Now sitting atop the Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings on 121, National Treasure (Quality Road) and Senor Buscador (Mineshaft) both began their 2024 campaigns in the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational S. in January, which saw the former defeat Senor Buscador by a neck.

Following that effort, they both travelled to the Middle East to compete in the G1 Saudi Cup. Senor Buscador raced in the back of the field before rallying to defeat Ushba Tesoro (Jpn) (Orfevre {Jpn}) by a head, who was weighted on 120 for this week's list. Saudi Crown (Always Dreaming), who was three-quarters of a length back in third, came next on 119, while National Treasure finished fourth.

Ushba Tesoro shares the joint-second position in the rankings, along with G1 Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup winner Romantic Warrior (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) and Rebel's Romance (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), who won the Listed HH The Amir Trophy in Qatar Feb. 17.

Joining them with 120 points is Private Eye (Aus) (Al Maher {Aus}). He finished second by a head in the G1 Black Caviar Lightning S. to Imperatriz (Aus) (I Am Invincible {Aus}), who made the list with 119.

Click here for the full list of ranked horses.

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The turf wordsmith revealed his intent in the Preface when he said, “I shall show that, owing to want of popular support, racing had fallen so low, and so infrequent, as to excite little or no interest.”

What he was talking about was a sport in crisis, as progressive forces in America drove racing to the edge of extinction. With renewed governmental support from states and a bit of luck from private sources in the 1920s, everything began to turn around. Investment coupled with excitement, revived American competition.

It's a cycle of precipices Thoroughbred racing has continued to weather to this day.

In the current era, one of the sport's greatest innovations, the Breeders' Cup World Championships, is set for its 40th edition in November. As we celebrate the final month of the Challenge Series, here's a preview of all the weekend graded activity which will leave the station at Churchill Downs, Santa Anita, and Aqueduct.

Next Stop, Churchill

Chugging into Louisville, the Saturday action lands under the Twin Spires for the GIII Ack Ack S. going a mile around one turn. With a trip to the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile up for grabs, GII Louisiana Derby runner-up and 'TDN Rising Star' Zozos (Munnings) will serve as the 6-5 morning-line favorite. The Brad Cox trainee was last seen running fourth in the GIII Philip Iselin S. Aug. 19 at Monmouth Park.

Zozos | Horsephotos

The 4-year-old colt will face a number of challengers which includes MGSP O Besos (Orb), the last out winner of the GII John Nerud S. at Belmont Park Three Technique (Mr Speaker) and come from behind hero Aug. 13 of the R.A. Cowboy Jones S. at Ellis Park in 'TDN Rising Star' Stage Raider (Pioneerof the Nile).

Also scheduled is the nine-furlong GII Lukas Classic which pits GISP Rattle N Roll (Connect) against GI Cigar Mile champ Americanrevolution (Constitution). Shortleaf homebred Whelan Springs (Street Sense), who incidentally won the Iselin S., will look to upset both for trainer Lindsay Schultz.

Santa Anita, The Place To Be

The whistle stop tour of graded events doesn't stop there because Santa Anita Park begins its Autumn Meet with a number of key Saturday and Sunday races.

The GI Awesome Again S., which the TDN previewed and highlighted in a special edition of Friday's paper, will lead a packed weekend at 'The Great Race Place', as nine will face one another for the chance to line up in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic.

Three Grade II races compliment the Saturday card and it is going to be quite a duel in the GII Santa Anita Sprint Championship S. between former winner Dr. Schivel (Violence) and GI Woody Stephens S. hero and 'TDN Rising Star' Arabian Lion (Justify).

Heading to the Downhill Turf Course, a competitive group of grass specialists will cross paths with one other led by MGSW Bran (Fr) (Muhaarar {GB}) from John Sadler's stable. The dark bay gelding will line up along the inside next to MGSP Sumter (War Front), who goes with the blinkers for Richard Mandella.

Staying on the grass, the GII City of Hope Mile S. wraps up the evening with a route as local favorite MGSW Hong Kong Harry (Ire) (Es Que Love {Ire}) returns to a course where he has captured three wins in five attempts.

