Lake Forest Aimed at Breeders' Cup Mile Double Bid
Haggas's Eleven Wins Down Under
Lake Forest will head overseas this autumn for two starts, headed by the Breeders' Cup Mile at Keeneland, racing manager Sean Graham confirmed on Sunday, September 20, 2026. Graham represents co-owner Tony Bloom in the ownership group that also includes Ian McAleavy. The gelding, trained by William Haggas, was runner-up in the Gr.1 City of York Stakes at York on August 22, 2026, beaten by Notable Speech.
The US$1,250,000 Gr.1 Coolmore Turf Mile at Keeneland on October 3, 2026 is the first target, where Lake Forest will meet Notable Speech again before the two are due to reconvene in the Breeders' Cup Mile at the same track at the end of October. Notable Speech, trained by Charlie Appleby, is bidding to defend the Breeders' Cup Mile crown he won in 2025 at Del Mar.
"The plan is to go to America and William is very happy with him," Graham said. "He might have a race in America before the Breeders' Cup, but the Breeders' Cup Mile is the main objective." Graham described Lake Forest as a seasoned traveller, noting his previous trips to Australia, before adding that a horse's reaction to a new country is never fully known in advance.
A Well Travelled Campaigner Already
"The horse has been all the way to Australia twice and back and touch wood is a good traveller," Graham said. "If you're travelling a horse for the first time you never know how they will take it but he's a proven round the world traveller and that's a big box ticked." Those words carry weight given how far Lake Forest has already ranged in search of Group One prizes, and Graham's confidence reflects a horse that has repeatedly handled long-haul travel without any apparent setback to his form or wellbeing.
Lake Forest's most celebrated result came in Sydney, where he won the A$10 million (US$6.6 million) Golden Eagle at Rosehill on November 2, 2024, beating French raider Lazzat by half a length. The victory came in just his second start at three, following a runner-up finish in the Gr.1 Commonwealth Cup, and stood after he survived a stewards' inquiry into interference during the race.
That Rosehill success extended a productive period for Haggas, whose horses have travelled successfully to Australia before — Addeybb won three Group One races there across 2020 and 2021, and Dubai Honour later added the Ranvet Stakes and Queen Elizabeth Stakes. The Golden Eagle victory took the trainer to 11 wins from 23 starts by his horses in Australia, a record that underlines just how well his string tends to adapt when campaigned overseas.
Form Built Over Two Seasons
Lake Forest returned to winning form in Europe on July 28, 2026, taking the Gr.2 Lennox Stakes at Goodwood, where he beat Witness Stand and Royal Hunt Cup winner Rogue Diplomat. It was a race he had finished second in the previous year, and the win came after a change in his physical make-up that connections credit with transforming his racing temperament.
Maureen Haggas, the trainer's wife and a spokesperson for the stable, said after that Goodwood win that gelding had reshaped the horse entirely. "He is a totally different horse since being gelded and it is extraordinary what a difference that can make," she said.
Lake Forest was bred by Sahara Group Holdings and sold for 130,000gns (US$136,600) as a yearling at the 2022 Tattersalls October Sale. He is a son of the Coolmore stallion No Nay Never out of the El Prado mare Lady Aquitaine.
Charlie Appleby has also flagged growing confidence in Notable Speech ahead of the Breeders' Cup Mile rematch. "Coming here today, we felt that the last couple of weeks he has really come into his own," Appleby said after the City of York win, a result that took the Dubawi colt to six career Group or Grade One victories.
The Coolmore Turf Mile and Breeders' Cup Mile will represent Lake Forest's first starts on American soil, adding a fourth continent to a resume that already spans Europe and Australia. His trainer's history of success when sending horses abroad, combined with the gelding's own proven willingness to travel, underpins the ambition behind the switch in targets, with the gelding already having conquered top-level races in both Europe and Australia before this latest test. Together, the Coolmore Turf Mile and Breeders' Cup Mile now stand as the next chapter in a globe-trotting career that has already carried Lake Forest across three continents in pursuit of the sport's biggest prizes.