Horse Profile: Diego Velazquez

Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile Scouting Report

(Editor's note: Originally published in the 2024 BRISnet Breeders' Cup International Report) 

Before the Saratoga Derby (G1) fell victim to a weather postponement, Diego Velazquez was being mentioned as a possible candidate for Australia’s Cox Plate (G1). But after he shipped back home to Ballydoyle, O’Brien regrouped, and the Mile became fixed as his international target of preference. The Cox Plate counterfactual could be worth remembering as the sophomore will try to navigate a tight two-turn mile at Del Mar.

Diego Velazquez has won both of his mile starts on good ground around left-handed Leopardstown, so the Mile would have been among his rotisserie of options anyway. The flashy son of Frankel has much more pace than his stamina-laden half-brothers Broome (the runner-up in the 2021 Turf) and Point Lonsdale. Indeed, O’Brien has described him as looking like a miler. 

Yet his most emphatic performance this year came going 1 1/8 miles in the Meld (G3) two starts back, where Diego Velazquez bolted up by seven lengths. That raises the question of whether a mile in European conditions is more congenial than he’d find here.

Diego Velazquez hinted of classic potential in his first two outings as a juvenile. Romping by 4 3/4 lengths as the odds-on favorite over seven furlongs at the Curragh, he justified a similar level of market confidence in the Champions Juvenile (G2) at Leopardstown. But he appeared to want at least a mile already as he ground out a workmanlike victory over pacesetting stablemate Capulet. His 2023 campaign ended on an anticlimactic note when seventh on heavy going in the Futurity Trophy (G1).

The mixed messages in his pedigree led O’Brien to try him over different trips this season. Resuming over a metric mile in the Poule d’Essai des Poulains (French 2000 Guineas) (G1), Diego Velazquez ranked as a 17-1 outsider as stablemate Henry Longfellow was favored. But the favorite got a worse trip in eighth, and Diego Velazquez churned on for fourth on soft ground. He was beaten only a length by Metropolitan, who went on to take minor awards in the St James’s Palace (G1) (finishing ahead of the subpar Notable Speech) and in the Prix Jacques le Marois (G1) (to older star Charyn). 

Diego Velazquez stretched out to about 1 5/16 miles for the Prix du Jockey Club (French Derby) (G1), but he faded to eighth over heavy going at Chantilly. It didn’t really establish his distance capacity, since jockey Ryan Moore said that he was perched too close early. Even so, Diego Velazquez was still slogging away in the picture well into the stretch before tiring.

A 1 1/2-mile experiment in the King Edward VII (G2) at Royal Ascot backfired. Sent off as the favorite, Diego Velazquez was ridden more patiently off the pace, but the tactics couldn’t supply the needed stamina. He came under a ride on the far turn, dropped back in midstretch, and came home a tailed-off 10th of 14.

Shortening up to the Meld’s nine furlongs back at Leopardstown, Diego Velazquez was much happier. He stalked with his old verve, loomed up turning for home, and ended up having to go wider into the lane. That ground loss may have caused him to take more time to draw off, but he was in full flight entering the final furlong and ran up the score late. Runner-up Tarawa later shipped to Keeneland for the First Lady (G1), where she was an outpaced sixth on the cutback to a mile.

Diego Velazquez was just fine reverting to a flat mile in the Solonaway (G2), reiterating his fondness for Leopardstown with a professional stalk-and-pounce job. His time was considerably faster (1:38.94) than Porta Fortuna’s (1:40.67) in the Matron (G1) one race later. 

Stablemate Mountain Bear, who offered his customary rally for third, turned in a similar effort next time out at Keeneland. His late-running third to Carl Spackler and More Than Looks in the Coolmore Turf Mile (G1) gives Diego Velazquez nifty collateral form stateside. 

The question is whether Diego Velazquez can show the same tactical finesse around Del Mar. He’ll need to be pretty sharp to outkick specialist milers here, but he should be in contention.