Scylla is sublime in the Breeders' Cup Distaff

Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott extended his record as the trainer with the most wins in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Distaff when Scylla, a Juddmonte homebred, ran away with the $2-million race on Saturday (1st November).

Taken from the Thoroughbred Daily News, 2nd November 2025, by Jill Williams:

"This one is all about Scylla and about Junior [Alvarado] and the Juddmonte connections. Today we were a great team. Scylla did it for us," commented Bill Mott.

Scylla may have been 15-1 on the Distaff morning line, but she ran like a heavy favorite, marking Mott's sixth victory in the Distaff following Royal Delta (2011-12), Unrivaled Belle (2010), Escena (1998), and Ajina (1997).

The complexion of the Distaff quickly changed right out of the gate as even-money favorite--and Gr.1 Clement L. Hirsch Stakes winner over this surface--Seismic Beauty stumbled mightily after stutter stepping at the break. A winner all four times she's made the early lead, Seismic Beauty was taken out of her game, but it might not have mattered in the end as Scylla had brought her game face. The bay snatched the front to speed through :22.27 and :45.75 early fractions as Gr.1 Spinster winner Gin Gin pressured her from the outside. Seismic Beauty rushed up to join the front pair while three wide, but Scylla was too much for them all and held sway as the other two soon yielded.

Scylla kept going, turning back a challenge from Gr.1 Alabama Stakes victress Nitrogen three furlongs from home, and kicked clear, extending her advantage down the lane. Ears alert and wearing the iconic Juddmonte silks, Scylla crossed the line five and a half lengths the best.

"Once we hit the half-mile pole, I was like, 'Oh boy, I mean, I feel loaded right now'," said winning rider Junior Alvarado, who is the regular rider of Sovereignty and was winning his fourth career Breeders' Cup race, all since 2022. "And then when I turned for home and she just like rebroke again...I mean, it was an outstanding race today for her."

Mott added: "I didn't know how it would go."

"She broke, she put him there, and Junior had the good sense not to drag her back. When you let them go the lead, there is a risk that you are going to go fast. And she did. And she kept going. I was a little worried she might come back to them. I kept watching and she turned for home and opened up two (lengths)."

Nitrogen finished second, while Gr.3 Delaware Handicap winner Regaled and Gr.1 Cotillion Stakes winner Clicquot were third and fourth, respectively.

Scylla got the 1 1/8 miles in 1:48.07. In addition to marking the sixth win for her trainer, she added to a long list of Breeders' Cup trophies for Juddmonte. She is the Juddmonte's eighth winner as breeder and 11th winner as owner. Among Juddmonte's previous winners was homebred Idiomatic, who is closely related to Scylla, and who won the Distaff in 2023.

Rarely off the board, Scylla was last seen third behind Gin Gin and Nitrogen in the Spinster and second sprinting behind Saturday's Gr.1 Filly and Mare Sprint third Hope Road in the Gr.1 Ballerina Stakes. Fourth last year in the Filly and Mare Sprint, Scylla's previous visits to the winner's circle include the Gr.2 Fleur de Lis Stakes and the Gr.3 Shawnee Stakes, both in 2024. Her seven previous graded placings include four Grade 1 efforts. The Distaff was scheduled to be Scylla's swan song. She will join the Juddmonte broodmare band