The Breeders' Cup Distaff brings together the best female dirt horses for a championship showdown at 1 1/8 miles on the main track. This race was won by the great Zenyatta at Santa Anita in 2008.

The 2024 Breeders' Cup Distaff will be held at Saturday, November 2 at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club. Bet & watch the race with OffTrackBetting.com (OTB) - US Legal Online Wagering.

Breeders' Cup Distaff

RESULTS: THORPEDO ANNA CAPTURES LONGINES BREEDERS' CUP DISTAFF

DEL MAR, Calif. (Nov. 2, 2024) - Brookdale Racing, Mark Edwards, breeder Judy Hicks and Magdalena Racing's brilliant Thorpedo Anna capped a banner 2024 by leading all way to post a 2 ½-length victory over Raging Sea to win the 41st running of the $2 million Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) for fillies and mares Saturday afternoon at Del Mar.

Trained by Kenny McPeek and ridden by Brian Hernandez Jr., Thorpedo Anna completed the 1 1/8 miles on the fast main track in 1:49.10. It is the first Breeders' Cup victory for McPeek and second for Hernandez, who won the 2012 Classic on Fort Larned.

Hernandez put Thorpedo Anna right on the lead and with Raging Sea tracking a close second to her outside through fractions of :23.81, :47.99 and 1:12.01. On the far turn, Raging Sea inched closer only to see Thorpedo Anna kick away again to claim her sixth victory in seven starts this year. Raging Sea held second by 3 ¼ lengths over Candied.

The victory was worth $1,040,000 and increased her earnings to $3,843,663. It was her fifth Grade 1 victory of the year with her only defeat coming against males when she fell a head short of catching Fierceness in the Travers (G1).

Thorpedo Anna is a 3-year-old Kentucky-bred daughter of Fast Anna out of the Uncle Mo mare Sataves.

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The Breeders' Cup Distaff (formerly Ladies Classic) is a Weight for Age Thoroughbred horse race for fillies and mares, 3 years old and up. Known as the Breeders' Cup Distaff from its inception in 1984 through 2007, it is held annually at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders' Cup thoroughbred championships.

Alice Verite (JPN)

June 16th at Kyoto Racecourse in Japan was a truly memorable day for Alice Verite (JPN) and for her new pilot Manami Nagashima. When they won the 1 ¼-mile Mermaid Stakes (G3) by 2 lengths it was the first graded stakes victory for the 4-year-old filly as well as the first for her rider.

Moreover, Nagashima became only the third female jockey to win a graded stakes race under Japanese Racing Association rules.

In her first start since the Mermaid, Alice Verite finished 10th of 11 in the 2,000-meter Niigata Kinen (G3), beaten 8 1/4 lengths.

The filly, who was bred by owner Makoto Kato, is enjoying a sensational season. It started on Jan. 20 with a runner-up finish in the allowance ranks at Kokura, followed by an allowance win at the same track on March 2. Next she finished second in the Skikoku Shimbun Hai at Hanshin on March 24, and then scored another victory on May 25 in the allowance ranks at Kyoto.

She is blossoming at the age of 4 after going winless last year in 10 starts, including an eighth-place finish in the Tulip Sho (G2) and a 13th-place effort in the Kansai Television Co Sho Rose (G2). As a juvenile, she competed four times, winning first time out at Kokura and finishing second, third and fourth successively in three stakes races in Japan.

Alice Verite is by Kizuna (JPN), making her a paternal granddaughter of the late 2005 Japanese Triple Crown winner Deep Impact (JPN), who is the country's most successful sire. Her dam Lumiere Verite is by Cozzene, the winner of the 1985 Breeders` Cup Mile and that year's Eclipse Award-winning Grass Horse.

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Awesome Result

Awesome Result has delivered just that throughout her career. The Japanese-based filly is unbeaten in six career starts and is eyeing a trip overseas for the Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) this fall.

