Breeders' Cup build-up: Vicki Gibbins with George Scott, Charlie Appleby and Peter Fahey

Horse Racing

Thu October 29, 2026 · 5h ago

“Sir Mark has told me that if she wins, he’ll take all the credit and if she loses, I’ll take all the blame,” laughs William Butler, as he watches Tiffany stride back to the stables after another successful foray round the training track.

It’s a carnival atmosphere down at the European quarantine barn. There’s been an overnight effort to put out safety cones to separate the horses from the people and they’re being politely ignored as media, connections and ponies congregate happily with coffee and gossip.

We’ve successfully interviewed every British, Irish and French trainer present in Lexington over the last two mornings and the newly-arrived George Scott represents fresh meat, to be consumed immediately.

Thankfully, George understands the assignment.

“It’s lovely to be here on a crisp Kentucky morning with Bay City Roller,” he opens, conjuring images of the pair kicking their way through autumn leaves en-route to the training track.

“It was always the plan to come here,” he adds. “He’s a unique horse with an amazing mind and constitution. He doesn’t bat an eyelid and he’s showing us that he’s well in himself.

“After the Champion Stakes, we didn’t get much of a feel to see how he came out of it but he’s since given me all the right signs and after seeing him this morning, I couldn’t be more confident that we’ve made the right decision."

Notable Speech is favourite for a repeat in the Breeders' Cup Mile

Charlie Appleby is an American veteran with ten Breeders’ Cup titles to his name, and he surveys Notable Speech and El Cordobes’ work on the main track with a quiet assurance, videoing the pair as they pass.

“It’s for my son,” Charlie smiles.

“Notable Speech and El Cordobes have shipped well and they’re two experienced horses on this side of the water. The fanfare down there,” he gestures down the hill at the bustling village of stables, with people moving around like ants. “It can affect some horses, but these two take it so well.

“Notable Speech has got his own little fanbase behind him and it’s well deserved. He comes here in great order and it would be great to end on a high. Whatever he achieves on Saturday, we couldn’t be more proud."

I ask if anyone has been catching Charlie’s eye on these busy work mornings.

“I only have eyes for mine,” he grins, then receives a playful shove from a fellow Godolphin staff member and laughs.

“But Sovereignty, of course!”

Andrew Balding's string make their way to the track

I’ve organised to meet up with Pete Fahey, co-trainer of Mussab alongside father Richard, and I’ve saved up all my inane questions just for him – lucky man. After three days of trackwork, the enormity of effort required to bring a horse to the Breeders’ Cup is becoming increasingly clear and I can’t quite pin down the logistics.

“Mussab left the stables last Thursday, stayed overnight in Newmarket and flew to Shannon, in Ireland,” explains Pete. “All the Irish and English runners go on a chartered plane to Cincinnati, and they were trailered down to Keeneland on Saturday.

“They stay in quarantine for a few days and the lads have to wear white suits until the bloods come back clean. Then we’re out on the training tracks."

Mussab is not the first juvenile to visit Keeneland for the Fahey team, having brought The Platinum Queen over to America for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf in 2022.

“Mussab is a completely different character to The Platinum Queen, life has been much easier this time.

“He’s very relaxed. When he got into the trailer from Cincinnati, he laid down and fell asleep. He was the only horse to sleep all the way from the airport to Keeneland.”

Mussab was purchased for 52,000 guineas at the Tattersalls Guineas Breeze Up Sale with owner Sheikh Abdullah Almalek Alsabah and has earned his price tag back with interest, winning the Listed Harry Rosebery Stakes at Ayr and the Group 3 Cornwallis Stakes at Newmarket.

“The Sheikh bought about 12 horses and a lot of them were going to Saudi Arabia. We got to the end of the day and I said ‘I want this one, please’. He came well-recommended: Ellie Whitaker breezed him and she’s only asked me to buy three horses in the time I’ve known her. One of them was Karl Burke’s Miss Yechance.”

“Missed your chance there?” I say and instantly regret the dad joke that came out of my mouth.

“I did miss my chance with that one,” replies Pete, hiding his amusement with a straight face. “Mussab was a horse that wasn’t the finished article. He went quicker after the actual breeze, like the penny was starting to drop and he was still very green when he arrived. It’s why it’s taken so long to get him to where he is.”

Mussab exercises during his morning workout

It’s only 24 hours until the Europeans will be forced to defend their honour on the Keeneland turf and Mussab is first up in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint.

“It’s a competitive contest,” shrugs Pete. “The positives for us is that we have five-furlong form; a lot of the horses in the race are six-furlong horses. Libertango is a very good filly, Moonrise provides a good level of form, but you’d like to think we’ll be in the mix.

