Notable Speech is set for the perfect swansong in Saturday's FanDuel Breeders' Cup Mile.
The exceptional son of Dubawi has amassed in excess of £3.4million in prize money throughout his career, featuring victory in this event at Del Mar last year, and he goes into the Keeneland contest in top shape ahead of his 20th and final run.
Trained by Charlie Appleby for Godolphin, Notable Speech is bidding for an eighth top-level success having struck gold three times in Group/Grade 1 company already in 2026.
Appleby reflected on his campaign while talking to the Breeders' Cup on Thursday: "It started off a little bit sticky when we came here in the spring and didn't get the rub of the green but he came out and won at Newbury in the Grade 1 [Lockinge Stakes] and then he won the City Of York.
"We've gone down our usual route in the Woobine Mile and he did that well because to be fair Will [Buick, jockey] said he would have loved to have been a bit closer, he had to really show himself there in the Woodbine Mile and quicken up there to get on top of the leader, who is a decent horse himself.
"He's come out of it in great shape and he's got all the experience in the world over here."
Appleby has a remarkable 38% strike-rate at North America's major meeting over the years and has won the Breeders' Cup Mile a record four times.
This year's race has been a priority for Notable Speech since the end of 2025 when storming home in Southern California.
"On the back of last year and at the start of this season we felt this was going to be his last run and it would be fantastic if we can finish it with a win in the Breeders' Cup Mile," he said. "So we've purposefully worked back from it.
"Touch-wood, so far he looks great."
Appleby also runs last year's third El Cordobes in the Breeders' Cup Turf. He came back from a break to finish third in the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Stakes at Belmont Park on October 1 and his trainer expects the run to have done him plenty of good.
"We very much felt he's a horse who is going to be on a winter programme," Appleby said. "Once he's finished here he'll go to Dubai and he'll be on that sort of circuit over there.
"So we gave him the summer off and went to Belmont knowing that he would definitely come forward for it but what was quite interesting was that when Flavien [Prat, jockey] got off he said, Charlie, he's going to be more suited to the tighter turns and the smaller track compared to the galloping track there at Belmont.
"We came in off the turn and thought he was going to put the race to bed, but Flavien said the stretch was just a bit too far for him and he's going to be well suited to coming back to this style of track.
"Again, he's got the run under his belt now so he's fit and ready. I thought he looked great and he's got a nice stall, I'm sure they'll go a nice sensible gallop and give William an option to have a nice spin around and see whether he's good enough. He's got a bit to find - we know that - but he ticks the boxes in the experience he's got of racing over here."
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