LEXINGTON, KY – “This is not our first rodeo,” Charlie Appleby said simply upon his return to the Breeders' Cup arena on Wednesday, disappointingly not bedecked with a cowboy hat, but still very much the sharpest shooter in town when it comes to taking out the biggest prizes that this meeting has to offer.Twelve winners from 32 runners is how the Godolphin trainer's remarkable Breeders' Cup record stacks up heading into the weekend, a tally accumulated with ruthless efficiency, with Appleby having started as he meant to go on when sending out his very first runner at the meeting, Outstrip, to win the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf in 2013.“That's what we try to do,” he said of his uncanny ability to target this meeting only with horses holding a legitimate chance, as highlighted by a scarcely believable 38% strike-rate. “It doesn't always come off, as we know, but it's not our first rodeo and I feel that we know now how best to campaign them to get them here.”That calculated approach has led to another 11 Breeders' Cup trophies making their way back to Moulton Paddocks since Outstrip got the ball rolling, with Rebel's Romance, a dual winner of the GI Breeders' Cup Turf in 2022 and 2024, and Modern Games, who won the Juvenile Turf in 2022 and then the GI Breeders' Cup Mile the following year, deserving special mentions with two victories apiece.It could even have been three for Rebel's Romance, Appleby feels, had the ball bounced differently when he chased home Ethical Diamond at Del Mar 12 months ago. The now-retired son of Dubawi is a much-missed presence at the Keeneland stable yard this week, while Appleby is also having to brace himself for another emotional goodbye on Saturday when defending champion Notable Speech (Dubawi) signs off with his 20th career start in the $2-million Mile.“It's the end of an era,” Appleby summed up after watching Notable Speech and Turf contender El Cordobes (Frankel) do a couple of laps of the Keeneland turf track in the late-morning sunshine.“Rebel's Romance was a nine-time Group 1 winner. The record is 10 for Godolphin and I would have loved to have done it with him. If you could rerun the race [last year's Turf], I think we'd ease off the pace a little bit. We softened them all up for the winner that day. But you always came here full of confidence with Rebel's – and with Notable Speech, in fairness.“They've been two great warriors, typical of their father, really. They don't know how to lie down and they take the pressure off you in that they've been there and done it already. You've just got to hope that you can turn up fit and well on the day and that you get some luck in the run.”'He knows this gig better than I do'Luck has sometimes been in short supply for Notable Speech, despite the five-year-old boasting an illustrious CV featuring seven top-level wins. Last year, for example, he was beaten just a head when flashing home in the G1 Prix Jacques le Marois at Deauville, while, in April, he finished virtually on the bridle here at Keeneland when getting no run in the GI Maker's Mark Mile Stakes.But for that misfortune, he too could have been challenging for the title of Godolphin's most prolific Group/Grade 1 winner when he tries to continue the stable's recent domination of the Mile on Saturday. Appleby has won four of the last five renewals, with the only misstep coming courtesy of Notable Speech himself in 2024, when beaten just a length into third at Del Mar.“We've gone down in a couple of close ones with him,” Appleby continued. “His run style will always make it a little bit tricky for him, but we'll be giving it our best shot to try and get the eighth one on the board for him before he retires.“He's one of those characters now. I loved seeing him out there today, standing up there before he jumped off on the turf and taking it all in as he does. He knows this gig better than I do. He just goes out there and does it for you.“Colm [O'Donoghue, work rider] obviously knows him very well. He went round the outside of the turf track there and it was all very simple stuff. That was all I felt we needed. I've always been a big believer that, if you're coming here and trying to get an extra gallop or two in, it's a bit too late, really.”Notable Speech arrived at Keeneland arguably in the best form of his career, having added three further top-level victories to his tally in 2026, notably dropping back to seven furlongs to win the City Of York Stakes at York's Ebor Festival, before travelling to Canada where he repeated his 2025 win in the Woodbine Mile, by over a length from the reopposing Deterministic (Liam's Map).“I would mark up that run in Canada, in fairness,” Appleby said of that performance. “With an ideal run, we would have been closer to the pace. I give full credit to the second horse there. He went in there in good order and he set the fractions he wanted to set on the front. We had to ask Notable Speech for that extra kick and, as always, he didn't let us down. William [Buick, jockey] jumped off and said, 'I would have loved to have been closer and I would have done it a lot easier.'