Arabian Lion | Sarah Andrew

The Sunday Santa Anita slate has its share of graded action as the GII Zenyatta S. marks the return of Michael Lund Petersen's Adare Manor (Uncle Mo), who comes in riding a four-race win streak. Also featured will be the GIII Tokyo City Cup S. and the GII John Henry Turf Championship S.

Sunday's BAQ Forecast, Brighter Days Ahead

Speaking of the Jockey Club's New York historian and handicapper, William Vosburgh received a nod from the New York Racing Association when they named a race after him. Now moved to Sunday because of a deluge, the GII Vosburgh S. continues to be a mainstay on the NYRA stakes schedule and, with the Belmont Park construction, returned to Aqueduct last year for the first time since 1986. The seven-furlong event offers paid entry into the GI Qatar Racing Breeders' Cup Sprint.

Last year's GI Breeders' Cup Big Ass Fans Dirt Mile champ Cody's Wish (Curlin) certainly impressed when the 5-year-old took home both the GI Churchill Downs S. and Belmont Park's GI Met Mile earlier this summer. Even though the stretch out in the GI Whitney H. at Saratoga did not yield a win, his ability is unmatched even over a wet surface against five others here.

“One turn and seven [furlongs] to a mile is good for him,” said Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. “We wanted to see if he could win the Whitney–it's a very important race and if he could win the Met Mile and the Whitney, those are two very big races.”

The Sunday BAQ card also sports three other graded races. Heavy morning-line favorite Caramel Swirl (Union Rags), who was a runner-up in last year's GI Ballerina at Saratoga, finished fourth this time around to MGISW Echo Zulu (Gun Runner). The 5-year-old mare will look to get back on track in the GII Gallant Bloom S. when she faces five others.

A soggy turf course at Aqueduct will not deter runners for the GI Joe Hirsch Turf Classic S. Going the distance will be MGISW War Like Goddess (English Channel), who faces the boys once again after she missed by just a neck against older females in the GII Glens Falls S. Aug. 3 at Saratoga. Also headed to the post will be GI Breeders' Cup Turf victor Rebel's Romance (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), who last lost his rider in the GII Bowling Green S. July 30 at Saratoga. The dark bay gelding will not only have to contend with War Like Goddess but also MGISP Soldier Rising (GB) (Frankel {GB}) and MGISP Stone Age (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}).

Algiers | Dubai Racing Club

Finally, a can't miss on this Sunday card is the GII Woodward S. 'TDN Rising Star' Charge It (Tapit), winner of the GII Suburban S. July 8 at Belmont, and GISW Zandon (Upstart), who will head to stud duty at Spendthrift Farm next year, will take on G1 Dubai World Cup runner-up Algiers (Ire) (Shamardal). The Simon Crisford trainee is making his first U.S. start after taking the summer off.

“It is a fact-finding mission,” said Ed Crisford, who shares a license with his father. “We want to see if he can handle the American dirt because it is different than Meydan. I do think the New York tracks are more similar to Meydan than some of the other tracks. We want to see what he can do against top American dirt horses. If he goes well, wins or runs very well, we can justify going to the Breeders' Cup. If not, we'll probably just take him back to Dubai. It all depends on what happens on the weekend.”

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Godolphin also announced via Twitter that GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf runner-up Silver Knott (GB) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) and Classic-placed Master Of The Seas (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) will join Rebel's Romance in the Colonial Downs turf feature.

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The horse who set up the longshot by engaging in a speed duel with the favorite over the mud was Whichone, a colt owned by Harry Payne Whitney (yes, that important family). And what other Thoroughbred did Whitney own? Well, that would be Upset, who did just that, when he handed the great Man o' War his only career loss. And that is a minor example of a nexus.

As part of the Saratoga weekend card, it seems fitting that Saturday's GII Jim Dandy S. is the main prep for next month's GI Travers S. Horse racing, like life, always reflects irony of some type.

In this year's edition, Saudi Crown (Always Dreaming) isn't going to be 100-1. However, compared to the experience of GIII Matt Winn S. victor and 'TDN Rising Star' Disarm (Gun Runner), Eclipse champion 2-year-old and 'TDN Rising Star' Forte (Violence), who will be wearing first-time blinkers, Hit Show (Candy Ride {Arg}), winner of the GIII Withers S. and second in the GII Wood Memorial S., and GI Arkansas Derby star and GI Kentucky Derby third Angel of Empire (Classic Empire), the 3-year-old colt has something to prove after running second last time out in the GIII Dwyer S. July 1 at Belmont Park. The Brad Cox trainee passed the eye test in his debut at Keeneland in April and against allowance company May 21 at Churchill Downs.