“It’s just horses running around a field at the end of the day, isn’t it?” smiles Pete. “You just pray that yours finishes in front."

Trackwork Five to Follow

Haffner (Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf) and True Love (Breeders Cup Mile)

I’m hiding under the table as I say this, but I’ve not been taken by Sun Goddess in Keeneland. I distinctly hope I’m wrong – it often happens – and she romps home for a historic victory in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. She usually has a presence and majesty that hasn’t been present during the week and I’d be happy enough to look elsewhere in the O’Brien camp.

Haffner and True Love are the pair that have taken the eye, for different reasons. Haffner has always had a great temperament, and he’s not turned a hair since exiting quarantine on Tuesday. Although jockey Christophe Soumillon has expressed small concerns about whether the colt will break fast enough, he’s one of the few O’Brien horses with a good draw (stall four) and looks a worthy opponent for likely favourite Folsom Blues.

There’s no doubting that True Love faces a tough task in the Mile and O’Brien indicated she may be seen to best effect at seven furlongs, but she’s a Guineas heroine and comes into the race off the back of a win in the Prix de la Foret – you can’t say fairer than that.

Sovereignty (Breeders’ Cup Classic)

I’m fully engaged in the Breeders’ Cup Classic narrative and remain hopeful this may be Sovereignty’s opportunity to shine. A big bull of a colt, you don’t need to see the name cloth to know who he is when walking to the main track in the morning and he covers the ground during work in effortless fashion.

Main opponent Forever Young, winner of last year’s Classic, has drawn the crowds in the morning but he lacks physical presence and you wouldn’t pick him out of a line-up without his distinctive red and white leg wraps. The pair are yet to meet, with a stone bruise ruling Sovereignty out of the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup where Forever Young scored an easy victory, and a high fever preventing a match in last year’s Classic.

Sovereignty may not boast the unbeaten profile that punters like from a Classic winner but his four-and-three-quarter length victory in the Grade 1 Whitney Stakes is some of the best form in the field.

“You see the Whitney?” said trainer Bill Mott. “I am hoping that is the Sovereignty that shows up.”

So do I.

Time To Dazzle (Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint)

Easily the race of the meeting, I’m struggling to see anyone beating Bacio in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint after watching him demolish the best of British at York, but I’m happy to throw Time To Dazzle into the mix as an each-way possible.

A general 33/1 shot, the grey filly has been catching the eye during morning work, showing her exuberance and good spirit back at what trainer Mark Casse describes as ‘her favourite track’. Although yet to win at Grade 1 level, the filly achieved her second Stakes victory in the Grade 2 Franklin Stakes over course and distance in early October, demonstrating her trademark late kick to get up by a nose.

There’s going to be plenty of pace to aim at, given we anticipate Miss Yechance and Bacio could fly out of the stalls at a rate of knots, and Casse has booked the assistance of someone we all know quite well – Oisin Murphy.

Hotazhell (Breeders’ Cup Turf)

It’s almost an insult that an Irish Champion Stakes winner would start at 16/1 for a Breeders’ Cup Turf, given Hotazhell has remained off the track since victory at Leopardstown and comes into the race as a fresh horse.

With connections swerving a possible run on British Champions Day in favour of Keeneland, the Jessica Harrington-trained four-year-old has arguably impressed most of the European Turf contingent this week, heading out each morning with a cheery disposition.

Hotazhell’s win in the Irish Champion Stakes has been marked down to victory through others disappointing, but there was nothing flukey about the way he held off the late challenger of Wimbledon Hawkeye, who looks a sure thing for the Group 1 Bahrain International Trophy after success at Longchamp.

A fair draw of seven will help counteract Hotazhell’s questionable stamina over the mile-and-a-half trip and he looks like an obvious each way option in search of a Group 1 hat-trick.

Hughes (Breeders’ Cup Juvenile)

Hughes hardly comes into the Breeders’ Cup under the radar – he’s unbeaten in four and will start short-priced favourite for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.

Bob Baffert’s two-year-old colt needs mentioning though, because he’s probably one of the best-looking horses at the meeting and makes you stop in your tracks every time he walks past. Leggy and athletic, the son of Into Mischief went straight from a maiden win to Graded company and added a second Grade 1 success in the American Pharoah Stakes at Santa Anita on his latest start, finishing six lengths ahead of the second-placed horse and another nine-and-a-half lengths back to the third.

Serious horse alert, you’ve been warned.

Breeders' Cup build-up: Vicki Gibbins with George Scott, Charlie Appleby and Peter Fahey