Highland Reel (IRE)

Highland Reel has many headlines he can still make, but it will be hard to find one left that is worthy of his class after so many top performances. A true superstar and globetrotting wonder, he has speed and stamina to burn and is a merciless dominator when at his best. The defending champion in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf will try to go 3-for-3 in America when he defends his crown.

Last year, he ran the table and set the Santa Anita turf course on proverbial fire as a 4-year-old, defeating favorites Found and Flintshire in the process by an open margin. Most impressive was his tactics, in which jockey Seamie Heffernan made a bold move to open up on the field at the half-mile pole. The margin wowed the crowd and proved too wily for his rivals, as they were unable to ‘reel’ him in late.

This year, the 5-year-old gave his fans more of the same, with a pair of Group 1 victories in England from four starts overall, including one in June’s prestigious Prince of Wales Stakes at Royal Ascot over subsequent Irish Champion winner Decorated Knight and Juddmonte International victor Ulysses. Originally planned to enter the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in France, the firm ground-loving horse was withdrawn in the final entry stage because of the soft ground.

He has won six Grade or Group 1 races on three different continents, competed on four in seven different countries and held his own against such global luminaries as Winx, Enable, Golden Horn, Postponed, Almanzor, Minding and New Bay. His victories include some of the world’s top prizes: The Hong Kong Vase, King George and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and Coronation Cup and the Secretariat Stakes at Arlington, while his placings include such beacons of racing as the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, Juddmonte International, French Derby and Cox Plate.

Trained by Aidan O’Brien for the Coolmore conglomerate of Derrick Smith, Mrs. John Magnier and Michael Tabor, Highland Reel has won nine of 24 starts, $8,672,184 in purses and hit the board 16 times against the world’s absolute best.