Not to be missed on the Saratoga Saturday card is another race with historical connections in spades. This year's GI Alfred G. Vanderbilt H. will feature a rematch from February's G3 Riyadh Dirt Sprint in Saudi Arabia in which the reigning Eclipse champion dirt sprinter and GISW Elite Power (Curlin) stepped away as GISW Gunite (Gun Runner) gave chase for second. The $900,000 Keeneland September buy built on that win with another impressive display in the GII True North S.

Elite Power | Sarah Andrew

Elite Power worked a half mile alone in :51.22 Sunday over the Oklahoma training track in a breeze that Mott indicated was similar to the chestnut's half-mile work in :51.11 on Oct. 28 over the same surface ahead of his Breeders' Cup victory. “That's him by himself,” Mott said. “He's run well off of those kind of works right before his races. He did that in Saudi. He was working :51 before he won the Breeders' Cup. He wouldn't wow anyone when he's working by himself.”

Looking elsewhere on Saturday in North America, Monmouth Park will card its own Oaks. The Grade III includes Promiseher America (American Pharoah) from Ray Handal's stable and Occult (Into Mischief), who was last seen running third to MGISW Pretty Mischievous (Into Mischief) in the GI Acorn S. on the Belmont S. undercard.

In the wake of cancellations due to heat the past couple of days, Woodbine Racetrack will hope to run the GII Seagram Cup for 3-year-olds and up. Tyson (Tapit) will garner much attention since the 4-year-old gray colt won the GIII Dominion Day S. last time out for trainer Josie Carroll.

Del Mar Thoroughbred Club will have plenty of action to contribute as their program includes the GII San Diego H. and the GI Bing Crosby S., which offers a Breeders' Cup 'Win and You're In' voucher for the GI BC Qatar Racing Sprint.

Both Del Mar races sport field sizes of 10-plus. The San Diego includes MGISW Defunded (Dialed In), who won Santa Anita's GI Gold Cup May 29 and will carry the most weight here at 125. With 12 hopefuls entered for the Bing Crosby, Anarchist (Distorted Humor) returns to California after running second to Elite Power in the GII True North S. The 4-year-old colt will face some veteran runners in G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen hero Sibelius (Not This Time) and MGISW and '21 winner Dr. Schivel (Violence).

Rebel's Romance works at Saratoga | Sarah Andrew

Shifting to Sunday, not to be missed on the stakes slate are a pair of Grade IIs for 3-year-olds and up over the turf. Saratoga's Bowling Green S. has enticed GI Breeders' Cup Turf conqueror Rebel's Romance (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) for trainer Charlie Appleby. Last seen running a well-beaten seventh in the G1 Dubai Sheema Classic in March, the 5-year-old gelding will look to get his second half of his season off on the right foot.

“He's a well-traveled horse; Germany, Keeneland, England and Dubai,” said Appleby's traveling assistant Chris Connett. “He's traveled this trip pretty well and he's settled in good shape. He's a typical Dubawi, he's got better with age. He's a big horse that's really grown into his frame. Hopefully, we'll get to see him at his best on Sunday.”

Count Again | Horsephotos

Meanwhile the Eddie Read S. at Del Mar includes four entries from Phil D'Amato's shedrow, including MGISW Count Again (Awesome Again), winner last time out of the GI Shoemaker Mile S. May 30 at Santa Anita Park, and MGSW Balnikov (Ire) (Adaay {Ire}), who is looking to bounce back after finishing eighth in that same race. The competitive Leo Powell trainee and MGSW Dicey Mo Chara (GB) (Adaay {Ire}) goes out for a barn that won last weekend's GII San Clemente S. The 5-year-old gelding's last start yielded a finished third-place finish at Santa Anita May 13 in the GIII San Luis Rey S.

