mike Smith* | $38,464,605 |
| John Velazquez* | $37,030,275 |
| Joel Rosario* | $29,062,535 |
| Irad Ortiz Jr.* | $27,740,345 |
| Frankie Dettori* | $27,111,863 |
| Ryan Moore* | $23,047,035 |
| Pat Day | $23,033,360 |
| Gary Stevens | $22,006,440 |
*Denotes Active Jockey
Breeders’ Cup World Championships Leading Jockeys (by wins)
| Jockey | Wins |
| Mike Smith* | 27 |
| John Velazquez* | 20 |
| Irad Ortiz Jr.* | 20 |
| Joel Rosario* | 15 |
| Frankie Dettori* | 15 |
| Jerry Bailey | 15 |
| Garrett Gomez | 13 |
| Javier Castellano* | 12 |
| Pat Day | 12 |
| Javier Castellano | 12 |
*Denotes Active Jockey
Breeders’ Cup World Championships Leading Trainers (by earnings)
| Trainer | Earnings |
| Bob Baffert* | $40,385,000 |
| Aidan O’Brien* | $33,795,590 |
| Todd Pletcher* | $27,508,030 |
| Bill Mott* | $26,236,900 |
| Chad Brown* | $24,100,690 |
| D. Wayne Lukas* | $22,672,520 |
| Steve Asmussen* | $16,872,180 |
*Denotes Active Trainer
Breeders’ Cup World Championships Leading Trainers (by win)
| Trainer | Wins |
| D. Wayne Lukas* | 20 |
| Bob Baffert* | 18 |
| Chad Brown* | 18 |
| Aidan O’Brien* | 18 |
| Bill Mott* | 15 |
| Todd Pletcher* | 15 |
| Charlie Appleby* | 10 |
| Brad Cox* | 10 |
| Shug McGaughey* | 9 |
| Richard Mandella* | 9 |
*Denotes Active Trainer
Jockeys Who Won Their First Breeders’ Cup World Championships race in 2023
| Jockey | Horse | Race |
| Gerardo Corrales | Nobals | Turf Sprint |
| *Tom Marquand | Big Evs (IRE) | Juvenile Turf Sprint |
*Won with first Breeders’ Cup mount
Trainers Who Won Their First Breeders’ Cup World Championships race in 2023
| Trainer | Horse | Race |
| Larry Rivelli | Nobals | Turf Sprint |
| *Michael Appleby | Big Evs (IRE) | Juvenile Turf Sprint |
*Won with first Breeders’ Cup starter
Future Sites
The 41st Breeders’ Cup World Championships will be held Friday-Saturday, Nov. 1 & 2, 2024 at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif.
