The description is right there in the title, signaling that the 14-race spree spread over two days represents a gathering of talent on a global scale. Over the course of its history, the Breeders' Cup World Championships has indeed made good on its international billing, with its 431 winners representing the breeding programs of eight different countries, a plethora of pipelines that have taken their localized excellence and put it on blast across a universal stage.
European-bred participants have long been emphatic in their attendance, specifically when it comes to claiming turf supremacy. Recent times also have seen Japanese-based runners join the ranks of those who have turned the process of crossing oceans and continents for a Breeders' Cup starting gate a most rewarding venture.
In the year and a half since South African-bred Gimme a Nother began her own journey of departing her native land for North American-based glory, the bay mare has also reaped accolades that span borders. She has already beaten a gathering of international standouts in a top-level test. And when the 43rd edition of the World Championships is held Oct. 30-31 at Keeneland, the Graham Motion trainee will aim for her country's flag being flown in triumph for the first time amidst the Breeders' Cup backdrop.
The sample size may be on the minuscule side, but the presence of South African-bred Breeders' Cup entrants has more than doubled the past couple seasons thanks to Motion's growing connections with owners such as Newstead Stable's Steven and Jessica Jell, whose top-class distaffer Gimme a Nother figures to be a live longshot when the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G1T) is contested Oct. 31. A winner of four straight, including the E.P. Taylor Stakes (G1T) at Woodbine Sept. 12, Gimme a Nother is poised to become just the sixth South African-bred Breeders' Cup starter but the fourth in the past two years, joining fellow Motion-conditioned proteges One Stripe (2025 Mile, G1), Beach Bomb (2024 Filly and Mare Turf) and Isivunguvungu (2024 Turf Sprint, G1).
A quarter century has passed since Spook Express first broke Breeders' Cup ground for South Africa, finishing second to eventual champion Banks Hill in the 2001 Filly and Mare Turf. A 20-year gap lingered from the time Super Brand ran ninth in the 2004 edition of that race to Beach Bomb and Isivunguvungu representing the republic at the Breeders' Cup two years ago.
While North America has received an inkling of the talent of the continent's runners over the decades thanks to the success of runners such as Horse Chestnut and Zimbabwe-bred heroine Ipi Tombe—both of whom won graded stakes in the United States—opportunities often are limited because of challenging quarantine restrictions.
When Beach Bomb and Isivunguvungu were sent over to join Motion's string in 2024, the duo had to quarantine at Newburgh Animal Import Center in upstate New York for two months, unable to leave the barn. The process to bring Gimme a Nother over was similarly involved but slightly eased. She was able to do a month's quarantine in South Africa before spending two months in Europe, where she was able to train at Chantilly, allowing her to retain the fitness that carried her to victory in her first seven career starts for South African trainer Mike de Kock.
"That first group, which was probably about a dozen horses, came over on a charter and that included Beach Bomb and Isivunguvungu, and that was for (owners) Gaynor Rupert and the Hollywood Racing group," Motion said. "Mike de Kock has recommended me and that's kind of how it all began ... but those horses had a very difficult quarantine, and it was pretty remarkable both those horses made it to the Breeders' Cup because they couldn't miss a beat once they got out. The next one that came over was Gimme a Nother and by that point the quarantine rules had changed ... so it wasn't like we were starting from scratch.
"The process has become a little easier. And I just have been so impressed with how all of them have competed. They've really held their own over here."
If the quarantine process demands patience, so too does the horsemanship involved in getting those South African runners fully acclimated to the North American landscape.
When Gimme a Nother did debut in the United States beginning in March last season, she put together a respectable campaign that saw her run second in three graded stakes with her only off-the-board effort coming when she spun her wheels on yielding ground in the New York Stakes (G1T) at Saratoga Race Course last June. By September, with her barn gaining knowledge of her preferences and her form adjusting to its new environment, the daughter of Gimmethegreenlight scored her first stateside triumph with a victory in the John C. Mabee Stakes (G2T) at Del Mar.
"(The South African) runners definitely need time," Motion said. "When Gimme a Nother came over, having done two months in Chantilly, she had already had a bit of a transition but at the same time, I just don't think you can be in a rush. You just have to give them time to adjust because it is a big transition and they are completely upside down from a season point of view. That's basically been my plan with them, is not to be in a big rush."
The original plan for Gimme a Nother following her John C. Mabee breakout was to stay put at Del Mar for a Breeders' Cup start last November, but a minor splint injury sent her to the sidelines to be readied for a 6-year-old campaign. While recuperating from that setback, Motion discovered the mare had a pair of infected teeth that needed to be removed, further delaying her 2026 debut.
Score another one for patience being rewarded. Once Gimme a Nother finally emerged this year in the form of a 3 1/2-length victory in the June 13 Eatontown Stakes (G3T) at Monmouth Park, she kept meeting increasingly challenging moments with aplomb. After annexing the Aug. 1 $500,000 Beverly D. Stakes (G2T), the bay mare headed north to Canada where she took down an international field that included group winners See The Fire and Diamond Rain in the E.P. Taylor, further signaling to Motion she belongs in a gathering of the best turf fillies and mares from around the globe.
"She's quite classy, she's a good-sized, beautiful mare," said Motion, who added that Gimme a Nother is currently the only South African-bred still in training in his barn. "Some horses stand out from others in the way they behave and the way they train, and she is certainly one of those horses.
"It took us a little while to figure her out and it probably took her a little time to figure out the racing here," Motion continued. "Someone asked me the other day what, for me, was her most important race, and honestly, it was her coming back in the Eatontown. Even though it was only a grade 3, the way she did it after all that time off and seeing her run such an impressive race, that reassured me that she was the type of filly we thought she was. That really set us up for the rest of the year to get her to the Breeders' Cup."
Motion can speak with authority on any number of topics, including what it is like to upset the Filly and Mare Turf. Among his four career Breeders' Cup wins was his saddling of Shared Account to take down the $2 million test at odds of 40-1 in 2010.
Gimme a Nother should not face such a level of disregard from the betting public, but she will need to find a career-best run to upend the likes of expected favorite Blue Bolt, who has collected four straight group 1 triumphs. She already has traveled an extraordinary path to come this far, a journey that will go down as a historic one should she plant her homeland in the Breeders' Cup's victory annals.
"She's going to need to take another step forward to run against these kinds of horses, but I don't see why she couldn't," Motion said. "I kind of wish the race was 1 1/4 miles rather than shortening up to 1 3/16 miles, but I think she's handy enough that it will maybe be more to her advantage than some of the Europeans that might have been running longer races.
"I think for Steve and Jessica (Jell), the fact she came over here and won a grade 1, they feel like anything else is icing on the cake. It was so rewarding to them to have her come over here and prove she could compete with these horses."