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Trained by Charlie Appleby, the 5-year-old is still an intended runner in the Mar. 25 G1 Dubai Sheema Classic on the $12-million G1 Dubai World Cup undercard.

“Rebel's Romance was found to have inflammation in his foreleg during a routine inspection this morning and will miss Saturday's City Of Gold,” Godolphin tweeted. “He is still aiming for the Dubai Sheema Classic on World Cup night.”

A winner of all five of his starts last year, the gelding claimed a Newmarket listed affair in June, before adding Goodwood's July 29 G3 Glorious S. and clawed out a neck victory in the G1 Grosser Preis von Berlin on Aug. 14. He added another German top-tier score in the Preis von Europa on Sept. 25, his Breeders' Cup warm up. Saturday's start would have been his first outing in 2023.

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The featured event, sponsored by Emirates Airline, attracted 171 entries. Of the 24 Group or Grade 1 winners besides the Zedan Racing-owned and Bob Baffert-trained Country Grammer, is the duo's three-time Grade I winner Taiba (Gun Runner).

Joining them could be a pair of longshot headliners from last year; namely, GI Kentucky Derby champ Rich Strike (Keen Ice) and upset G1 Saudi Cup victor Emblem Road (Quality Road). Japan continues their well-documented rise on the international racing stage, and 2022 G1 Dubai Turf dead-heater Panthalassa (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) holds a Dubai World Cup nomination this time.

As for the rest of the card, the G1 Longines Dubai Sheema Classic nominations includes Japanese stars like the 2022 winner Shahryar (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), as well as Equinox (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}), the highest-rated 3-year-old in the world last year. Standing in their way is Godolphin trainer Charlie Appleby who has entered Rebel's Romance (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), winner of the 2022 GI Breeders' Cup Turf.

Speaking of the Dubai Turf, sponsored by DP World, the other half of the dead heat from last year in Lord North (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) returns, while newcomer Saffron Beach (Ire) (New Bay {GB}) made the list. They could be facing rookie international shipper and reigning Hong Kong Horse of the Year Golden Sixty (Aus) (Medaglia d'Oro). Meanwhile, the G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen could pit the Steve Asmussen trainee Gunite (Gun Runner) against RRR Racing's local hero Switzerland (Speightstown).

Grass sprinting noms in the G1 Al Quoz Sprint, sponsored by Azizi Developments, are led by the well-travelled Artorius (Aus) (Flying Artie {Aus}) who could make the journey from Down Under. Irish trainer Aidan O'Brien's three wins in the G2 UAE Derby make him a logical frontrunner, especially as he has nominated GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf winner Victoria Road (Ire) (Saxon Warrior {Jpn}).

The G2 Dubai Gold Cup, sponsored by Al Tayer Motors, could signal the return of 2021 winner and G1 Gold Cup hero Subjectivist (GB) (Teofilo {Ire}). While the rundown of entries for the G2 Godolphin Mile, sponsored by Nakheel, is marked by defending champion Bathrat Leon (Jpn) (Kizuna {Jpn}), as well as Japanese challengers like Lauda Sion (Jpn) (Real Impact {Jpn}) and Derma Louvre (Jpn) (Pyro), plus Americans hopefuls like Pioneer Of Medina (Pioneerof the Nile) and White Abarrio (Race Day).

“We are delighted by the strength and depth of entries for this year's Dubai World Cup meeting,” said Stephanie Cooley, International Manager for the Club. “To have horses from more than 20 countries considering the trip shows the meeting's continued global appeal.”

Invitations for the meeting are set to go out during February. Click here, for the full list of the nominations.

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6.30 Kempton, Mdn, £7,000, 3yo/up, 8f (AWT)
MEASURED TIME (GB) (Frankel {GB}) is a significant newcomer from the Charlie Appleby stable as a half-brother to last year's GI Breeders' Cup Turf hero Rebel's Romance (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}). From the family of the sires Victoire Pisa (Jpn) (Neo Universe {Jpn}) and Asakusa Den'en (GB) (Singspiel {Ire}), the February-foaled bay is one of only two unraced members of the dozen in the line-up.

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He said, “Noble Style has not been seen since winning the Gimcrack impressively. He had the colic setback but he is fine and is back in work. He will probably start off in the Greenham down at Newbury as he has got a lot of natural speed which we have seen.