“He's getting older and both horse and rider know each other so well now. At York, we were conscious that we needed to be a little bit closer to the pace, dropping back to that trip and on that ground. He is a bit more versatile, but he still needed that bit of cover to take him to the two and to the one. In that last furlong, you're just hoping that he can let himself down and show that turn of foot that he's got.“We've got a nice draw there [in stall nine] for options, with plenty of pace down on the inside. William will hopefully be able to find his spot and slingshot off the turn there. We all know what his trademark is – it's that finishing kick.”He added of El Cordobes, who is a general 25-1 chance to go two places better than when third in last year's Turf, “He's definitely come forward a good bit for his run at Belmont [when third in the GI Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Stakes]. I didn't think we were 100% going into it, but I thought we were a bit further forward than we were.“He's a good-moving horse and, from what I saw this morning, he loved it around there. He was having a buck and a kick and has landed in great shape. He's still got a bit to find to go and win on Saturday, but he's got a nice draw [in stall five], he's got the experience and that short run in should suit him. I think he ticks a few boxes to go and hopefully run a big race.”Magnificent seven for Blue Bolt?Andrew Balding and Francis-Henri Graffard were among the other leading European trainers to have touched down in Lexington in time to supervise Wednesday's trackwork, with GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf favourite Blue Bolt (Blue Point) spearheading a three-strong team for Balding as he seeks a first success at the meeting.As well as lighting up the European Flat season with six consecutive wins, including four Group 1s, Blue Bolt has been one of the driving forces behind Balding's continued challenge for a first British trainers' championship, with the Kingsclere handler currently trailing Aidan O'Brien by over £160,000 in prize-money.Whatever comes of that pursuit on home soil, 2026 has been by some way the most productive season of Balding's training career to date, with no more fitting ending than if Blue Bolt were to cap an unblemished campaign with her seventh win on Saturday.“She's danced every dance and has performed as if she's getting better,” Balding said of his Falmouth Stakes, Prix Rothschild, Matron Stakes and Sun Chariot Stakes heroine. “We've never had a Breeders' Cup winner, so it would certainly be nice. We've not had that many runners, but it would be brilliant to get one.”Of the decision to step Blue Bolt up to nine and a half furlongs for the Filly & Mare Turf, rather than tackle the likes of Notable Speech in the Mile, he added, “It wasn't a straightforward decision but, when the weather forecast looked set fair, we thought trying a bit extra against fillies was probably preferable to going a mile against the boys.“She's had a long season, like a lot of these horses, and that's always the concern. I'd be more concerned about the length she's been on the go, rather than the distance, but she looks great and her last piece of work before she came here was excellent. The signs are good, but it's always a difficult read at this time of year.”Bring on Sun GoddessGraffard, meanwhile, was joined by daughter Victoria as he watched his three Breeders' Cup hopefuls take to the main track shortly after 8am, with another high-class Juddmonte filly, Amusingly (No Nay Never), appealing as potentially his best chance of doubling his tally at the meeting after Gezora got him off the mark in last year's Filly & Mare Turf.Whilst Graffard clearly has the utmost respect for Sun Goddess, the so-called European banker in Friday's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, he is also unflinching in his belief that Amusingly is a serious filly in her own right. It's not hard to see why, either, given how impressive the daughter of No Nay Never was when winning the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere at ParisLongchamp last time.“The way she won at Longchamp, she proved she is a very good filly,” said Graffard. “The way she won – and she beat the colts in the Lagardere – was so impressive. I was relieved that I made the right decision for the filly to run her over seven furlongs. She has a lot of speed, she looks a beautiful filly and she is bred to be a champion.“It is just nice for the sport that my filly is taking on such a wonderful filly like Sun Goddess. She has been so impressive. I remember watching her race at York in the sales race and she was amazing. For the sport and the challenge, the Juddmonte team were really keen to try. It's very hard to win these races, but I have a very good filly and whatever she does on Friday will be beneficial for next year.”The post “End of an Era” at Godolphin as Notable Speech Nears Breeders’ Cup Swansong appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.