The 4-year-old Awesome Result, by American Triple Crown winner Justify, has inherited the stamina that her sire possessed in the 1 ½-mile Belmont Stakes (G1). The filly's six starts - one in 2022, three in 2023, and two this year - have been at a minimum of 1 1/8 miles, the Distaff distance, and a maximum of 1 5/16 miles.

She won at the latter distance in her most recent start and stakes debut, the Empress Hai (Listed) on May 8 at Kawasaki Racecourse. The filly claimed the lead before the first of three turns in the race, and ultimately held on to win by a neck.

After the race, trainer Yasutoshi Ikee told the Japanese news site Netkeiba that he would like to run Awesome Result in one or two more races in Japan before a trip to Del Mar for the Distaff this fall. Ikee has sent one prior horse to the Breeders' Cup, the aptly named Trailblazer (JPN) who was fourth in the 2012 Turf (G1) at Santa Anita.

The most recent time the Breeders' Cup was held at Del Mar, in 2021, Japanese-based horses achieved a major breakthrough for that nation. Loves Only You (JPN) became the first Japanese-based horse to win a Breeders' Cup race when she took the Maker's Mark Filly and Mare Turf (G1) and later in the card, Marche Lorraine (JPN) brought another trophy home with an upset win in the Distaff. Marche Lorraine also used the Empress Hai as one of her prep races that season.

Awesome Result, who is out of the Deputy Minister mare Blossomed, was bred in Kentucky by Orpendale, Chelston and Wynatt. She is owned by Insel Racing.

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Batucada

A number of family ties have helped Batucada along to her current place in racing, as she recently took a promising step forward in graded stakes company to put herself under Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) consideration.

A 4-year-old daughter of Union Rags, out of the Tapit mare Lady Pamela, Batucada was bred in Kentucky by the Wygod Equine of the late Marty Wygod - who died this April at age 84 - and his wife, Pam. The Wygods campaigned homebred Breeders' Cup winners Sweet Catomine, who took the 2004 Juvenile Fillies (G1) and Life Is Sweet, who won the 2009 Ladies Classic (G1). The young Batucada, whose dam is a half-sister to those Breeders' Cup winners, was sold for just $35,000 as a yearling, then for $150,000 as a 2-year-old.

Batucada won three times from her first eight starts and was off the board in her first two stakes attempts while racing for Full of Run Racing II, Madaket Stables, and trainer Brittany Russell. When those connections made her available, she was privately purchased by current trainer Saffie Joseph Jr., who had her half-sister in his barn and thought highly of her.

Batucada, who began racing under the Shining Stables banner of the trainer's wife, Morgan Joseph, broke through in her fourth outing for the barn, wiring a Gulfstream allowance-optional claiming race by 8 ¼ lengths. She showed a different dimension next out for her first stakes win, coming from seventh for a 6 ¼-length score in the Powder Break Stakes at Gulfstream.

After finishing off the board in two graded stakes attempts on Woodbine's Tapeta main track, Batucada returned to the dirt for the Beldame Stakes (G2) at Aqueduct. She also brought a new owner along for the ride, with Carrie Brogden, of Machmer Hall in Kentucky, buying in because of the filly's bloodlines; she now races in the names of Morgan Joseph and Brogden. Batucada fought gamely along the inside to miss by just a head in the historic Beldame to multiple graded stakes winner Raging Sea.

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Candied

Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners purchased Candied for a modest sum as a youngster, and has shown her patience when she needed it. She has sweetly rewarded them to the tune of almost a million in career earnings, while tangling with the division's leaders both among her fellow 3-year-olds and the older set.

Candied was most recently third in the Juddmonte Spinster Stakes (G1) to defending Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) winner and divisional Eclipse Award champion Idiomatic, pushing her career earnings to $963,925.

Candied, by Candy Ride and out of the Roaring Fever mare Toni Tools, was bred in Kentucky by Buck Pond Farm, and was a $165,000 purchase by Aron Wellman's Eclipse Partners out of the 2022 Fasig-Tipton July yearling sale. The following year, she won her debut at Saratoga and Darley Alcibiades Stakes (G1) at Keeneland, then was third in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) at Santa Anita. Her efforts made her a divisional Eclipse Award finalist, an award that ultimately went to Juvenile Fillies heroine Just F Y I.

