Already a scintillating group 1 winner in Europe, the American-trained Bacio showed Oct. 31 that he may just simply be one of the fastest horses in the world as he returned home to Keeneland and dominated the $1 million Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1T).
The 3-year-old son of Maclean's Music has lost just once—his second career start—in seven lifetime starts, and has shown the ability to carry that speed overseas. In June, he added to trainer Wesley Ward's successes at Royal Ascot with a win in the Palace of Holyroodhouse Handicap, and then returned to England and won York Racecourse's Nunthorpe Stakes (G1).
The only thing he had left to do was prove he could win at that level against the American-trained turf sprinters, who have won all but two editions since the Turf Sprint's inception in 2008. He checked that box with flying colors.
With intense speed and being "agile like a cat," as Ward said, Bacio was pushed early by Miss Yechance. Under Juan Hernandez, he fired off fractions of :21.23 and :43.86 and never looked back, sailing to a final time of 1:02.11 while winning the 5 1/2-furlong contest by 2 lengths. Paying $6.36 to win, he was followed by 2025 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G1T) winner Cy Fair in second, and 2024 Turf Sprint winner Starlust in third.
"I knew there were some speed horses from inside and outside ... I was planning to play the break," said Hernandez, who broke through for his first Breeders' Cup victory after six runner-up finishes in past years. "But the second jump my horse was in front already, and after that he was trying to go a little faster than that, but I was saving the horse for the last part."
The winner's circle was full and joyous, as would be expected for a horse co-owned by MyRacehorse, the microshare group that just crowned thousands of racing fans as Breeders' Cup winners. The colt is co-owned by Torie Gladwell, Deja Blu Stable, Jacob Shockley, Josh Messenger, Valerie Dailey, and Joshua Hanna. Gladwell, Cincinnati Equine, Borrowdale, Knollwood Farm, et al., bred the colt in Kentucky.
The partnership with MyRacehorse came together after the breeders received a private offer for the colt last year, but did not want him to leave Ward. Ward's daughter-in-law, Caitlin Dunne-Ward, works for MyRacehorse and was able to pull together a deal to match the private offer.
"Wesley told me this horse was just fantastic and he was going to keep getting him better and better with time," Caitlin Ward said.
"(MyRacehorse) was in the market for a horse of racing age. We needed some instant action. He fit the bill.
"A huge shoutout to the Gladwells because without them at least giving us the opportunity to put a deal together and them stay in, we might not be in the winner's circle today."
The victory was Ward's second in the Turf Sprint, and seventh overall in the Breeders' Cup.
Bacio is the first Breeders' Cup winner for Hill 'n' Dale Farms stallion Maclean's Music and is out of the stakes-winning Kantharos mare Katie's Kiss.
Seemingly still reaching his peak, Ward has high aspirations with Bacio, referencing he would want to take a shot in The Everest (G1) in Australia, the world's richest turf race.
"He's very, very fast, and he's won the Breeders' Cup and he's won the Nunthorpe in York that my others haven't," Ward said. "Hopefully, we can conquer something that I never have in one of the biggest sprint races in Australia, so we'll see what happens."
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