By Alan Carasso
Some 90 minutes after Rebel's Romance (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) finished a brave second in the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Turf, Godolphin's Notable Speech (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) came running at the fence with time ticking away and was along in time to prevail in the GI FanDuel Breeders' Cup Mile at Del Mar.
It was a fourth win in five years for Godolphin, jockey William Buick, trainer Charlie Appleby and the legendary Dubawi and came 12 months after Notable Speech finished a valiant third in a bid to run the Mile winning skein to four straight.
Away without incident from gate two, Notable Speech was in no hurry through the opening stages and settled midfield on the fence as One Stripe (SAf) (One World {SAf}) set the pace from an aggressively ridden Qirat (GB) (Showcasing {GB}), who returned 150-1 winning the G1 Sussex Stakes at Goodwood this past summer. Rhetorical (Not This Time), the progressive New York-bred who was exiting a victory in the GI Coolmore Turf Mile, was not far from the pace three deep on the course, while The Lion In Winter (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) drafted in behind, giving Notable Speech a nice tow into the backstretch run.
Positions were largely unchanged in the middle furlongs, and Rhetorical was first to up the ante, surging past Qirat with a wide run passing the three-eighths pole, with One Stripe seemingly at his mercy. Rhetorical was roused to the front in upper stretch and when Irad Ortiz, Jr. asked the Will Walden runner to quicken, he did so nicely and put a few lengths on the chasers, including Formidable Man (City of Light)–six from six at Del Mar entering the Mile–and The Lion In Winter. But William Buick had saved every inch of ground aboard Notable Speech, switched him down to the inside of a weakening One Stripe where the course meets the nine-furlong chute and shot clear.
Godolphin won the Mile from 2021 through 2023 with Dubawi sons Space Blues (Ire), Modern Games (Ire) and Master of the Seas (Ire), respectively.
“He's a horse we've always thought highly of,” said trainer Charlie Appleby, winning his 12th Breeders' Cup race. “He came here and had a great trip around there and was comfortable the whole way. He was following the right horse, there, and I knew The Lion In Winter would take him into the race from where he was. We were always waiting for the cutaway–that's all it was. He had to get out and get on that fence and ride that rail, but he's the right horse to do with that, you know.”
Buick went into double digits with his 10th championship weekend winner.
Upset winner of the G1 English 2000 Guineas last season, Notable Speech defeated older milers in the G1 Sussex Stakes at Goodwood ahead of a fifth in the G1 Prix du Moulin held in soft ground he may not have enjoyed. According to Appleby, there were viable excuses for Notable Speech's first three runs this term at Newbury, during the Royal meeting and at Newmarket, but he much more resembled himself when switching to the stands' rail and just failing to get up in the G1 Prix Jacques Le Marois at Deauville on Aug. 17. He was last seen finishing a slow-starting, but ultimately comprehensive winner of the GI Rogers Woodbine Mile over a similarly tight-turning course Sept. 13.
Pedigree Notes:
Dubawi is now the sire of nine Breeders' Cup winners and sits at the top of that particular leaderboard with Into Mischief, who was represented this weekend by Juvenile winner Ted Noffey.
Notable Speech is the only runner to date for his dam, herself runner-up in the G3 UAE Oaks in 2019 and a half-sister to G3 Burj Nahaar winner Desert Wisdom (GB) (Dubawi) and Wild Beauty (GB) (Frankel {GB}), victorious in the 2021 Natalma Stakes and winner on her 3-year-old debut of the G3 Fred Darling Stakes. She was represented by her second foal this season, a filly by Dubawi.
Swift Rose is also represented by the unraced 2-year-old filly Moonlit Rose (GB) (Pinatubo {Ire}) and a yearling full-sister to Notable Speech.
Congrats the connections!
J: William Buick
T: Charles Appleby
O: Godolphin, LLC
B: Godolphin pic.twitter.com/Q2IqRltuUw— Breeders' Cup (@BreedersCup) November 1, 2025
Saturday, Del Mar
FANDUEL BREEDERS' CUP MILE PRESENTED BY PDJF-GI, $1,840,000, Del Mar, 11-1, 3yo/up, 1mT, 1:33.66, fm.
1–NOTABLE SPEECH (GB), 126, c, 4, by Dubawi (Ire)
1st Dam: Swift Rose (Ire) (GSP-UAE, $135,326),
by Invincible Spirit (Ire)
2nd Dam: Tulips (Ire), by Pivotal (GB)
3rd Dam: Hint of Spring (GB), by Seeking the Gold
'TDN Rising Star'. O/B-Godolphin (GB); T-Charles Appleby;
J-William Buick. $1,040,000. Lifetime Record: MG1SW-Eng,
G1SP-Fr, 14-7-1-1, $3,190,342. Werk Nick Rating: A+.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Formidable Man, 126, c, 4, City of Light–Fanticola, by Silent
Name (Jpn). ($375,000 Ylg '22 KEESEP). O-William K. and
Suzanne Warren Jr.; B-Town & Country Horse Farms, LLC (KY);
T-Michael W. McCarthy. $340,000.
3–The Lion In Winter (Ire), 123, c, 3, Sea The Stars (Ire)–What A
Home (Ire), by Lope de Vega (Ire). 'TDN Rising Star'.
(€375,000 Ylg '23 GOFOR). O-Michael B Tabor, Derrick Smith
and Mrs. John Magnier; B-Sunderland Holding Inc. (IRE);
T-Aidan P. O'Brien. $180,000.
Margins: 1HF, HD, HF. Odds: 2.60, 18.50, 4.60.
Also Ran: Rhetorical, Sahlan (Ire), Argine (Jpn), Gas Me Up, Johannes, Jonquil (GB), Program Trading (GB), Gran Oriente (Chi), Qirat (GB), One Stripe (Saf). Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.
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