Candied got time off by design after the Breeders' Cup; her connections felt getting two preps in before the Kentucky Oaks (G1) would rush her, so she was methodically prepared for a single shot, in the Central BankAshland Stakes (G1), in which she was fourth, relegating her to the also-eligible list for the Oaks. A bruised quarter in her right front hoof then shelved her a bit longer.

Candied got her momentum back with a win in the Lady's Secret Stakes (Listed) over older foes at Monmouth Park in June and has since competed exclusively in Grade 1 company. She was second in the Coaching Club American Oaks (G1) at Saratoga behind leading 3-year-old filly Thorpedo Anna, then was beaten just a head by Power Squeeze in the Alabama Stakes (G1). She was third in the Spinster behind Idiomatic and Occult, another older graded stakes winner.

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Che Evasora (ARG)

An upset victory in the Gran Premio Criadores (G1) in May in Argentina - part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge series - has propelled Che Evasora (ARG) north as she joined trainer Phil D'Amato's California stable in order to target the Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1).

The 6-year-old Che Evasora was foaled in September 2018 - as the Southern Hemisphere seasons, and therefore, breeding and foaling seasons, are opposite those of the Northern Hemisphere, where Thoroughbreds are born as close to Jan. 1 as possible. The homebred for Patricio Francisco Losinno has plenty of U.S. ties in her pedigree.

She is by the late-blooming Greenspring, a son of 2002 Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) winner Orientate. Greenspring was unraced at ages 2 and 3 but developed into a track record-setting Grade 2-winning sprinter at age 5. He later stood at stud in Argentina. Che Evasora is out of the unraced mare Thundery Malice, an Argentinian-foaled daughter of 1995 Kentucky Derby (G1) and Belmont Stakes (G1) winner Thunder Gulch.

Che Evasora, who was trained in South America by Marcelo Sebastian Sueldo, has a career record of 24-6-4-6 to date, and has won from 6 furlongs to 1 ¼ miles. She has raced on both dirt and turf, with the bulk of her wins coming on the dirt. Like her sire, she has been a late developer.

Although she crossed the line first in a stakes race in 2021 - disqualified to second for interference - and was Group 2-placed last year, she hit her best stride early this year. After finishing third in the Arturo R. y Arturo Bullrich (G2) at the Hipódromo Argentino de Palermo in Buenos Aires in March, and fourth in the Gilberto Lerena (G1), the mare won the Criadores on the same track at 1 ¼ miles, pulling a 57-1 upset.

Che Evasora was then shipped to the U.S. to take advantage of her fees-paid Distaff berth. After clearing quarantine in June in Florida, she joined D'Amato in California and got on the work tab in July. She breezed steadily at Del Mar throughout the summer, and most recently worked at Santa Anita in advance of her first U.S. start.

That start came Sept. 29 at Santa Anita in the Zenyatta Stakes (G2) going 1 1/16 miles. She showed early speed in the field of five but began to drop back on the far turn and was eased.

Argentinian-bred mares have a rich history in the Breeders' Cup Distaff, with the country producing Bayakoa (1989-90), Paseana (1992), and Blue Prize (2019).

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Honor D Lady

Despite a stakes win on turf and a graded stakes placing on an all-weather track last year, Honor D Lady shifted to focusing on dirt racing in the fall of 2023. The result has been three graded stakes wins and consideration for the Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1).

Honor D Lady was third in the Mazarine Stakes (G3) on Woodbine's Tapeta main track in her third career start as a 2-year-old. Last year at age 3, the filly won the Honey Ryder Stakes on Gulfstream Park's turf and was second in the Selene Stakes (G3) back on Woodbine's Tapeta, among multiple synthetic-track stakes placings.

