Latest historical past dictates that when coach Charlie Appleby ships a racehorse to North America, the runner should be revered. Based on Equineline stats, Appleby has received 40 races from 125 starters for the reason that begin of 2021 (32%) with 23 Grade 1 wins.
Appleby is aware of which horses in his steady will thrive on the firmer turf in North America in addition to which of them match in opposition to the very best stateside horses, and Aug. 9 within the Grade 1 Resorts World On line casino Sword Dancer Stakes Appleby’s entrants completed first and third within the $750,000 race at Saratoga Race Course.
America’s Finest Racing is exploring main contenders for the 14 races that comprise the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, and this week we consider El Cordobes after he punched his ticket to the Longines Turf Nov. 1 at Del Mar with a half-length Sword Dancer win.
Accomplishments: El Cordobes raced solely as soon as as a 2-year-old and twice in 2024 at age 3, successful a race on the all-weather floor at Kempton Park. He began out his 4-year-old season in Dubai and completed second in a pair of races, however El Cordobes actually started to excel within the spring and summer season with added distance.
He received a 1 ½-mile race by 3 ¼ lengths Could 3 at Newmarket and completed third within the Group 3 Sky Sports activities Racing Aston Park Stakes at Newbury two weeks later. His breakout race got here July 10 at Newmarket when he surged clear within the closing furlong to win the 1 ½-mile Kingdom of Bahrain Princess of Wales’s Stakes by two lengths for his first stakes win.
Each the Aston Park and Princess of Wales’s Stakes got here on good to agency floor in England, so the Sword Dancer supplied an interesting choice for Appleby and the Godolphin homebred.
El Cordobes acquired shuffled again a bit coming into the stretch and was close to the again of the eight-horse Sword Dancer discipline, however he accelerated powerfully and cut up horses in deep stretch to take command from between stablemate Nations Satisfaction to his inside and runner-up Insurgent Purple to his outdoors. Within the closing yards below Flavien Prat, El Cordobes switched leads a number of instances however nonetheless managed to complete his closing quarter-mile in :22.98 and closing eighth of a mile in :11.53, sturdy closing fractions for a 1 ½-mile race.
“He ran an enormous race and Flavien gave him a peach of a journey,” Appleby’s touring assistant Chris Connett mentioned. “He’s not a small boy however he might be nimble when he must be and with somebody like Flavien on, 99% of the time, if he’s acquired the horse below him, he’ll discover a method to get to the entrance.”
Velocity Figures: El Cordobes earned a 104 Beyer Velocity Determine for the Sword Dancer, tied for the quickest of the yr for a turf race at one mile or longer. He likewise earned a 119 Equibase Velocity Determine, simply two factors shy of the very best of the yr for a two-turn turf race. He’s loads quick.
Trying Forward: Appleby has received three of the final 4 editions of the Breeders’ Cup Turf with Godolphin runners — Yibir in 2021 and Insurgent’s Romance in 2022 and 2024 — and may have an excellent likelihood once more in 2025. Insurgent’s Romance stays in coaching and received a Group 1 race Aug. 10 in Germany, whereas each El Cordobes and Sword Dancer third-place finisher Nations Satisfaction appear to be professional contenders.
I cherished the way in which El Cordobes rallied within the Sword Dancer, overcoming adversity close to the highest of the stretch after which splitting horses within the closing furlong with a robust late burst. He can be shipped again to England Thursday and his connections did but not decide to the Breeders’ Cup Turf, but when El Cordobes is within the beginning gate Nov. 1 at Del Mar he can be a severe menace to win. The sound you hear is me pushing my chips in on El Cordobes.
