A Cracking Field Lines Up For the BB Mile

Traditionally one of the most competitive races on the Breeders’ Bowl card is the Mile and this year is no exception. Thirteen of the fourteen runners have already won at the grade one level and the oddsmaker is having a great deal of trouble separating them. Five runners are listed as 7/1 co-favorites with six others at 11/1 or lower. We only have two three year olds challenging their elders but both could be formidable as they don’t have too many starts and could move forward in a big way. We also have one mare challenging the boys here. Let’s take a look at the field.

#1 Aflashbang 14/1

Aflashbang has really had the best season of his career at age four. Late last season he broke through with his first listed win in a very tough residency restricted race where he faced ten graded winners, most of whom were older horses. Going a mile that day he scored by a length and a half while running a 120 speed. He hasn’t run quite that fast this season but he did win the Grade One Locksmith with a 118 back in May. He ran three straight mile races, beginning with the Locksmith and include a third place finish in the Grade One Maudlin Cup where he was beaten by Forever Due North. Interestingly trainer Tees has opted to prep for this race in a HOT race going a mile and a sixteenth. As one would expect he was a facile winner there. He’s a come from behind horse so he’ll have to navigate a big field but he has proven very capable of doing that. He’s a son of Galileo out of a graded placed stakes winning Giant’s Causeway x Danzig mare. Aflashbang is her first foal and her three year old is already a grade two winner.

#2 Oasis On The Sea 7/1

The first of our co-favorites in this field is Oasis On The Sea. This is the five year olds third Breeders’ Bowl appearance. As a two year old he was unplaced in the Juvenile Turf and last season he was third in this spot. In 2022 he has two grade one wins at a mile, the Sydney Mile in April and the Queen Sam in June. He ran 117 and 120 speeds in those starts in which he closed from well back. After the Queen Sam he had a nearly four month break, returning in the Grade One Queen Liz Stakes at the end of September. His late run was a little flat as he only finished sixth but his connections feel that the break has helped him and he’ll be much sharper for this start. He’s a son of Oasis Dream out of a Sea the Stars x Danehill mare and is one of three graded winners and four stakes winners from her six foals.

#3 Vizery 9/1

Vizery is a royally bred four year old son of Frankel out of the grade one winning Kingmambo x Seattle Slew mare Bella Figura. She was best going middle distances on the lawn but has been a good producer with two other graded winners to her credit. Vizery’s best races have also been going a bit longer. Earlier this year he scored the biggest victory of his career in the Grade One Woody Ford going a mile and an eighth where he ran a 121 speed. That came one race after finishing third in the Equinics race at the same distance. Interestingly Vizery has only run a mile once in his career and that came in his debut. He tends to come from well off the pace and is hoping that there will be enough early speed to give him an advantage. He enters off a second place finish in the Grade Two Main Oak, another race at nine furlongs where he ran a 113 speed.

#4 Marriage 7/1

As a three year old last season Marriage progressively worked his way through his conditions culminating with a listed win in his stakes debut last December. Given two months off he moved from strength to strength. In his second race of the season he exploded in the Grade Three Millers Cup at this distance, battling for the lead before opening up around the turn and just holding off the closers to win by a quarter of a length with a 121 speed. He returned in the Grade One Cobbler Mile and lead the field from the get to win by the same margin with a 119 speed. Trainer Gowans gave his charge another two month break before returning in an allowance where he ran a tepid second. Another two months off resulted in the best race of his career, the Grade One Canada Mile where he again went wire to wire and running a 121 speed but this time winning by a length and a half. He’s a scratchbred son of Not A Single Doubt x Gone West x Sadler’s Wells.

#5 Dark Spinner 7/1

Perhaps the best named horse in the field (I might be biased), Dark Spinner is a four year old son of Sepoy and is the first foal out of a stakes winning Dark Angel x Sadler’s Wells mare. He won his first stakes race in February in the Grade Three Apple Martini Handicap and has just moved from strength to strength since. He added a win in the Grade Two Frisco Mile before running third in the Grade One Queen Sam behind Oasis On The Sea.. His last two runs have resulted in grade one wins, the Suffix and the Queen Liz Stakes. His AVERAGE speed this season is 119.2. I am actually surprised he is not a shorter price.

#6 Shaman Preacher 11/1

Shaman Preacher has three wins from five starts this year and those wins have been very impressive. He took an allowance in February and used that as a springboard to a win in the Grade Three South Florida Mile where he came from next to last to win going away with a 121 speed. He bounced in his next start but was given a three and a half month layoff before returning to win the Grade One Sourball Mile with a 115 speed. That race came over a yielding turf course and he had good off track form going into that start. He’s a five year old son of Shamardal out of a Pulpit x Encosta de Lago mare. His grade one winning half brother Preach For Profit (Fed Biz) was third in this race back in 2018. Their dam has also produced two other graded winners.

#7 King Nadal 52/1

King Nadal may be the longest shot in the field but the three year old is no stranger to the winner’s circle. Two starts back he took the Grade One Firecracker against fellow three year olds by leading wire to wire while running a 110 speed. He really opened up a big lead that day an he almost certainly won’t be allowed to run off with the race today. Most recently he tried older rivals in the Grade Two Walnut BB Mile but that race was run over a yielding surface that he didn’t care for at all. He finished towards the back of the pack that day but should be full of run over today’s firm course. He’s a scratcbhred son of Nadal x Kingmambo x Storm Cat.

