Stable Tour: BBN Racing Breeders’ Cup contenders

Trainer Yoshito Yahagi may have been less than impressed when reigning Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Forever Young took the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup in his last start, but he could not have felt any different on Wednesday morning, when the world champion made his final move for this year’s Classic.

Forever Young visited the Keeneland main track just past 8:00 AM on Wednesday morning to put together his final serious piece of work in an attempt at a title defense in this year’s edition. Under slightly overcast skies, Forever Young went a half-mile in company with stablemate American Stage, who will contest the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Sprint. Forever Young began his work behind his stablemate down the backstretch under jockey Ryusei Sakai, and began leveling up to American Stage with the two matching strides nearing the quarter pole. Greeted by a crowd of fans along the grandstand rail, the two went in tandem to the wire with Forever Young completing the four furlongs in 50.20 seconds. American Stage completed his move in 50.80. 

Yahagi admitted that Forever Young ‘50 percent’ impressed him in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, where he struggled to switch leads in the stretch run and slightly drifted out in the final half furlong. But he liked what he saw from his world champion on Wednesday morning, and made that known at a post-work press conference at the Keeneland Sales pavilion. 

“It was perfect. The jockey gave the perfect ride and the horse was moving beautifully,” Yahagi said through translator Mariko Seki. “I thought the performance he showed at Belmont was not good enough to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic. The stable staff has told me that the horse’s condition is improving. I trust my stable staff very much, and they have always done a good job of keeping him in good condition.”

No horse has earned as much money as Forever Young, who has banked earnings in excess of $32 million heading into this year’s Classic, with discussions of where he ranks amongst the best Thoroughbreds of all time. But even some of the all time greats like Unbridled, Skip Away, Cigar, Curlin, Zenyatta, and Arrogate were unable to protect their Breeders’ Cup Classic title. To date, the only horse to do so was Tiznow in 2000-01.

“It’s quite difficult to maintain top condition for two years in a row, but I think Forever Young can do it. His condition is good and much better than last year,” Yahagi said. “This year, we are in a position that everyone is targeting us, it is not quite easy to defend a title.”

But Forever Young knows a thing or two about defending titles. He did just that in this year’s Group 1 Saudi Cup in February. Yahagi has not ruled out keeping Forever Young in training to attempt a third straight Group 1 Saudi Cup triumph on February 21, 2027. 

“Two weeks ago, I and the owner [Susumu Fujita] had a long discussion with lots of drinks, but we still don’t have a final decision yet. All possible options we have at the moment,” Yahagi said. 

Around this time last year, Brian Klatsky of BBN Racing spoke with the other partners regarding a campaign for their leading 3-year-olds Kilwin and Bracket Buster. Kilwin had won the historic Grade 1 Test at Saratoga, while Bracket Buster had won the Grade 3 Oklahoma Derby after finishing second to Sovereignty in the Grade 1 Travers at Saratoga. 

Both horses would have been live Breeders’ Cup contenders for last year’s Filly and Mare Sprint and Dirt Mile at Del Mar, and would have given them their first year with multiple Breeders’ Cup horses. But with BBN Racing being a primarily Keeneland and Kentucky-centered operation, Klatsky and co-founding partners Braxton Lynch and Brendan O’Brien decided to opt for home field advantage for this year’s Breeders’ Cup instead. 

Kilwin started her season on July 19 with a seasonal debut win in the Twin Bridges at Ellis Park. Three weeks later, Bracket Buster dominated in his 4-year-old debut with a 15-length romp in the West Virginia Governors’ at Mountaineer. He earned a 108 Beyer Speed Figure for the win.  

“They were two 3-year-olds that just had really strong campaigns, so we decided to let them grow up and let us do this on our home court and come back as 4-year-olds,” Klatsky said. “That’s why both got a very late start to the year, we wanted them fresh at year end. A lot of times, these plans never work out, so I can’t tell you how fortunate we feel to be in this position.”

Klatsky discussed BBN Racing’s Breeders’ Cup entrants, which include also-eligible Breeders’ Cup Turf aspirant Telescopic. 

KILWIN

Race: Grade 1, $1 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint

Trained by veteran Keeneland-based conditioner Rusty Arnold, Kilwin enters from a troubled runner-up finish behind returning rival and 7-5 favorite Ways and Means in the Grade 1 Ballerina on August 29 at Saratoga. The daughter of Twirling Candy broke from post 2 that day, with Ways and Means leaving from the 7 hole in the nine-horse field. Kilwin was in crowded quarters during the beginning stages of the race and shuffled back to last, well off a fast pace. Still at the rear approaching the far turn, she began to accelerate nearing the quarter pole and made an inside rally in midstretch. But she could not reel in the victorious Ways and Means, who won by 5 ½ lengths. 