However, last September, Honor D Lady took the Remington Park Oaks (G3) in her first stakes try on dirt, a victory that has propelled her to compete exclusively in dirt stakes since for trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. Honor D Lady continued on with a campaign in which she third in the Comely Stakes (G3) at Aqueduct behind Raging Sea and Julia Shining; win the Royal Delta Stakes (G3) at Gulfstream; and fade to ninth in the Apple Blossom Handicap (G1) at Oaklawn Park.

Given about a two-month freshening after that series of races, Honor D Lady was second to Grade 1 winner Candied in the Lady's Secret Stakes (Listed) at Monmouth Park, despite stumbling badly at the start. She then won the Delaware Handicap (G2) by 5 ½ lengths, recovering from being bumped at the start. Given a little less than three months between races after that effort, she was fifth behind champion Idiomatic in the Spinster Stakes (G1) at Keeneland in October. She would come to the Distaff on a similar race pattern as her Delaware Handicap victory, in her second start off a break.

Honor D Lady, a 4-year-old filly by Honor Code and out of the Blame mare Complicated, was bred in Kentucky by William Harrigan and Mike Pietrangelo. She currently races for Final Furlong Farm and Madaket Stables.

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Idiomatic

UPDATE - Oct 25: Idiomatic, the champion older dirt female of 2023, was retired on Friday after being diagnosed with lameness in her left knee, an injury that will prevent her from starting in the Breeders' Cup Distaff at Del Mar on Nov. 2.

Idiomatic is the reigning Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) winner and Eclipse Award champion older dirt female.

A towering daughter of two-time Horse of the Year Curlin, Idiomatic races as a homebred for the iconic Juddmonte Farms and is trained by Brad Cox. The 5-year-old, who is out of the First Defence mare Lockdown, has won 12 of 17 career starts, and never has been worse than third, while earning more than $3.9 million.

Idiomatic began her racing career in 2022, then won the Latonia Stakes and finished second in the Ruffian Stakes (G2) in the spring of 2023. But that summer, she truly took flight. Idiomatic won four consecutive graded stakes en route to the Distaff, taking the Shawnee Stakes (G3), Delaware Handicap (G2), Personal Ensign Stakes (G1) over 2022 Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1) winner Secret Oath and Eclipse champion Nest; and Juddmonte Spinster Stakes (G1), over another field including Nest.

The win streak and impressive company made her the favorite for the 2023 Distaff at Santa Anita, in which she prevailed by a half-length over Grade 1-winning younger filly Randomized after a long drive. Idiomatic not only was voted the divisional champion, but was one of three finalists for Horse of the Year, an award that went to Cody's Wish.

Idiomatic returned to action in the Fasig-Tipton La Troienne Stakes (G1) on May 3 at Churchill Downs. She won by 3 ¾ lengths over a sloppy, sealed track - with champion Pretty Mischievous third - to stretch her win streak to six races.

Idiomatic was second by a head to front-running Randomized, in the Ogden Phipps Stakes (G1) on June 8 at Saratoga, with Pretty Mischievous again third. She got back in the winner's circle with a head victory over Soul of an Angel in the Molly Pitcher Stakes (G3) on July 20 at Monmouth Park.

Idiomatic's bid for a repeat victory in the Personal Ensign came up just short on Aug. 23. Favored in the field of five, Idiomatic dueled with Randomized through taxing early fractions before putting that rival away nearing the top of the stretch. Idiomatic opened a daylight advantage in the stretch but could not hold off the late charge from Raging Sea who prevailed by a head.

Idiomatic returned to the winner's circle on Oct. 6 at Keeneland when she successfully defended her title in the Juddmonte Spinster, scoring a front-running 6 1/2-length victory.

Idiomatic will seek to become the fifth two-time winner of the Distaff, joining Bayakoa (1989-90), Royal Delta (2011-12), Beholder (2013, 2016), and Monomoy Girl (2018, 2020). Monomoy Girl's two Distaff wins are among 10 Breeders' Cup victories for Cox.

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Miss New York

** coming soon **

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Musical Mischief

Musical Mischief broke through traffic for a 3 ¼-length victory in the Locust Grove Stakes (G2) at Churchill Downs on Sept. 14. It was her breakthrough first stakes victory and could propel her toward bigger targets.

