Nitrogen was the odds-on choice of bettors in the $2 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff Oct. 31 at Keeneland Race Course, a decision just as astute as Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse’s opinion when he examined the D. J. Stable homebred filly as an unraced youngster years earlier.

Fresh off a victory in the 2022 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies with Wonder Wheel, co-owner Jon Green of D. J. Stable said he and his family pondered how to reward Casse.

“We said to him, ‘Do you want a bonus or do you want to pick out one of our two dozen yearlings to campaign and race?’ And to his credit, he said, ‘No, I want to go out and see what you have,’” Green recalled.

“He didn’t say no for the cash, but he said, ‘What you have?’ And he went out there, and he called me about 10 minutes into it, and I said, “You get lost? Did you not make it to the farm?” And he said, “No, no, I saw the one that I want to keep.” And I said, “Okay, who is it?” He said, “It’s the Medaglia d’Oro filly. She breathes different air.”

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“And at that moment, I went ahead and went on The Jockey Club website and looked to see what elements were lighter than Oxygen, and Nitrogen was available.”

The filly has since been the gas.

The confidence behind that selection has been rewarded many times over, most recently on 2026 Championship Saturday, when the filly capped a sensational 4-year-old campaign by defeating Fully Subscribed by two lengths in the Distaff. The victory all but clinched a championship as older dirt female, coming on the heels of an Eclipse Award-winning season as a 3-year-old filly in 2025.

2026 brought a different end to the campaign, however. Nitrogen was only second best in the 2025 Distaff at Del Mar, no match for runaway winner Scylla, making Saturday’s victory satisfying for her connections.

Casse, fighting back emotion while awaiting her to make her way to the winner’s circle after the race, choked out some words, saying “She deserved this.”

Nitrogen left little doubt she was superior in Saturday’s Distaff, overcoming a somewhat tardy start to stalk the pace, take the lead turning for home, and turning back a bid from her principal foe, Fully Subscribed, when that filly loomed to her outside in early stretch.

But Full Subscribed was simply second best.

“We got close to her but just not good enough,” jockey Flavien Prat said.

They met once earlier this season, with Nitrogen defeating Fully Subscribed in the June 5 Ogden Phipps Stakes Presented by Ford at Saratoga Race Course by 12 ¾ lengths.

“My filly was a much better opponent for Nitrogen today, but she still fell short of what it takes to beat her,” trainer Chad Brown said.

Winning owner D. J. Stable. (Eclipse Sportswire)

Though Nitrogen lugged toward the outside of the racetrack through the stretch – as is her custom – Nitrogen still ran quickly, completing 1 1/8 miles in 1:48.90 on a fast track under Jose Ortiz.

“I saw (Fully Subscribed) behind me at the three-eighths pole,” Ortiz said. “I drifted out a little bit in the stretch. She has a tendency to do that. But it seemed like I was clear.”

Nitrogen’s connections – owner, trainer, and rider – all notched their first wins in the Distaff.

“When I asked her to go, she was full of run,” Ortiz said.

Casse’s second entrant, Measure, rallied for third, catching 2025 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies winner Super Corredora, who faded to fourth after setting the early fractions.

With Saturday’s victory, Nitrogen improved to 7-4-1 in 11 starts, and her earnings soared to $2,481,800. She is 4-2-0 in six starts this year, with one of her two runner-up finishes coming when she ran second to reigning Horse of the Year and eventual Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Sovereignty in the Whitney Stakes this summer.

More starts against males could be in her future. Casse said she is under consideration for the Jan. 30 Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes at Gulfstream Park.

“We’re going to take a different path for sure this year coming up,” Casse said.

“We want to continue to watch her run. Every time she races, it’s just a gift,” Green said.–Byron King

T O Elvis Rallies Past Englishman Late to Prevail in Sprint 

T O Elvis closes with a rush. (Eclipse Sportswire)

American racing fans and horseplayers might recall T O Elvis for the wagering controversy tied to him in the May 2 Churchill Downs Stakes Presented by Ford than his performance in the race, when he notched a 3 ¼-length victory off a 4 ½-month layoff against some top American sprinters for a fifth straight win.

For those with short memories, that day computer-assisted-wagering (CAW) players flooded the pools with wagers on the Kentucky-bred son of Volatile at the last second, knocking him down from 12-1 to 5-1 odds in the final flash.

If you forgot about him, it’s understandable.

After that win, trainer Daisuke Takayanagi brought the 4-year-old colt back to Japan and did not race him for nearly six months.

