After a career of some nice wins mixed with close top-level finishes that sometimes left her connections wondering if she'd ever reach racing's pinnacle, an aggressive approach paid off for Scylla with an explosive front-running score in the $2 million Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff Nov. 1 at Del Mar.

When expected pacesetter and favorite Seismic Beauty bobbled leaving the gate, Scylla and jockey Junior Alvarado seized the advantage and never looked back in the Distaff.

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While there was no plan to seize the early lead and on paper it appeared that recent winner of the Grade 1 Clement L. Hirsch Stakes presented by Oak Tree, Seismic Beauty would go to the lead. That all changed in the initial stages of the race, however, as Seismic Beauty, Nitrogen, Clicquot, and Scylla lined up four across the track the first time under the wire before Alvarado sent Scylla to the lead on the rail.

That decision would prove correct as Scylla settled nicely, opened up three lengths in the stretch, and extended that advantage to 5 1/2 lengths at the wire in one of the more impressive efforts of Breeders' Cup weekend.

"She broke very sharp today and going by the wire the first time I said to myself, 'We're in good position.' We're moving along pretty quick but at that point I said, 'I can't drag her back and put her behind all the other horses,'" said Alvarado, who also was aboard for Scylla's prep race, a third-place finish in the Grade 1 Juddmonte Spinster Stakes Oct. 5 at Keeneland.

Trainer Bill Mott and winning owners Juddmonte made the right race decision for Scylla, who finished fourth in last year's PNC Bank Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint and could have targeted the same race at seven furlongs again this year.

"We looked at the fields and we just decided this was the race we were going to go," Mott said. "It just worked out."

Junior Alvarado aboard Scylla. (Shamela Hanley/Eclipse Sportswire)

Also, Mott noted that the Spinster is an important race for Juddmonte so they pointed Scylla for that 1 1/8-mile test and when she ran third there, it made sense to continue to the Distaff.

After knocking on the door all season, registering back-to-back Grade 1 placings in her two races before the Distaff, Scylla would not be denied on Breeders' Cup championship Saturday. She completed 1 1/8 miles in 1:48.07 on a fast track to secure her first Grade 1 win after four previous placings at that level. With the Breeders' Cup win, Scylla figures to be considered for champion older dirt female honors at the Eclipse Awards, but the victory was her first of the season in a division where 2024 Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna also figures to be considered.

"It is tremendously satisfying," said Juddmonte general manager USA Garrett O'Rourke. "We've had a lot of Grade 1 winners over the years that I felt weren't nearly as good a racehorse as Scylla is. It was disappointing that we hadn't gotten it done but if you're going to do it, what a day to do it!"

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The Breeders' Cup also will go a long way toward determining this year's champion 3-year-old filly. Top 3-year-old filly Nitrogen rallied to finish second in the Breeders' Cup Distaff, a half-length ahead of Regaled who was third. Nitrogen boasts four graded stakes wins on turf this year, a Grade 1-placing on turf, and a clear victory in the Grade 1 Alabama Stakes presented by Keeneland Sales on dirt at Saratoga Race Course. In 2024, Nitrogen was named Canada's champion 2-year-old filly.

"I'm proud of her. She ran her butt off," said trainer Mark Casse of Nitrogen. "I think we know who the champion 3-year-old filly is now. That's what I wanted for her. I think she earned it today."

Regaled, who captured the Grade 3 Delaware Handicap in September, earned her first Grade 1 placing. Trainer D. Whitworth Beckman was pleased with Regaled and said she could target the Grade 3 Falls City Handicap Nov. 27 at Churchill Downs for her next start. Clicquot finished fourth. Favored Seismic Beauty was eased under the wire and finished 11th in the 12-horse field.

The Distaff win marked another huge victory for one of the most successful current equine families in the United States. Scylla is out of multiple Grade 1 winner and 2014 champion older mare Close Hatches by First Defence. Scylla is a full sister to classic-placed Grade 2 winner Tacitus and Grade 3 winner Batten Down. Her dam is a full sister to the dam (Lockdown) of 2023 Breeders' Cup Distaff winner and two-time champion older dirt female Idiomatic.

"Scylla did it for us," Mott said. "She's out of a mare that was a champion for us. It's really great to be part of that and be able to carry on the tradition."