They say a good horse can come from anywhere, and some very good horses have come from far and wide to contest the G1 Breeders’ Cup Mile.

The 38th running of the US$2 million (approx. HK$15.56 million) Mile is one of the headline contests at the Breeders’ Cup this Saturday afternoon (6 November) at Del Mar – early Sunday morning (7 November) in Hong Kong – on the Southern California track that sits a stone’s throw from the Pacific Ocean.

The oversubscribed field of 16 includes runners bred in Brazil, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Japan, France, and several from the United States.

Two of the Irish breds are Godolphin homebreds by Dubawi, headed by classy veteran Space Blues, who is the expected favourite to win the race after racking up stakes wins in Saudi Arabia, England and France this season for Charlie Appleby, whose lesser regarded three-year-old Master Of The Seas drew the rail.

Space Blues comes off a decisive victory in the G1 Prix de la Foret (1400m) and will attempt to maintain his closing punch stretching past seven furlongs in what will likely be his final start. "He is a typical Dubawi who has just got better with age," said Appleby, who has won with six of 14 starters in the United States so far this year.

Mo Forza missed the 2020 edition of this race due to a soft-tissue injury. However, the locally-based runner has picked up right where he left off since returning over the summer, capturing the G2 Del Mar Mile Stakes (1600m) and G2 City Of Hope Mile Stakes (1600m) for the second straight year and extending his win streak in Southern California to eight, while the only loss of his career came in the 2020 G1 Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Stakes (1900m) at Gulfstream Park in Florida when finishing ninth.

Four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown sends out the Peter M. Brant-owned duo of Raging Bull, a strong closer who struggled with the going in the G1 Woodbine Mile (1600m) last out; and Blowout, a free-running mare fresh from a front-running win in the G1 First Lady Stakes (1600m). Brown won the 2019 Mile with Uni, a get-back and run-on mare who was also coming off a win in the First Lady.

Females have won six of the last 20 editions of the Mile and 10 overall. Blowout is among five females entered. The youngest is Mother Earth, a three-year-old filly who has already made 16 starts for trainer Aidan O’Brien, notably a second-place finish in the G1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (1600m) last fall at odds of 22/1. O’Brien shocked the racing world later that weekend when Order Of Australia won the Mile at 73/1, but he suffered a career-ending injury on 27 October shortly after being pre-entered for this race.

The oldest female in the line-up is the six-year-old Got Stormy, a Mark Casse-trained mare who was second as the favorite to win the 2019 Mile. She regained top form this past summer to win the G1 Fourstardave Handicap (1600m) for the second time in three years. Casse, a 2020 Racing Hall Of Fame inductee, saddled World Approval to win the 2017 edition of the Mile at Del Mar, and feels the tight-turned layout and short stretch work to her advantage. "With her, it’s all about sharp turns – she runs turns like you wouldn’t believe," he explained.

Vin De Garde, whose lone prior start outside Japan was a second to Lord North in the G1 Dubai Turf (1800m) earlier this year, breaks from post five.

Paulo Lobo trains the Brazilian-bred duo of In Love, winner of the G1 Keeneland Turf Mile Stakes (1600m); and Ivar, who won that race last year when it was known as the Shadwell Turf Mile (1600m). Ivar was subsequently fourth in the Mile, but will have to overcome post 14 with a short run to the first turn.

Abundant sunshine and seasonable temperatures in the San Diego area should make for fast and firm conditions.