Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile

Introduction to the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile

The Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile is one of the newer races on the Breeders’ Cup menu but has rapidly earned its place in the spotlight. First run at Monmouth Park, New Jersey, in 2007, the Dirt Mile was conceived as a middle-distance test offering a unique blend of speed and stamina that attracts a diverse field of competitors, from sprinters stretching their capabilities to routers shortening up for a faster pace.

Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile History

Before the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile came into being, there was something of a void for a marquee one-mile dirt race in the United States. Most top-level dirt races are either sprints at distances under a mile or classic distances at nine furlongs and up. The Dirt Mile filled this gap admirably and has proven to be a high class addition to the the Breeders’ Cup two-day fixture. In 2024 at Del Mar, the Dirt Mile will again open Saturday’s card.

2024 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile Challenge Series Races

Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile Trends

• 17/17 notched at least one 100+ Beyer in their last two races
• 14/17 ran in a Grade 1 or 2 last time out
• Seasonal run breakdown: 2-1/3-2/4-5/5-1/6-2/7-1/8-2/9-2/10-1
• # of runs since 2012: 5-8-4-3-3-9-4-7-2-4-4-4
• Layoff: 13/17 27-42 days (’18 winner 70 days, ’19 winner 20 days, ’22 winner 70 days)
• 8/17 ‘turned back’ in distance (4/9 exceptions were Goldencents & Cody’s Wish)
• Top 3 favourites: Fav 6/17; 2nd fav 3/17; 3rd fav 1/17 [7/17 outside top 3 in betting]
• Age 3-5/4-9/5-2/6-1 = 14/17 aged 3 or 4yo (1 exception was repeat winner, Cody’s Wish)
• 16/17 had won a Graded Stakes in career
• 12/17 had won at a mile
• Baffert 0/11 in Dirt Mile. 2 wins each for Mott, Hollendorfer and Pletcher

How The Runners Fit

Dirt Mile Pace

Speeeed is the order of the day, with the three inside stalls all being perennial trailblazers. Stalls 6 and 7, Seize The Grey and Tumberumba are other frequent forward goers as are the wides pair of Pipeline and Skippylongstocking. There’ll be no hanging around and stamina could be the final requirement to prevail.

Key Trials

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Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile 2024 Trends Contenders

Domestic Product, Skippylongstocking

Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile Form Preview

A full field of 14 are headed by Saudi Crown in stall 1. Winner of the Penn Derby last year before an also ran in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, he drops back to the flat mile this time. Since Santa Anita, he cruised home in a G3, ran third in the Saudi Cup (9f) and down the field in the Godolphin Mile. After an extended break, Brad Cox’s four-year-old colt returned to action with an all the way score in a stakes race at Ellis Park. That proved little more than that he retained a leg in each corner, and I’d be concerned if he got locked up in a speed battle from the start. Still, he stays a bit further than a mile and that could help.

Stall 2 is another fast early horse in Japanese raider, T O Saint Denis. He was second in the G2 Alysheba at Churchill on his only other US start – sloppy track that day – but either side of that big performance he’s finished 13th on three separate occasions. Unlucky for him? He’s quite hard to fancy, though I’d have said the same before he nearly won on Derby weekend!

Full Serrano in 3 rounds out the Three Rushketeers, having blazed from the boxes on both US starts since transferring from Argentina. Those two runs were both at Del Mar, a course and distance win in allowance company and then a huge effort when second in the G1 Pacific Classic attempting to take the field wire to wire. Stepping back in trip looks a positive but I wonder if he has the tactical speed against proven G1 milers.

Another Californian horse, Katonah, jumps from 4 and he’ll likely aim for a stalking trip on the rail. He was far back in the Pac Classic and in the California Crown, another G1, and was 2nd in the G2 San Diego Handicap before that brace of top level clunks. He’s never won outside allowance company and it would be a major shock if that changed here.

Trap 5 belongs to Three Technique, a seven-year-old veteran of two Breeders’ Cups and 39 races. He did win last time, on a sloppy track in the G3 Ack Ack but doesn’t fit very well here.

Seize The Grey, a three-year-old, was on the classic trail this season, claiming the Preakness Stakes over nine and a half muddy furlongs in May. He’d won the Pat Day Mile (G2) beforehand and, after a couple of lesser efforts when not staying the Belmont Stakes trip and flattening in the Jim Dandy, he bounced back last time in the Penn Derby where he took them coast to coast. He turns back from 9f to a mile here, a positive, but the balance of his form is a little below some of the older horses.

