Mill Ridge Connections in the Breeders’ Cup
The Breeders’ Cup weekend once again brings together the world’s finest Thoroughbreds, and this year, Mill Ridge Farm is proudly represented across a range of divisions.
Friday October 31st:
Juvenile Fillies Turf, Race 8:
Time to Dream, a daughter of Not This Time and half-sister to Multiple Graded Stakes Winner Red Carpet Ready, was deemed a ‘TDN Rising Star’ on debut at Saratoga. She backed up her impressive maiden win when she kicked clear to easily win the P.G. Johnson Stakes. Time to Dream was bred by Maggie Gieseke and was raised and sold by Mill Ridge. She was purchased by Repole Stable for $750,000 out of the 2024 Fasig Tipton Saratoga Select Sale.
Juvenile Turf, Race 10:
Heeere’s Johnny, by Oscar Performance and bred by Dr. John Chandler, is assigned post position 1 with Javier Castellano aboard. Although he’ll break from the gate a maiden, he has two consecutive second place finishes in graded stakes, last out losing by just a head. Amerman Racing homebred and fellow Mill Ridge graduate Stark Contrast also lines up in the Juvenile Turf. The talented son of Caravaggio comes off a win in the Grade 3 Zuma Beach and will break from post 8.
Time to Dream at Mill Ridge, April 2023
Heere’s Johnny at Mill Ridge, March 2023
Stark Contrast at Mill Ridge, March 2023
Saturday, November 1st:'
Turf Sprint, Race 5
Mill Ridge is excited to consign Ag Bullet at Fasig Tipton’s Night of the Stars on Monday, November 3rd. The 5-year-old daughter of Twirling Candy was third by a neck in last year’s running of the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint. This time around, she enters the race with a win against the boys this summer in the G1 Jaipur at Saratoga. Fun fact- The chemical symbol for silver, Ag, is the basis for her name. Owners Calvin Nguyen and Joey Tran chose the name to reflect her speed and flashy gray color, likening her to a ‘silver bullet’.
Sprint, Race 6
Valiant Force, a Malibu Moon colt sold by Mill Ridge Sales as a weanling, is entered as an ‘also eligible’ and will join the field if there’s a late scratch. He enters off a recent victory at Dundalk Racecourse in Ireland. This won’t be the first appearance for Valiant Force in the Breeders’ Cup- At 2-years-old, he finished game 2nd in the 2023 running of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint at Santa Anita.
Dirt Mile, Race 11
Finally, Tumbarumba takes on a competitive Dirt Mile field, a race where he finished 4th in last year’s edition. While not a graduate of Mill Ridge, Tumbarumba is a Multiple Graded Stakes Winner from the first crop of Mill Ridge stallion Oscar Performance. He has nearly $1 million in career earnings and has hit the board in 18 of 24 starts! He breaks from post 5 with Tyler Gaffalione in the irons.
The Mill Ridge Breeders’ Cup Legacy
Since the year 2000, Mill Ridge has raised or sold 41 Grade 1 Winners, including a stellar 9 Breeders’ Cup Winners:
NOBALS was an exciting upset winner of the 2023 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Santa Anita. He was bred by Dr. John Chandler.
OSCAR PERFORMANCE, 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.
Additionally, Mill Ridge stands 2021 Breeders’ Cup Sprint Champion ALOHA WEST who enters his fourth year at stud in 2026. 4-time Grade 1 winner CASA CREED, also standing stud at Mill Ridge, finished third by a neck in the 2023 running on the Breeders’ Cup Mile.
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 nine 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.
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.
Just since 2005, Nicoma Bloodstock has produced 20 Grade 1 winners, including two Horse of the Year titles, two consecutive Kentucky Derby winners (Barbaro and Street Sense), four Breeders’ Cup winners, a Preakness winner, and back-to-back Sovereign Awards winner.
The Legacy Continues
As this year’s Breeders’ Cup unfolds, Mill Ridge Farm’s presence across multiple divisions is a testament to decades of dedication to raising thoroughbreds. We extend our best wishes to all connections and participants for a successful Breeders’ Cup weekend.