“Elvis” was back in the building Oct. 31 when he once again faced the best sprinters America could offer in the $2 million Cygames Breeders’ Cup Sprint on Championship Saturday at Keeneland, and while there was no sudden drop in the odds this time, he showed the same level of brilliance off of the layoff, powering past odds-on favorite Englishman in the final yards to win the Sprint by 1 ¼ lengths.

“This is the second happiest day of my life,” owner Tomoya Ozasa (the T O is attached to his horses) said through a translator, putting the Churchill Downs Stakes atop his list. After prodding by NBC Sports winner’s circle host Britney Eurton, Ozasa amended it to a dead heat between the two American wins. “I expect the horse is going to be a very historical horse among the Japanese sprinters and perform well worldwide. That’s what I’m expecting now.”

Heading into the Sprint, the Eclipse Award for the champion sprinter was Englishman’s to lose off two dominant Grade 1 wins in his previous two starts. As it turned out, his runner-up finish may have put the Japanese runner in the driver’s seat for the title.

“That’s a most delightful thing for us, very happiest thing,” Takayanagi said about the possibility of an Eclipse Award.

Thrilled T O Elvis connections. (Eclipse Sportswire)

While the connections may be back in the U.S. in January to accept an Eclipse Award, when they were asked if T O Elvis would return to America next year, the smiles on their faces erased the need for a translator.

“We would like to bring him over again,” Takayanagi said.

C R K Stable’s Englishman was the star coming into the Sprint and things seemed to be going quite well from the start when he broke smoothly and was a length off longshot Liam Smith after a fast opening quarter-mile, while T O Elvis, the second betting choice, was 12^th in the field of 13, about eight lengths back.

On the turn, jockey Jose Ortiz and Englishman kicked away to lead by 1 ½ lengths at the quarter pole and extended to a seemingly safe three-length lead in mid-stretch until T O Elvis and Ryusei Sakai (the regular rider for Forever Young) came charging past them from the outside to cover the six furlongs in 1:08.20. Englishman easily held second by four lengths over Liam Smith.

“I was able to get the position I wanted,” said Sakai, who added that he would like to ride at Saratoga Race Course next summer.

For Cherie DeVaux, trainer of Englishman, there was no excuse other than T O Elvis being better on this day in Kentucky.

“He tried. He ran his race and was traveling well,” DeVaux said about the 3-year-old son of Maxfield. “I knew the other horse would be coming late and he just got up there. (Englishman) kicked home and kept running but he got beat by a better horse.”

T O Elvis improved to 7-for-10 lifetime with six wins in a row, sporting a bankroll of $2,189,212.–Bob Ehalt

Keeneland Specialist Further Ado Nips Owen Almighty in Thrilling Dirt Mile Finish

Futher Ado (outside) and Owen Almighty duel. (Eclipse Sportswire)

Fourstardave earned the nickname “The Sultan of Saratoga” for winning at least one race there over eight consecutive seasons in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Fast forward to today, and Spendthrift Farm’s Further Ado is doing his best to replicate that legend, though in his case at Keeneland.

He illustrated his affinity for the Keeneland main track in the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile on the Championship Saturday Oct. 31 undercard, improving to 3-for-3 at the Lexington oval by prevailing by a nose under Flavien Prat in a tight, head-bobbing photo with runner-up Owen Almighty.

“Yeah, I just told Flavien, ‘20 lengths, 11 lengths, nose. It all pays the same,’“ trainer Brad Cox said on NBC moments after placing judges determined Further Ado had come out on top.

It didn’t come easy – unlike the colt’s earlier victories at Keeneland, when he rolled by 20 lengths and 11 lengths, respectively, in a maiden race last fall and in the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes this spring – but as Cox noted, the colt still earned the $520,000 first-place prize.

Owen Almighty and third-place Full Serrano, the 2024 Dirt Mile winner, made Further Ado work in the two-turn contest. The two traded positions on the lead, with Full Serrano in front through the first-half mile before Owen Almighty engaged him on the far turn and pulled ahead.

But Further Ado, who tracked the pace on the inside in fourth for most of the first three-quarters of the race, found room exiting the final turn and kicked on strongly down the stretch. He led at the call that mattered most, the finish, with his nose just in front upon completing a mile in 1:34.50 on a fast track.

“I thought I was ahead of him, but (Owen Almighty) had a good bob,” Prat said. “So, I didn’t know.”