A dual surface specialist, Kilwin began her career on grass winning her first two starts. After a debut win over the Ellis Park turf, she won the $1 million Untapable at Kentucky Downs before running fifth in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. She stayed on turf in her first two starts as a 3-year-old where she finished behind eventual Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint winner Shisospicy. 

Klatsky: 

“She gave herself too much work to do in the Ballerina. You’re not going to catch Ways and Means on her home track that way. What’s ironic is the way both us and Ways and Means drew in the Breeders’ Cup, it’s almost the reverse scenario of Saratoga. This time, Ways and Means is down on the inside with a lot of speed and we’re on the outside. We just hope that we get a fair shot at her, and the third race off the layoff is probably where you see her run to her career top.

“The difference between her on dirt and turf is on turf most of her beats were by Shisospicy. At 5 ½ [furlongs] on the grass, you’re not beating Shisospicy. At seven-eighths on the grass, it might be a different story. 

“When we buy them, if they breeze well you naturally go on the dirt. But with Kentucky Downs as a big part of our program, we tend to gravitate towards that to see if we can capture some of that big purse money that they have. A lot of times if they don’t win, it’s a great way to condition them and get a bottom in them as a 2-year-old. So, a lot of our earlier 2-year-olds end up on the grass just because Kentucky Downs has that big purse money, and from there we find a moment to bring them back to the dirt. If you win a $1 million race at Kentucky Downs as a 2-year-old, you’re not really thinking dirt at that time.

“Rusty has said, ‘If you have a good horse they’ll run on anything’. Sometimes, people take that out of perspective. Concrete Rose was a really good horse for us. She never got to dirt, but she may have run some of the same numbers on dirt. But once they’re good on one surface, you never try the other until you have to.”

BRACKET BUSTER

Race: Grade 1, $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile 

Not often will a horse run a 108 Beyer off a nine-month layoff, but Bracket Buster did just that in his 4-year-old debut for trainer Vicki Oliver. The expectations were high for the son of Vekoma, who put together a nice sophomore season with runner-ups in the Travers and Grade 3 Lexington, which was won by eventual Preakness runner-up Gosger. His 3-year-old year also included a 3 ¼-length win in the Grade 3 Oklahoma Derby, as well as a seven-length victory in the Pegasus at Monmouth.  

Bracket Buster enters the Dirt Mile from a troubled second as the favorite in the Parx Dirt Mile. He raced a close second along the rail to the inside of Grade 1 winner Saudi Crown and was shuffled around the far turn with Wild Vine accelerating to the front on the far outside. Angled wide approaching the top of the stretch, Bracket Buster tried to reel in Wild Vine, but came up two lengths shy of victory.

Klatsky:

“He’s a late May foal. As a 2-year-old, he was doing things naturally. Giving him an opportunity to grow into himself and looking at him as a 4-year-old now, and that May foal stuff doesn’t matter anymore. He’s been able to fill out, and you’re able to see what the finished product is. He’s got a really killer instinct to him. After the race at Parx, he was visibly pissed off and you could see he was mad not winning that race. When you think about preparing for the Breeders’ Cup, that race may have been a blessing in disguise because it gave him the opportunity to learn a dimension. He was forced to take back, got stopped, came wide, and made multiple runs. He knows what it is to win, and when you give him a clear path and let him run he’s as good as anybody.”

TELESCOPIC

Race: (AE) Grade 1, $5 million Breeders’ Cup Turf 

A winner of his last two starts, Telescopic is on the outside looking in for the Turf with two defections needed in order to run. A Kentucky Downs maiden winner as a 3-year-old, the now 5-year-old son of American Pharoah won his first start since then at this past Kentucky Downs meet in a 12-furlong first level allowance. He followed up with a second-level allowance at Churchill Downs three weeks later, going three turns. 

Klatsky mentioned a 6-year-old campaign for the turf marathoner, which could include another start at Kentucky Downs in the Grade 2, $2 million Kentucky Turf Cup. 

Klatsky:

“What he has done at a mile and a half three turns, he hasn’t left a gallop. If we can get him in this race at a mile and a half, he’ll be 80-1, but this will be the kind of horse coming at the wire ready to blow up some exactas and trifectas. There’s got to be a European that’s unbeatable in here, but I do think he belongs and can run with them at this distance. 

“We have a plan to run at Kentucky Downs next year in the $2 million race. We never had Breeders’ Cup in the plans this year, but it’s here in our backyard. If there are a couple of defections, we’ll come running.”

Every runner, every race: the full fields, connections’ quotes, ITM Staff picks and history for all 14 races are on the ITM Breeders’ Cup hub, including the Filly & Mare Sprint, Dirt Mile and Turf pages.