Musical Mischief, by leading sire Into Mischief and out of the Bellamy Road mare Sophia's Song, was bred in Kentucky by Clearsky Farm. Stoneway Farm bought her for $300,000 out of the Keeneland September yearling sale before her family rose in value - her half-brother Bright Future won the 2023 Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1).

While that was going on, Musical Mischief took four tries to break her maiden for trainer Michael McCarthy, but then hinted at her class in various scenarios. She was third in the American Oaks (G1) last December on the Santa Anita turf, and this year was second in the Allaire du Pont Distaff (Listed) at Pimlico.

In the 1-mile Groupie Doll Stakes in August at Ellis Park, Musical Mischief was bumped at the start en route to finishing fourth, in a race that jockey Edgar Morales, who has ridden her to all four of her career wins, said was a little short for her. Musical Mischief then lined up in a well-matched field of fillies and mares - including du Pont Distaff winner Shotgun Hottie and Groupie Doll winner Pigallie - for the Locust Grove.

Musical Mischief, the second-longest shot on the board, was keen to go early, but listened to cues from Morales to wait for her moment. With just more than 3 lengths covering the entire field coming to the stretch, Musical Mischief angled off heels and burst through between horses for her dominant win.

"She's a filly that you need to be quiet on her, and let her do her thing, but she's special," Morales said.

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Raging Sea

Patience has been the watchword for the connections of Raging Sea. Two years after her first appearance at the Breeders' Cup, Raging Sea has emerged among the country's most consistent racemares this year, and is now a Grade 1 winner and prominent candidate for the Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1).

Raging Sea, by Curlin and out of the Storm Cat mare Stormy Welcome, was overlooked at the 2021 Keeneland September yearling sale, and ultimately kept to race by her breeder, Alpha Delta Stables. Trained throughout her career by Chad Brown, the filly showed talent when crossing the line third in the Alcibiades Stakes (G1) in the fall of 2022 at Keeneland - but also showed that she was still learning, as she ran greenly, bumped a foe in the stretch, and was disqualified to fourth. She bounced out of that to finish third in the NetJets Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) four weeks later at Keeneland.

Given plenty of time to rest and then continue maturing and training after that beginning, Raging Sea wasn't seen under colors again until the following August. Running against allowance-level company, she was fourth in her comeback race; then second; then notched a win in her third start off the layoff. She was primed for her next outing in the Comely Stakes (G3) at Aqueduct, and battled through the lane to win by a nose over Julia Shining.

"It took her a while to get her season going but we were all patient with her and I appreciate the patience from the owner, Jon Clay," Brown said after that win. "He's a really good client of ours and a huge supporter of our stable."

Raging Sea picked up where she left off with a win in the Baird Doubledogdare Stakes (G3) this April at Keeneland, then was fourth behind three Grade 1 winners in the Ogden Phipps Stakes (G1) in June at Saratoga. She bounced out of that effort to enjoy the rest of the summer at the upstate New York track. After a win in the Shuvee Stakes (G2) on July 21, Raging Sea bested Eclipse Award champion Idiomatic by a head in the Personal Ensign Stakes (G1) on Aug. 23.

She extended her win streak to three with a gritty head victory as the 1-10 favorite in the 1 1/8-mile Beldame (G2) at Aqueduct.

Sugar Fish

Sugar Fish landed a big one when she won the Zenyatta Stakes (G2) at Santa Anita, one of the bigger in-state preps for the Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1). She'll try to reel in an even bigger prize in that championship event.

Sugar Fish, a daughter of Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) winner Accelerate, is out of the Langfuhr mare Madeira Park, and was bred in Kentucky by George Gilbert. She was a small fish at the 2022 Keeneland September yearling sale, with Talla Racing purchasing her for just $40,000. She has earned more than seven times that, banking $310,000 for Talla, partner Sweetwater Stable, and trainer Jeff Mullins while winning four of eight career starts.