#8 Name Police 11/1

The only female in the race is Name Police, a five year old daughter of Invincible Spirit out of a stakes winning Deep Impact x Nureyev mare. Second dam Murf Ray is a member of the Hall of Fame and no stranger to the Breeders’ Bowl. In 2000 she won the Juvenile Turf Filly emphatically and the next year she returned to run second in the Distaff on the dirt. Her best foal was her last, a son of Muhaarar named Muhaaray who was a grade one winner going seven furlongs and a mile on the grass. Name Police began the year with back to back grade one wins against females in the Equinics and the Weedy Establishment, both at a mile. After a third place finish in the Grade One Foul Mouth Stakes she was given three months off before returning in the Grade One Prix Marcel Boss where she finished a solid second. In that race she was a bit closer to the pace than she is used to. Her two wins saw her well back in the field early on but in the ‘Boss she was fourth early on, perhaps signaling that she was too fresh for that start. She should improve in her second off the layoff but in her first start against males she will have to run a career best to win.

#9 Irish Riviera 11/1

Of Irish Riviera’s seventeen starts only two have come at a distance other than one mile and neither was counted among his seven wins. As a three year old last year he scored a big win in the Mike Beal Memorial in which he was fifteenth in the nineteen horse field early on before getting up to win with a 114 speed. This year he has run six times, scoring a win in an allowance and running second in the Grade Two Rennen Mile. Most recently he was an okay fourth in the Grade One Queen Liz Stakes. He’s a son of Fastnet Rock based on a stakes winning Giant’s Causeway x Montjeu hemare.

#10 Break Away Dunk 11/1

The second son of Frankel in the field is Break Away Dunk who was produced from the grade two winning Street Cry x Danzig mare Walks Away. She did her best running going a mile and was twice grade one placed at that distance. Break Away Dunk is her second graded winner and fourth stakes winner. The four year old is making his third Breeders’ Bowl appearance. He took the Juvenile Turf two years back and last season returned to finish second, beaten just a half length in this race. He is looking for his first win of the year but he did have a good second in the Grade One Cobbler Mile back in May. He tends to sit midpack in his best races and that running style may be helpful against this field.

#11 Forever Due North 7/1

Forever Due North has been first or second in his six starts this year. The four year old scored his first stakes win in May when he took the Grade Two Premium Stakes. He followed that up with a second, beaten a head in the Grade Two Sunny Mile where he ran a career best 119 speed. Forever Due North broke through at the highest level in his last start, winning the Grade One Maudlin Cup by two lengths with a 114 speed. He’s another horse who has tactical speed and he seems to be showing even more speed as the year goes on. He was midpack early on in the Premium but sat just off the pace in the Maudlin, running second early on before taking the lead around the turn. He’s a son of No Nay Never out of the grade three winning Frankel x Unbridled mare Frankly Due North. He is her first foal.

#12 Best Inject 29/1

The other three year old in the field is Best Inject a son of Galileo out of a Kingmambo x Seattle Slew mare. He is the second grade one winner his dam has produced. Best Inject has been first or second in seven of his ten starts. He faced off against older rivals for the first time in his most recent start, the one mile Grade Two Daniel Wild and after sitting just off the early leader he tired a bit to finish fourth. Earlier this year he scored a big win in the classic 2000 Guineas over a field that included eleven other graded winners. He ran a 115 speed that day in April, a huge number for such a young horse. After an off the board finish in the Grade One Derby de English he was given about ten weeks off, returning in a one mile allowance which he won with another 115 speed. He will have to improve to factor here but he doesn’t have to move up that far to do it at a big price.

#13 Thunderson 8/1

The only horse in the field who has not yet won a grade one, Thunderson’s connections have every reason to believe that may change here. He’s had a fantastic year having found a home at the mile distance last season when he won three straight stakes in a row, topped off by the Grade Three Lipstick Guineas with a 117 speed in November. Returning to the races in January he finished off the board in a grade three but bounced way back to win the Grade Three April Showers Cup. He ran a great race in the Grade Two Yasuda Mile where he finished second beaten just a head while running a career best 118 speed. He repeated that number next out while winning the Grade Two Fried Rice Mile by a length and a quarter. His lone tilt at grade one glory came in his most recent start, the Sourball Mile which was run over a yielding surface, Thunderson’s only try over the off going. He finished fourth while beaten by only two lengths. The four year old gelding tends to sit midpack giving him a catbird’s seat to watch the front runners and get first run on the closers. He’s a son of Thunder Snow out of the graded placed stakes winning Monsun x Unbridled’s Song mare Of Orangeville. He is her second foal, the first is also a stakes winner.

#14 Justiwells 7/1

Justiwells has the most wins of any horse in the field. The five year old scratchbred son of Justify x Sadler’s Wells x Fappiano has visited the winner’s circle eleven times in his twenty four race career. Five of those wins have come in graded stakes including a win in last year’s Grade One Canada Mile. That win gave him the opportunity to run in the 2021 Mile where he finished a strong fifth, beaten only two lengths. He was given a two month break after that and returned with a bang winning his first three races of the year. That included the Grade Three City of Gold and then the Grade One Sand Castle Fee Duty, both run at a mile and a sixteenth. He was third in two of his next four starts and his connections may have wondered if the old man was over the top. He proved that supposition wrong in his most recent start as he won the Grade Three David Hasslehoff, another race at that nine furlong distance. His best runs have come when he makes the early lead and while he does enjoy opening up on the field he’s shown grit in battling others around the track and having enough left in the tank to hold off any challengers.

Good luck to all!