Mill Ridge Horses Racing at the 2022 Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland November 4th and 5th
The trees are showing off their new fall colors here in the Bluegrass state. The yellow, orange, and red leaves stand out against the new gold of the ginkgos and deep green magnolias. The weather is practically perfect, with brisk, sunny days and cool nights. There is a spark of energy in the crisp air. With the Keeneland September Yearling sale concluded, Thoroughbred horse racing aficionados worldwide are preparing to descend on Lexington for the 2022 Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland from November 4 - 5. And Lexington is ready. Downtown Lexington is festooned with flags from around the world to welcome everyone to the Breeders’ Cup. In addition to the fans, owners, bloodstock agents, trainers, riders, and everyone involved in the horses’ care will attend this event of the “Grand Slam of Thoroughbred Racing.” It is here that bloodstock agents, such as Mill Ridge’s buying and selling arm, Nicoma Bloodstock, get to show off the hard work that goes into making a championship Thoroughbred.
Thoroughbreds ran the first race of the Breeders’ Cup in 1984 at Hollywood Park in Los Angeles. Lexingtonian John Gaines proposed the creation of a one-day event in which the best of the best would compete head-to-head at the 1982 Kentucky Derby Festival’s “They’re Off'' luncheon in the Pegasus Room at Churchill Downs. Gaines’ accomplishments include helping to create the Kentucky Horse Park and co-founding the National Thoroughbred Racing Association and Kentucky Equine Education Project, among others. The Breeders’ Cup official website shares their mission to “conduct the Breeders’ Cup World Championships at the highest levels of quality, safety, and integrity and to promote the growth of Thoroughbred breeding, racing, and sales through proactive leadership, innovation, and service.”
The Breeders’ Cup draws an international crowd. Thoroughbred horses typically represented at the races are from the United States, Hong Kong, England, Ireland, South Africa, France, and Japan, as outlined by the EconoTimes. Founded in 2007, the Breeders’ Cup Challenge awards invitations to the Breeders’ Cup. The “Challenge” consists of a series of up to 90 races held around the world. Winning entrants receive feeless entry and a stipend for travel to the yearly Breeders’ Cup.
Originally a one-day event, the Breeders’ Cup became a two-day event in 2007. The following year, the first-day prize winnings totaled 20 million dollars. According to the EconoTimes’ “A Brief History of the Breeders’ Cup,” this translated into being the “richest day in sport.” It can also be the most exciting day in sports. In 1993, the greatest upset in the history of Thoroughbred horse racing occurred when 5-year-old ARCANGUES from France beat 131-1 odds to win at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California, creating the highest payout in Breeders’ Cup history. You can find the official odds for the 2022 races on TVG’s Breeders’ Cup page.
The 2022 Breeders’ Cup takes place at Keeneland from November 4 - 5. There are 14 races with a staggering $31 million in purses and awards.This is Keeneland’s third time hosting this event. They previously hosted in 2015 and 2020 (where the races were held without an audience due to the pandemic). In the lead-up to the races, the Breeders’ Cup Festival hosts a variety of events beginning with the Isaac Murphy Art Garden Party and Family Stroll on October 30. Other events include the Equine Film Festival (November 1 - 4), the Bourbon Showcase (November 2 - 4), and the Breeders’ Cup Lounge at Grand Reserve (November 5).
Many local Thoroughbred farms and bloodstock agents will attend this year’s Breeders’ Cup, including Mill Ridge Farm and Nicoma Bloodstock.
The Mill Ridge Breeders’ Cup Legacy
Mill Ridge Farm and Nicoma Bloodstock of Lexington will be on hand at the 2022 Breeders’ Cup (cheering on Oscar Performance’s Andthewinneris in the Juvenile Turf and G Laurie in the Juvenile Fillies Turf, as well as Mill Ridge-raised Raging Sea in the Juvenile Fillies, and future Mill Ridge stallion Aloha West in the Sprint). We know what it takes to create championship horses. We have bred, raised, and/or sold 8 Breeders’ Cup Winners.
OSCAR PERFORMANCE, the standing stud at Mill Ridge, was two when he won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf in 2016. His 1 ¼ length victory with jockey José L. Ortiz who took his first Breeders’ Cup win astride OSCAR PERFORMANCE.
RIA ANTONIA’s future National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame jockey, Javier Castellano, rode her to a win in the 2013 Juvenile Fillies at Santa Anita Park against 32-1 odds.
LIFE IS SWEET took the 2009 Ladies’ Classic 2 ½ lengths under trainer John Shirreffs of 2005 Kentucky Derby winner GIACOMO fame.
ROUND POND won the 2006 Breeders’ Cup Distaff. Her mother, AWESOME AGAIN, was the winner of the 1998 Breeders’ Cup Classic.
ARTIE SCHILLER won the 2005 Breeders’ Cup Mile by almost two lengths with the late jockey, Garrett Keith Gomez.
SWEET CATOMINE won the 2004 Juvenile Fillies at Lone Star park in Grand Prairie, Texas, as RIA ANTONIA did nine years later,
JOHAR won the first dead heat of Breeders’ Cup history when he took the 2003 Breeders’ Cup Turf in a tight race that saw him in a photo finish with HIGH CHAPARRAL at 14-1 odds.
SPAIN won the Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Churchill Downs in 2000 when she was two. Her sire, Thunder Gulch, won the 1995 Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes.
Nicoma Bloodstock’s Breeders’ Cup Winners
Nicoma Bloodstock, the consulting arm of Mill Ridge, has had two additional Breeder’s Cup Winners in addition to Mill Ridge’s eight Breeders Cup-winning Thoroughbreds,
BRICKS AND MORTAR won the 2019 Breeders’ Cup Turf by a head. He was subsequently named the 2019 American Horse of the Year during the National Thoroughbred Racing Association’s (NTRA) Eclipse Awards. His jockey, Irad Ortiz Jr., just won the 2022 Belmont Stakes.
STREET SENSE’s ten lengths lead secured his Breeders’ Cup Juvenile win in 2006. The next year he would go on to win the Kentucky Derby. STREET SENSE’s dual wins made him the first horse to win the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and the Kentucky Derby. He took home a 2006 Eclipse Award in the Two-Year-Old Male category.
Want to be a Part of Thoroughbred Raising History?
With over 40 years in the business, it is no wonder Nicoma Bloodstock has had so much success. Headley Bell, a fifth-generation horseman, founded Nicoma Bloodstock in 1979 and is still president. Bell also serves as Managing Partner at Mill Ridge. Bell’s mother, Alice Chandler, founded Mill Ridge in 1962, and his grandfather, Hal Price Headley, was Keeneland's co-founder and first president.
In addition to the above Breeders’ Cup winners, since 2005, Nicoma Bloodstock has produced 17 Grade 1 winners, including two Horse of the Year titles, two consecutive Kentucky Derby winners (Barbaro and Street Sense), four Breeders’ Cup winners, and back-to-back Sovereign Awards winner.
Headley Bell championed the call for a bloodstock agents’ code of ethics. This led to the creation of the Thoroughbred Agent and Consultant Association (TACA) in 1989. Nicoma Bloodstock prides itself on its focus on integrity in all aspects of its business, and the resulting client success is undeniable. Join us in our tradition of success.
If you’d like to begin a conversation with a bloodstock agent at Nicoma Bloodstock about potentially owning your own piece of Thoroughbred racing history, contact us today at
(859) 224-1000 or learn more here.