“Staying is the question mark. On pedigree, there is strong enough evidence that he should stay the mile but at the end of the day he has got to prove on track he can get the extra two furlongs. As we stand at the moment he is a serious Guineas contender.”

Another horse with Classic aims is Mysterious Night (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}), the winner of the GI Summer S. overseas at Woodbine in Canada last September.

“A horse that we have not seen since he won emphatically in Canada is Mysterious Night,” he added. “I think he is a horse that deserves to put in those trials in the spring to see where we are. The way he has developed and the scope he has puts him in the picture.

“You also have to put Silver Knott (GB) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) in there. He only went down by a short head in the [GI] Breeders' Cup Juvenile [Turf] which is a race we have used with horses that have tasted Classic success, i.e. Modern Games. He is definitely in the Guineas mix.”

Appleby is also blessed with a bevy of potential G1 Derby horses, among them listed winner Local Dynasty (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) and G3 Zetland S. hero Flying Honours (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}).

“As for the Derby you have Local Dynasty, who won the Silver Tankard at Pontefract and Flying Honours who won the Zetland S. at Newmarket, which can be good 2-year-old races which are good pointers for the Derby.

“There is also Imperial Emperor (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), who won smartly in his maiden at Newmarket and Castle Way (GB) (Almanzor {Fr}) who won the valuable nursery at Newmarket over a mile and a quarter quite impressively. These are all horses that will be in the Derby trials in the spring.”

Quadruple top-level victor Modern Games (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) stays in training, as does G1 Irish 2000 Guineas victor Native Trail (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}).

He said, “Native Trail looks great and we have him staying in training as does Modern Games in that mile camp and in the sprinting division you have got little Creative Force (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}).

“Stepping up to the mile and a quarter you have Adayar (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), who we missed for much of this season, then over a mile and a half you have the likes of Rebel's Romance (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), Yibir (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), Hurricane Lane (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) and New London (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}). There should be some good war horses there.

“As you know it can be a long winter but they are all doing well. It won't be long until the middle of January then we will be back on the treadmill as they say.”

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In the Breeders' Cup Classic, Flightline pulled away from the field to win by a record 8 1/4 lengths. Olympiad (Speightstown) (124) was second, while Taiba (Gun Runner) (123) was another half-length back in third.

Rebel's Romance (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) (122) also impressed during the Breeders' Cup World Championships and joins the rankings following his 2 1/2-length win the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Turf. It was his fifth consecutive victory and third at the highest level.

Meanwhile, both Equinox (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}) (123) and Panthalassa (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) (121) find themselves ranked following their dramatic efforts in the G1 Tenno Sho (Autumn). Equinox ran down the front-running Panthalassa to win by a length in that contest.

Additionally, Bay Bridge (GB) (New Bay {GB}) (122) improved his rating to 122 from 120 after defeating Adayar (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) (121) by a half-length in the G1 Qipco Champion S. My Prospero (Ire) (Iffraaj {GB}) (121) was a nose back in third, while Baaeed (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) (135) was fourth.

The next edition of the rankings will be released in January 2023.

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True, the raiders' contribution nowadays tends to be diffidently confined to the turf races. And nor did they spread their spoils at all widely. Saturday was very much a case of rounding up the usual suspects. For the measurement of their superiority over the domestic grass talent once again contained an internal rivalry of its own, with two powerhouses of the European industry ending up evenly dividing six of the seven grass races staged across the two days.

On the juvenile programme, Aidan O'Brien and Charlie Appleby had traded a winner apiece before a desperate duel between their respective representatives in a “decider” was settled in favour of Ballydoyle. And their contention on Saturday was virtually a mirror image, O'Brien resuming with Tuesday (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in the GI Filly and Mare Turf before Appleby responded with Modern Games (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) in the GI Mile and finally Rebel's Romance (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) in the GI Turf, where he was inevitably pursued home by a colt from Ballydoyle.

These winners limited Appleby's wilful impairment of his apparent invincibility on this side of the water: he had necessarily eroded his Breeders' Cup strike-rate by saddling two runners in two races. As a result, he must settle for having advanced to nine winners from 18 career starters at the meeting. Good grief, you would think the man might have the basic common sense at least to ensure a dead-heat when he runs more than one in a race.

