Six o’clock in Keeneland and it’s dark.

Someone’s mum has mentioned it looks like Blackpool Illuminations at the track and they’ve made the decision to switch to minimal lighting, with only the main and training track illuminated in the morning obscurity.

I set off from the grandstand to find the stable area, ever the intrepid explorer, following a dirt track away from the parade ring and becoming increasingly concerned I’ve taken a wrong turn.

Then horses begin to appear out of the dark, breath fogging round their nostrils, and a diminutive chestnut filly stands stock still in the middle of the path, snorting like a fire-breathing dragon.

I hadn’t expected Miss Yechance to be the first familiar face I saw, but I’m grateful to be rescued from the dark and follow her to the training track, eager to see my first piece of Breeders’ Cup work.

Training complete, I follow the little filly back to the end barn of the stable complex, set aside for European quarantine - a hive of activity as arriving trainers and staff are given accreditation and wait for their allocated work slot.

The pony team, responsible for leading horses on the track, stand outside the quarantine gate like donkeys on the beach, awaiting to accompany the next group of tourists for a spin.

“Can I say hello?” I ask.

“You can to this one,” says the lady, gesturing at a large bay having a nap. “But not this one. He’s being a pain in the ass this morning.”

The pain in the ass is non-plussed by the accusation and sighs audibly. He’s needed to accompany Map Of Stars, Amusingly and Primetime Emmy for their first look at Keeneland and fidgets as a member of Francis-Henri Graffard’s staff puts a foot in the stirrup. There’s a language barrier, clearly, and I’m not sure ‘pain in the ass’ translates sufficiently to French.

I wander back up the hill to the main track to watch Libertango and Survie have a careful canter around the oval and end up leaning over the white rail next to American trainer Mark Casse.

Best known in the UK for his Royal Ascot success with Tepin, Mark fields Nitrogen in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff, who finished third in Lake Victoria’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf in 2024 and has since dominated on the dirt. Our conversation turns to Royal Ascot – ‘my wife says it’s like the Kentucky Derby on steroids’ – and Mark reminisces about meeting the Queen, a topic that wasn’t on my Keeneland bingo card.

“It was an out of body experience,” says Mark. “We won the Queen Anne with Tepin and I immediately asked ‘when do I get to meet the Queen?’. I’d missed her, and I told all the press that we’d only come back to Royal Ascot the following year if I was able to meet the Queen. A year later, we were sat in the box at Ascot and there was a knock on the door – ‘the Queen says she’d like to meet you’.

“It was something I’ll never forget and all she wanted to do was talk about the horses. It’s amazing what horseracing can do, and the people it brings together.”

Whilst I appreciate the Distaff provides an opportunity for the majority of British viewers to make a well-needed brew before the Turf, it’s worth noting the high regard in which Distaff favourite Nitrogen is held.

“Nitrogen is a bit like Tepin, she started out on grass as the best of the North American turf fillies and has been the best in her category since switching to the dirt. If she does well, she’ll stay in training and try for the Breeders’ Cup Classic next year.

“She’s very kind, but if you don’t bring the mints fast enough, watch out!”

The crowd congregating around the entry to the main track only increases as the clock turns half past eight, and a string of 13 horses make their steady progress up the hill. The O’Brien runners have arrived. 

Puerto Rico leads the way, flanked by Donnacha’s Comanche Brave, with the leggy Benvenuto Cellini jogging behind. Precise and True Love follow, both Guineas winners and the mirror opposites of each other physically, then the two-year-olds on their first school trip: mature Haffner, the pocket-sized Great Barrier Reef and Sun Goddess, who surveys the track with a confident gaze.

Sun Goddess gets her first look at the Keeneland track

We learn little from their easy canter and head back to the European barns to quiz Aidan O’Brien. The draw is on everyone’s minds – Sun Goddess has pulled nine in the Juvenile Fillies Turf, Great Barrier Reef with 14 in the Juvenile Turf. Precise has no better luck in the Filly & Mare Turf with 11 and True Love takes berth 12 in the Mile. Benvenuto Cellini has been granted clemency with stall two in the Turf, the chosen mount of Ryan Moore.

“We always thought the Turf was made for Benvenuto Cellini,” explains Aidan. “We’ve done plenty of work with him in the stalls to sharpen him up after he was slow at Longchamp and Ryan was very happy with the draw. We think you’re going to see a sharper horse.

“We were flying over when the draw happened. You never expect it to be straightforward and just have to accept it. It’s easier when you’re in a middle or low draw, but we’ve won from a wide draw before. We try to bring the best horses we have every year, but everything has to go right.”

Aidan shrugs.

“It’s always nice to win.”

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