Winning trainer Brad Cox. (Eclipse Sportswire)

Those who backed Further Ado to even-money favoritism had to wait a few minutes for the photo results and the payoffs.

“That was quite a roller coaster of emotions to think we had lost and then to find out that we had won,” Spendthrift Farm owner Eric Gustavson said. “That was unbelievable.”

Gustavson said he wondered how Further Ado would fare with an inside trip and if the colt could secure the room necessary to launch his bid. The 3-year-old had lost his previous start when second in the Pennsylvania Derby with a similar inside stalking trip, unable to catch The Puma, who swooped to the lead while Further Ado was boxed in on the second turn.

Prat took the Dirt Mile for the third time after success with Battle of Midway in 2017 and Nysos last year. This was the second Dirt Mile victory for Cox, who initially won the race in 2020 at Keeneland with Knicks Go.

Saturday’s Dirt Mile was a heartbreaking defeat for those associated with Owen Almighty, the 2025 Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby winner. Many of his connections, watching the slow-motion replay, felt optimistic his number would be posted.

“It was a real close finish,” jockey Luis Saez said. “I was not sure who won. The only thing I knew was that my horse was fighting and he tried really hard.”

Full Serrano finished two lengths behind Owen Almighty in third.

With the win, Further Ado improved his career record to 5-2-1 in 11 starts and increased his earnings to $2,181,958. Whether he has the opportunity to add to that total won’t be decided until the coming days. Although previously announced for stud duty at Spendthrift in 2027, he could return to racing at 4. Gustavson said the Spendthrift team would discuss the options with Cox early next week.–Byron King

Ways and Means Puts on a One-Mare Show in Filly & Mare Sprint Romp

Ways and Means, with Prat riding, wins in a rout. (Eclipse Sportswire)

In order to fulfill trainer Chad Brown’s description of Ways and Means as one of those special horses who could “run through every pole” at the challenging seven-furlong distance of the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint, first she had to get back into the starting gate before the opening race of Championship Saturday could begin.

Brown and owner-breeder Seth Klarman watched from afar, understandably concerned, as first Ways and Means and then longshot Look Forward were loaded peacefully into the inside stalls and then backed out again.

“Obviously it’s not what you want to see,” Brown said. “Fortunately, now that the race is over my question about it to Flavien will not be a nervous one. Thankfully, it didn’t affect the outcome.”

As it turned out, the cautionary delay was prompted by Look Forward, who popped the doors of her stall in anticipation of the bell. For that matter, Ways and Means and jockey Flavien Prat could have spotted the opposition a head start and still romped to a breathtaking victory in what was likely the final start for the 5-year-old daughter of Practical Joke.

At the end of her 1:21.76 work of art, it was 6 ¼ lengths back to Foie Gras, who was able to get past 3-year-old Explora in the final yards for second money.

“I’m delighted for her,” said Prat, who rode Ways and Means in 11 of her 14 starts. “She deserved to be a Breeders’ Cup winner. Two years ago at Del Mar she didn’t run her race, then last year she had a fever.”

Flavien Prat celebrates. (Eclipse Sportswire)

And this year she was on fire. Bet down to a few pennies more than even money as the post-time favorite, Ways and Means settled along the rail five or so lengths off the pace set by the Saffie Joseph Jr.-trained speedballs R Disaster and Kerry’s Kiss, while Sweet Azteca hustled to keep up and Explora tracked close behind.

“I was a little concerned the first quarter-mile,” Brown said. “She didn’t break quite well enough to get into a pocket right behind the speed. I was afraid he might have had to use her a little more than we wanted and worried what she’d have left when it really counted in the stretch.”

Good girl that she is, Ways and Means did not keep her people in suspense. By the time the field hit the top of the Keeneland stretch, Prat had tipped off the rail to find a generous gap to the right of R Disaster. In the meantime, Jose Ortiz and Explora were on the move five wide, but by the time they straightened away for the final run, Ways and Means was long gone.

“The winner is a monster,” Ortiz said. “But my filly ran a big race and tried hard to beat her. She just got caught for second in the last jump.”

Ways and Means heads into Fasig-Tipton’s The November Sale off three straight wins during a four-race 2026 campaign, each race at seven furlongs. In fact, nine of her 14 lifetime starts came at the Breeders’ Cup distance. The Filly & Mare Sprint victory was her first outside of New York, with six of her prior wins coming at Saratoga.

“She was able to shake that label today of a Saratoga specialist on a neutral track against the best sprinters in the country,” Brown said.–Jay Hovdey