If five wins from the seven turf events, one short of the record, felt like a standard return for European runners at the 2025 Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar, then the identity of the biggest winner of all was a huge, and very refreshing, surprise.
Willie Mullins blew into Del Mar with Ethical Diamond, his first ever runner at the meeting, and left with the $2m first prize in the Turf, nearly five times as much as he banked when Nick Rockett landed the Grand National in April. And the style of his win was equally memorable. Punters who backed the proven Group One form of Minnie Hauk and Rebel’s Romance might beg to differ, but it gladdened the heart to see an Ebor Handicap winner leave the pair of them standing with a stretch run for the ages.
Mullins was, momentarily at least, lost for words after Ethical Diamond and Dylan Browne McMonagle powered across the line. “Wow,” he said. “Wow, wow, wow, wow.” But he recovered his composure in time for the post-race press conference, where Mullins explained that had it not been for the strict veterinary rules attached to runners in the Melbourne Cup, Ethical Diamond would not have been within a thousand miles of southern California.
“It was only a very last-minute plan after winning the Ebor,” Mullins said, “when we knew we couldn’t get down to Australia with him, and we thought, let’s have a go at this race. David Casey, my assistant, came up with the plan. He said: ‘Look, the mile-and-a-half there, he’s good enough to run in and take a shot.’ You can’t win these races unless you’re in them. That’s always been my policy, have a go.”
Ethical Diamond had a screw inserted into one of his legs earlier in his career to aid his recovery from an injury, which is far from uncommon. It is enough to stop him running in a Melbourne Cup, however, regardless of the fact that he has run multiple times since, on the Flat and over hurdles, and won demanding staying events such as the Ebor.
The Australian rules were introduced after a series of fatal injuries in the Melbourne Cup, including an injury suffered by Anthony Van Dyck, the 2019 Derby winner, in the Cup a year later. It still feels odd, however, that one set of vets can effectively bar a horse from a race as the result of a procedure recommended by a different set of vets to aid the same horse’s recovery.
Mullins was on a plane to Australia a few hours after Saturday’s race, and scheduled to arrive in Melbourne on Monday to see Absurde, who runs in the same colours as Ethical Diamond, line up for the Melbourne Cup the following day. Absurde is priced up at around 18-1 with the local bookies and has a decent draw in stall four so – assuming he passes the vets – an outrageous, unprecedented across-the-continents double is still a live possibility.
Japan’s racing industry was the other big winner on Saturday, and perhaps not before time in the case of Forever Young, the first ever Japanese-trained winner of the Breeders’ Cup Classic. The four-year-old was leant on for much of the straight in the Kentucky Derby in 2024 and was still less than a quarter-length behind the winner, and he reversed the form of last year’s Classic, when he was third behind Sierra Leone and Fierceness, in convincing fashion.
Between them, Ethical Diamond and Forever Young were the key winners on Saturday, horses that deviated from the norm and set the crowd abuzz. Frankie Dettori’s farewell to the meeting, meanwhile, went largely unnoticed, because his rides – with the honourable exception of Khaadem in the Turf Sprint, who finished third – were not good enough. The one significant disappointment for the Europeans was the news on Sunday morning that She’s Quality, third home in the Prix de l’Abbaye in October, died overnight at a local equine hospital after suffering a pelvic injury in Saturday’s Turf Sprint.
Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup was the second successive meet at Del Mar, and the third in a row in California after the 2023 renewal at Santa Anita. It will not return to California for at least three years, however, as Keeneland, in Kentucky, and a newly renovated Belmont Park in New York have been confirmed as the venues in 2026 and 2027 respectively.
Kempton 1.00 Mbappe 1.30 Alderman 2.00 Hard Endeavour 2.30 Sarab Star (nb) 3.00 Shader 3.30 Londoner (nap) 4.00 City Cyclone 4.30 Electric Bass
Plumpton 1.08 Jamada 1.38 Traveling Soldier 2.08 Daylatedollarshort 2.38 Arqoob 3.08 Ivane 3.38 Jorebel 4.08 Jackstell
Hereford 1.20 Knightsbridge 1.50 Dakota Star 2.20 Gris Majeur 2.50 Riviera Walk 3.20 Sun Art 3.50 Doctor Kildare 4.20 Gerard Mentor
Southwell 4.15 Dc Cogent 4.45 Thanos 5.15 Lolabella 5.45 Mooj 6.15 Your Love 6.45 Mae Amor 7.15 An Bradan Feasa 7.45 T Or Coffey 8.15 Raft Up
Wolverhampton 4.25 Akirra 5.00 Angel Numbers 5.30 Deported 6.00 Von Krolock 6.30 My Boy Jack 7.00 Mythical Composer 7.30 Al Rufaa 8.00 Sam’s Express 8.30 Lady Aiyana
These are troubled times for racing in California, with prize money under pressure and attendance struggling, so it is anyone’s guess what shape it will be in when, or if, the Breeders’ Cup returns to the west coast in 2028 or beyond. But this year’s Breeders’ Cup did at least leave Del Mar with a near-record total-wagered “all-sources handle” of $180m (£136m), around 10% of which came from the track itself.
Lingfield 12.10 Marnier 12.40 Green Dame 1.10 Beccadelli 1.40 Bella Perla 2.10 Clearpoint 2.40 Daaris 3.10 Rainbow Sign 3.40 Night Arc 4.10 Ten Club
Redcar 12.25 Cape Ashizuri 12.55 Kiss For An Angel 1.25 King’s School 1.55 Alcarath 2.25 Mission Possible 2.57 Diligent Henry 3.27 Giselles Izzy 3.57 Oilisa (nap)
Wolverhampton 2.52 Knight Of Magic 3.22 Zoulu Warrior 3.52 Kuiama 4.25 Pierchic 5.00 My Fermoy 5.30 Likealot 6.00 Political Power (nb) 6.30 Verona Star
Warwick 1.02 Stardrop 1.32 Ice In The Veins 2.02 Josh The Boss 2.32 Ez Tiger 3.02 Tedwin Hills 3.32 Bahtiyar 4.02 Got A Dream
As an event, the Breeders’ Cup remains healthy, and results like Ethical Diamond’s Turf victory on Saturday only add to the legend. Mullins, meanwhile, is incapable of standing still, and the “jumps” trainer from County Carlow who won a race at the Breeders’ Cup may yet pull off a shock of similar magnitude in the race that stops a nation on Tuesday.
