Racing Roundtable: A look ahead to the 2024 Breeders' Cup

This week, the Racing Roundtable convenes to talk about what caught their eye over the weekend and discuss who it's looking forward to supporting and fading in the Breeders' Cup at Del Mar.

What caught your eye over the weekend?

Vance Hanson: The most important race domestically last weekend was the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup (G1) at Keeneland. We'd seen She Feels Pretty win impressively before, but not quite in this manner and against this level of competition.

After two narrow losses in New York over the summer in which she appeared to lose focus and idled, trainer Cherie DeVaux and jockey John Velazquez agreed it was best to add blinkers and keep the filly covered up early in the Challenge Cup. The strategy worked to a tee as She Feels Pretty powered home to a six-length win in a time of 1:46 2/5 for nine furlongs (amazingly not a stakes record).

Although the American Oaks (G1) over 1 1/4 miles at the end of December is there for her, off this performance I think she deserves a shot at the one-mile Matriarch (G1) at Del Mar on Dec. 1 against older rivals. It's been a tough race for three-year-olds to win in the last decade, but Surge Capacity bolted up and won last year off a victory in the relatively minor Valley View (G3) at Keeneland. Chad Brown is sure to have the horses to beat in that spot, but She Feels Pretty fits off this effort.

Which horse are you looking forward to backing in the Breeders' Cup?

VH: Mullikin appears a horse entering the Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) with the wind at his sails. He's won all four of his starts this season, generally by wide margins, including the John A. Nerud (G2) and Forego (G1). And while seven furlongs has been his forte during the span, his record over six is fine, too.

Versatile in style as he can win on the front end or from a stalking position, Mullikin simply has a lot going for him. Some folks have pegged him at around 5-1 or 6-1 several weeks out, and I'd take that price all day. Especially since potential rivals The Chosen Vron and Nakatomi have fallen short in this race before, and Skelly seemingly has stamina issues.

Which horse are you looking forward to fading in the Breeders' Cup?

VH: There are several who I believe will be underlays on Breeders' Cup weekend, but the one I'll mention for now is Ways and Means in the Filly & Mare Sprint (G1). This race has been around since 2007, and in that span the only a trio of three-year-olds have won. The most recent were Covfefe (2019) and Gamine (2020), and right now I don't think Ways and Means quite measures up to those two.

Although an outstanding one-turn specialist, Ways and Means perhaps was a little flattered competing over off tracks in winning the Test (G1) and Gallant Bloom (G2). She was also an odds-on choice in both, so the depth of the two races has to be called into question.

Another point is that the older fillies and mares are very solid. I don't know if Sweet Azteca is up to the task off her upset loss in the Chillingworth (G3), but Vahva basically owned the division the first half of the year. Society ran arguably the best race of her career in the Ballerina (G1) while demonstrating she might no longer be a one-dimensional frontrunner. Those two, at the very least, figure to offer value vis a vis Ways and Means.