Japan's Songline Aims for Another High Note in BC Mile

As per usual, it's an international cast taking up the starring roles in the $2 million Breeders' Cup Mile (G1T). While the United States players yield their own fair share of talent, led by three-time Breeders' Cup starter Casa Creed , it will be the Europeans, and one dynamic mare from Japan, who will take center stage when the field lines up Nov. 4 at Santa Anita Park.

The mighty European battalion faced a blow the morning of Oct. 27 when trainer Aidan O'Brien announced that four-time group 1 winner and likely Mile favorite Paddington  would be scratched from the race with a respiratory infection. Instead of making the 5,000-mile voyage to California, the star 3-year-old will be retired to Coolmore Stud.  

Despite Paddington's absence, the European runners—Mawj , Master of The Seas , and Kelina —remain a formidable presence on Championship Saturday.

With the defection of Paddington favoritism may fall on the Japanese wonder mare Songline . The cobalt mare electrified racing fans last year with a neck tally over fellow Mile contender Casa Creed in the 1351 Turf Sprint Cup (G3) in Saudi Arabia before defeating her country's best males in the Yasuda Kinen (G1). Returning as a 5-year-old this year, Songline asserted her dominance with two decisive wins in the Victoria Mile (G1) and a repeat score in the Yasuda Kinen.

"The Victoria Mile is the champion female mile race of the spring calendar," said trainer Toru Hayashi to the Breeders' Cup/FanDuel media team. "She was up against the best females of her generation. For her to be able to win that cemented her as the best race mare in Japan. Then a month later she went to the Yasuda Kinen, which is for both males and females. To also win the Yasuda Kinen proved she wasn't just the best female racehorse in Japan, she was the best miler in Japan."

Owned by Sunday Racing, the racing arm of Northern Farm, Songline will attempt to become the third Japanese-trained horse to win a Breeders' Cup race following Loves Only You  and Marche Lorraine 's successes in the 2021 Filly & Mare Turf and Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1), respectively.

Godolphin landed last year's Mile with the brilliant Modern Games  and returns this year with his younger half sister, One Thousand Guineas (G1) darling Mawj. The Godolphin team has been targeting the Breeders' Cup Mile for Mawj since late summer. Unraced since her One Thousand Guineas triumph, the Exceed And Excel  filly defied the odds with a stirring wire-to-wire victory in the Oct. 14 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes (G1T). In that effort, she shed the rust of a five-month layoff and a lengthy overseas journey with her first win beyond eight furlongs.

Cutting back to a mile seems only fitting for the filly with what trainer Saeed bin Suroor calls "brilliant speed." She'll likely be part of the pace tango from the get-go.

“She’s going into the Mile because I think that’s her best distance,” bin Suroor said. “I know she won at Keeneland over nine furlongs, but she has a lot of speed and that makes me think the mile is her trip and a lot better than a mile and a quarter for her. She will improve from the race and she hadn’t run since May and needed the race, for sure. It was very good for her to win when she needed the run, but she’s a tough filly with a big heart who always tries hard.

"I’m hoping to draw somewhere in the middle with her. She will show speed and go to the front.”

Mawj and Godolphin's other Mile entrant, Master of The Seas, have both been training at Keeneland in anticipation of the Breeders' Cup. They shipped out to Santa Anita earlier this week.

Master of The Seas, trained by Charlie Appleby of Modern Games' fame, could pose a serious threat in the Mile. Perhaps regarded as a second-tier competitor in Europe, the Dubawi  gelding has flourished on North American soil, registering a top-level score in the Woodbine Mile Stakes (G1T) in Canada before losing by a heartbreaking bob of the nose to Up to the Mark   in Keeneland's Turf Mile Stakes (G1T).

The U.S. team may be led by 7-year-old Casa Creed, who sports as commendable a résumé as any of the contenders in the field. A four-time grade 1 winner for trainer Bill Mott, Casa Creed enters the Mile a fresh horse, unraced since landing his second Fourstardave Handicap (G1T) this August at Saratoga Race Course. It should be noted though that the old warrior has never placed in any of his three prior Breeders' Cup starts. The LRE Racing and JEH Racing Stable colorbearer was ninth in last year's Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1T), eighth in the 2021 Mile, and 12th in the 2020 Mile.