Appleby has an exceptionally astute sense of the kind of animal that thrives on the hectic racing environment over here: tough, nimble horses that know how to hustle. Modern Games is a luminous example, as attested by three Grade I wins in three North American starts, though he also contributed to Appleby's remarkable sweep of three different mile Classics in Europe this spring. But this horse will probably never shake off his principal eligibility as a quiz answer, after contriving to win at Del Mar last year as a “ghost” for wagering purposes.

Evidently the intention is to keep Modern Games in training, alongside the gelded Rebel's Romance who has really blossomed with maturity after a staccato start to his career. For James Doyle, his success bookends a campaign in which he similarly benefited from William Buick's selection of another runner in the G1 2000 Guineas.

Ballydoyle's latest winner, meanwhile, proved yet another example of the way O'Brien manages to make the very process of proving a horse a stimulus to its ongoing development. This was Tuesday's eighth consecutive Group 1 start since breaking her maiden at Naas on Mar. 27. She was placed for the second time in a mile Classic just 12 days before winning one over a mile and a half. She ran against colts in the G1 Irish Derby, and bumped into the subsequent Arc winner at York. Yet all these months after drawing the cork, she performed here with more effervescence than ever.

The system, by this stage, is honed to a nearly metronomic degree. The maiden Tuesday won at Naas, for instance, had also been chosen to launch her sister Empress Josephine (Ire) towards her own Classic success last year. Their dam Lillie Langtry disappointed as hot favourite for the GI Juvenile Fillies Turf of 2009, at Santa Anita, but she came up with no less a filly than Minding (Ire) as her second foal; and their trainer, who has over the years had his ups and downs here, will have stifled any lingering scepticism at the wagering windows with three winners and a second from six starters overall. It must be said that the cause was especially well served by Ryan Moore, who really is riding at the peak of his powers.

So that left the GI Turf Sprint as the one and only race in which the speed of the indigenous opposition proved too much for the invaders, at least round a single turn. Even then, Emaraaty Ana (GB) (Shamardal) excelled for Yorkshire in getting within a neck of shock winner Caravel.

To those of us who considered Mizzen Mast a neglected stallion, this was a welcome reminder of the value he had long provided as a conduit to the splendid versatility of his own sire. Pensioned last year at the age of 23, his legacy has been sadly confined by a preponderance of geldings and females among his best stock–as, for instance, when two ladies gave him a famous double at the 2012 Breeders' Cup (Mizdirection in this race, and Flotilla {Fr}). Mizzen Mast did not always throw the most commercial conformation, but you can't put a price on the genetic nostalgia offered by a son of Cozzene out of a Graustark mare.

Someday, no doubt, the name of Flightline will have no less resonance in the Stud Book. But while even he must start with a blank state, as and when he enters stud, Saturday gilded the epoch-making heritage of two of the European breed's great modern bulwarks. Both Appleby's winners were sons of Dubawi, now in the evening of his career, while Tuesday is by the lamented Galileo.

It's striking that O'Brien and Appleby both use very similar language when trying to explain how Galileo and Dubawi have assisted their respective careers. The way they handle their stock will certainly have evolved with their growing familiarity, but both trainers stress how that elusive concept, class, is essentially a function of mental commitment, naturally alongside the physical capacity to support it.

And that's exactly where breeders need to be on the same page as trainers. They need to make sure that they prioritise constitution in their matings, because that is the foundation of brilliance. Flightline, notoriously, has only run six times–but what sets him apart is that you can throw anything at him and he will come right back and ask if that's all you have.

That is always said to be the classic trademark of his sire Tapit, while Flightline's second dam is by that doughty influence Dynaformer out of the Phipps matron Finder's Fee (Storm Cat)–who herself went seven-for-27 through three seasons.

If Flightline is to match his first career in his second, these are the seams he will be drawing on: much like Dubawi, and Galileo, and now the latter's son Frankel (GB). So when all these horsemen leave town, dispersing to far-flung coasts and continents and cultures, let them think about the type of animals they want to bring into the world. If their foals are born to run, and not just to stand on the dais in the adjacent pavilion, then it will be called the Breeders' Cup for a reason.

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