Breeders’ Cup Breakthrough: Blacker Hoping to Repeat History

Wandering Eyes · October 17

Dan Blacker was a long way from Santa Anita when he watched the 2003 Breeders' Cup, but the day would have a profound effect on the trajectory of his career. That year Richard Mandella captured four of the eight championship races, capped off by Pleasantly Perfect's Classic victory at 14-1 odds.

“Still to this day, I think it's probably the greatest Breeders' Cup achievement of all time,” Blacker said.

It was a feat that would go down in racing's history books, but for Blacker, it sparked a question: what would it be like to taste a victory that sweet?

Flash forward to 2007 and Blacker was in California, learning from the very man who had inspired him to leave his native England and pursue a career as a trainer in America. Two years with Mandella left a lasting mark.

“I came to California thinking I'd been around horses my whole life,” recalled Blacker, who had competed in showjumping as a child and rode out for local trainers in college. “I started working for a guy like him and I realized I had so much more to learn. He pays so much attention to detail and I think that's the thing that was imprinted on me most. It's something that I believe is a big part of my routine now as a trainer–focusing on attention to detail with each individual.”

Mandella taught Blacker not just how to watch a horse, but how to listen to him. He learned to recognize when a horse needed time and when he was ready for the next step. Last year, when a horse in Blacker's barn showed the talent to compete at the top level, those lessons made all the difference.

Straight No Chaser (Speightster) had the ability, but it was Blacker's careful attention that guided him to the Breeders' Cup finish line.

“A lot of times you do the right thing for the horse and it doesn't work out, but I will always stick by that M.O.,” Blacker said. “When a good horse does come about, you allow him to reach his peak performance. With Straight No Chaser, I always gave him the time when he asked for it and thankfully we were rewarded in the end.”

For Blacker, the breakthrough victory in last year's Breeders' Cup Sprint carried a sense of vindication. Thirteen years of hard-earned lessons and quiet perseverance converged into one defining triumph.

“It has been a grind and I won't sugarcoat it, it's been hard,” he admitted. “To start out with four very modest claiming horses and to work at it, put all the time in and end up winning a Breeders' Cup, it was a long road. Anyone that has trained horses will tell you that it's 90% tough times. Year after year I just built up the numbers, built up the quality of the barn and just kept pushing to get better horses.”

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Straight No Chaser surges to win the 2024 Breeders' Cup Sprint | Breeders' Cup Eclipse Sportswire

Facing challenges head-on has defined Blacker's career from the beginning. After graduating from the Godolphin Flying Start program and spending five years learning under Mandella and Tom Albertrani, he seemed to have the golden ticket to launch his own stable when his good friend Jamie Lloyd was ready to step away from training and return to England to focus on bloodstock. Lloyd told Blacker he could convince his owners to send horses his way.

What was supposed to be a dozen or more quickly dwindled to just four trainees, but Blacker was undeterred. He asked the racing secretary at Hollywood Park for four stalls, recruited a couple of grooms to come work for him, and borrowed some old equipment from Gary Stevens.

“Gary had just finished training and he told me he had some saddles and bridles in this container,” said Blacker. “So I go to a public storage container, pull out all I could carry and throw it into the back of my car. Literally the next day I tacked up my horse and got on and away we went. That was my first day training.”

Over the next decade, Blacker built his stable from the ground up, making the most of every opportunity as he developed his reputation in California. In 2021, Hit The Road (More Than Ready) earned Blacker his first Grade I victory in the Frank E. Kilroe Mile Stakes.

Blacker never would have guessed that his next Grade I win would come at the Breeders' Cup with a horse who had raced only twice all season. But with Straight No Chaser, there was never any question about his ability—only a test of Blacker's patience.

“Right from the word go he showed an immense amount of talent in his works,” Blacker recalled. “What separates him from other horses is his desire. He's so professional and he wants to be competitive. He tries just that little bit harder than everyone else.”

A graded stakes winner at four, Straight No Chaser came into his 5-year-old season last year in top form. After a decisive victory in the GII Santa Anita Sprint Championship Stakes, the MyRacehorse-owned horse gave Blacker a quiet sense of confidence heading into the Breeders' Cup.

“I thought I was going to be a lot more nervous than I was,” he admitted. “It was surreal almost. I never talk about our chances of what I truly feel about a race. If people ask me I say something very bland because I never really know what's going to happen, but that week he just gave me so much confidence.”

As Straight No Chaser hit the wire, Blacker was enveloped by a wave of MyRacehorse owners, their cheers erupting around him as he made his way to the winner's circle.

“It was an emotional time,” he said. “I was just so happy to have my family there–my wife and children and some friends–just to share that moment with them because it's why I do this. It's not only because I love horses, but I love sharing those experiences. That's what makes this game so special.”

After earning champion sprinter honors in 2024, Straight No Chaser carried his form overseas to kick off his 6-year-old season, posting a dominant victory in the 2025 G2 Riyadh Dirt Sprint. Soon after, it was announced that the champion would stand at WinStar Farm upon retirement.

It's been a year of highs and lows for Straight No Chaser and Blacker. After that impressive victory in Saudi Arabia, their Dubai venture didn't unfold as hoped. A five-month layoff followed, and in his return in the GII Santa Anita Sprint Championship, Straight No Chaser set early fractions of 22.02 and 44.71, but was caught by Imagination (Into Mischief) in the final sixteenth.

Though the result was disappointing, Blacker hasn't lost sight of the bigger picture. The Breeders' Cup remains the target. Blacker noted that Straight No Chaser missed some training ahead of the race due to a skin infection, leaving him perhaps not quite as sharp as he'd been before the same race a year ago.

“I think the fact that we were drawn inside and he had to take pressure the whole way, that missed training caught up to us and I think if we had drawn outside it could have been a little different,” he explained. “With the race under our belt now, he's going to be super tight going into the Breeders' Cup and I think, going off what I've seen in the last couple weeks, he should be ready to fire his best race again.”

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Dan Blacker and Straight No Chaser preparing for this year's Breeders' Cup Sprint | Katie Petrunyak

In his first work since that race, Straight No Chaser fired a bullet :47.20 at Santa Anita on Oct. 12.

Among Straight No Chaser's expected challengers in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Sprint are Imagination, Bentornato (Valiant Minister), who finished second to him in last year's race, and the recent GII Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix Stakes winner Nakatomi (Firing Line).

Adding further intrigue, Richard Mandella is considering sending Kopion (Omaha Beach) to take on the boys. The 4-year-old filly has captured three graded stakes against her own sex over the past year.

It would hardly be the first time Blacker has gone toe to toe with Mandella, but the opportunity to do so on the world's stage would certainly add a compelling storyline.

“I wouldn't overlook any horse Mandella has in a race,” said Blacker. “He has them ready, but I think my horse on his day is the best sprinter in America and hopefully he gets to prove that again.”

This year's Breeders' Cup finds Blacker guided by both gratitude and ambition, honoring the horse that gave him an important career breakthrough while chasing one last defining moment together.

“This horse doesn't owe us anything,” Blacker said. “He has achieved so much and cemented his legacy. I just want to do it for the horse, really. I want him to prove it again and give all the partners that have been so patient another fun experience.”