The filly took some time to develop, and has relished added distance. She scored her initial win at a lower level that might not have indicated future stakes ability, as she went in a maiden-optional claiming race in March at Santa Anita for 3-year-old fillies who had started in a claiming race previously, who were entered for a claiming price that day, or who had sold below a certain level at auction. Sugar Fish, who met all three categories, was running as far as 7 furlongs for the first time in her fourth career start and romped by 10 lengths. It was lucky that no one purchased her for the $62,500 claiming tag that day, as she won her next outing, a 1-mile allowance-optional claiming race against older fillies and mares in April.

Making her graded stakes debut, and first of three consecutive starts at 1 1/16 miles, in the Summertime Oaks (G2) on June 8 at Santa Anita, Sugar Fish stumbled badly at the start. She nevertheless recovered to win by 9 ¾ lengths. Stepping up a level for the Clement L. Hirsch (G1) at Del Mar, the filly was sixth, but it was a salty field of older runners, as she finished behind familiar names Adare Manor, Scylla, Flying Connection, Desert Dawn and Pretty Mischievous.

Sugar Fish rebounded with her Zenyatta win on Sept. 29. Under regular rider Tyler Baze, she was last of five early, angled out into the stretch, and won by 1 ½ lengths going away, with she and runner-up Alpha Bella continuing to separate themselves from the field. The Zenyatta earned her funds toward her Breeders' Cup pre-entry and entry fees as part of the Dirt Dozen program.

Thorpedo Anna

Thorpedo Anna is capturing imaginations with a march to the top of the 3-year-old filly division.

Thorpedo Anna, trained by Kenny McPeek, has been ridden in all of her starts by Brian Hernandez, Jr. The filly won two of her three outings as a 2-year-old, but her return to action as a 3-year-old was delayed by a deep bruise on her hip.

She made her 2024 debut with an easy 4-length victory in the Fantasy Stakes (G3) on March 30 at Oaklawn Park. The timing meant that she would head to the 150th Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1) with just one prep race under her belt. But McPeek, who was seeking his first Oaks win after finishing second in the filly classic three times prior, wasn't worried, repeatedly referring to Thorpedo Anna as "a grizzly" in her enthusiastic training for the race.

On Kentucky Oaks Day, May 3, Thorpedo Anna took the early lead on the sloppy, sealed racetrack. Eclipse Award champion 2-year-old Just F Y I loomed a threatening presence on the far turn, but Thorpedo Anna easily kept her at bay, skipping home to a 4 ¾-length victory. It was the start of a storybook weekend for McPeek and Hernandez, who, the following day, teamed up to win the Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) with Mystik Dan.

Thorpedo Anna went on to two powerful victories at Saratoga Race Course, winning the June 7 DK Horse Acorn Stakes (G1) by 5 ½ lengths, and the July 20 Coaching Club American Oaks (G1) by 4 ½ lengths. In the latter race, she overcame a poor start in which she hit the gate and was last for the opening strides.

Following the Coaching Club American Oaks, McPeek opted to take on the boys in the Draftkings Travers (G1) at 1 1/4 miles and Thorpedo Anna delivered another brilliant performance even in defeat. She came up just short of catching champion Fierceness at the wire, losing by a head, and finishing in front of Grade 1 winners Sierra Leone and Dornoch.

Thorpedo Anna picked up another Grade 1 victory on Sept. 21 at Parx when she overcame a dicey trip to collar Gun Song at the sixteenth pole and post a neck triumph in the field of eight as the 1-10 favorite.

Thorpedo Anna, by the late stallion Fast Anna and out of the Uncle Mo mare Sataves, races for the partnership of Nader Alaali's Brookdale Racing, Mark Edwards, her breeder Judy Hicks and the McPeek family's Magdalena Racing. She is named for Edwards' granddaughter Anna Thorp, a swimmer whose nickname is "Thorpedo Anna" borrowing the nickname of famous swimmer Ian "Thorpedo" Thorpe.

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2024 BREEDERS' CUP RACE SCHEDULE