In 7 is Tumbarumba, a consistent but vulnerable four-year-old gelding. He’s been second on his last four starts, and five of his last six, sneaking in a nose verdict in between, when presumably trying to again snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. The win was at Grade 3 level and he’s not even contested a Grade 1 in 16 starts to this point. He’s admirably consistent and versatile from a run style perspective. Perhaps he’ll again find himself on the podium. And perhaps he won’t.

Post Time is in 8, a winner of nine of his 13 starts and in the first three in all of them. That record reads 1111311112231 – wouldn’t you just love a horse like that? – and it includes three ratings that put him right in the mixer for a Dirt Mile. Two of those were at the turn of the year but the third was two runs ago when taking the minor honours in the Grade 1 Whitney at Saratoga (9f, muddy). He nicked a bit of free cash when scoring at 1/20 in a dozen-length minor stakes afternoon stroll last time and comes here with genuine contender credentials.

Domestic Product has stall 9, Chad Brown’s Kentucky Derby flop having won three races either side of his Churchill effort. They include most notably G1 success last time in the Allan Jerkins Memorial, where he sat off preposterous early fractions before just holding a rival close home. That was seven furlongs so he has good tactical speed and has won beyond a mile albeit in lesser company, and there are grounds to fear his ability to see out a very truly run championship mile.

Bob Baffert saddles Muth, in 10, as he bids for a first Dirt Mile win at the 12th attempt. Muth was a well beaten second in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, still a very good effort, and won three straight this season before disappointing as favourite in the G1 California Crown last time. He was a course and distance winner two back, in Listed class, and won the G1 Arkansas Derby prior to missing a Preakness engagement. Even allowing for the step back in trip, that poor effort last time is a head scratcher.

I’m struggling to make a case for Cagliostro. His draw in 11 doesn’t help but bigger concerns are the lack of a Graded race win from seven attempts, all bar one outside G1, and his apparent triplessness. He might be a miler that’s been generally sent longer or shorter but the Wathnan Racing silks don’t look likely to get in the winners’ circle this time.

Another ex-South American, this time from Chile, is Mufasa, who has had three US starts. He’s won the most recent two, both at seven furlongs, the last one in the G3 Vosburgh. He was a Graded winner at nine furlongs in his native land, and has won nine of eleven fast dirt races all told. If he can rate his speed a little rather than trying to contest the pace from his wide draw in 12 he has a bit of a chance.

In 13 is Pipeline, a six-year-old who is one from six at a mile, that win coming at allowance level in April 2022. He’d be a huge shock winner.

Drawing the car park is Skippylongstocking. Well, of course he did after I backed him ante post. Sigh. Again. Only the dual Dirt Mile winner Goldencents has managed to win from a double digit stall, although the field is often shy of ten runners to be fair. Skippy has won a third of his 27 races but none of his eight G1 attempts, including when third in this race last year. Still, he’s put up a couple of mighty ratings efforts in 2024, both in Grade 2 company, and if he can track the pace rather than getting involved with it, this setup might finally allow him to break his G1 duck.

2024 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile Form Contenders

This is a quantity over quality in the main, as 4/1 the field betting suggests. If Saudi Crown can shake free from his inside berth on the short run to the first turn, he could lead them a very long way. The rest feel much of a muchness with reasons to oppose each of them. One who is a slight exception might be Full Serrano: he’s unexposed in US, could sit just behind the speed from stall 3, and has abundant stamina in what might turn into a war of attrition. Most importantly in a guessers’ race, he’s a decent price – 20/1. Small ticket on him, slightly bigger one on Saudi Crown. Deviltakethehindmost.

Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile Results

Key: PP – post position; RS – run style (lengths behind leader: 4 <½L, 3 ½L- 1½L, 2 1¾L – 3½L, 1 > 3½L); Odds – return for a 1 unit stake; SR – Equibase speed figure

Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile Memorable Finishes

Corinthian (2007)

In the inaugural edition, run on a sloppy track after persistent heavy rain, Corinthian delivered a huge performance stretching out to score by 6 1/2 lengths and setting a high bar for subsequent Dirt Mile renewals.

Goldencents (2013, 2014)

Goldencents became the first and so far only horse to win back-to-back editions of the Dirt Mile. Both times the race was hosted at Santa Anita, and both times he led his field from gate to wire, showing remarkable speed and resilience.

Liam’s Map (2015)

One of the most impressive performances in the Dirt Mile’s history came from Liam’s Map, who shook off a troubled trip to win with an astonishing burst of speed in the final furlong.

Knicks Go (2020)

At Keeneland in 2020, Knicks Go (pictured top) was another gate to wire winner. His victory was a precursor to an even more memorable triumph in the Breeders’ Cup Classic itself a year later.