In the last couple of years, the most obvious horse that comes to mind is Domestic Spending. He came into the Mile last year off a 448 day layoff. I know he was pulled up after breaking his pelvis (I saw that he was released from the hospital last year in December, but do not know what happened to him since). So obviously, that did not go as planned. In 2021, Kimari came into the Turf Sprint off a 217 day layoff and ran in the middle of the pack at 8/1. Note that the Turf Sprint has a number of winners off layoffs of 147 days or more – Mizdirection (twice – 160 and 147), Stormy Liberal (147), and Belvoir Bay (148), so lengthy layoffs are not a concern with that race apparently. Also, Blue Stripe had 189 days off prior to running 7th in the 2021 Distaff. So those type of layoffs are rare, but not unheard of.

Longest Layoff Winners in Breeders’ Cup Saturday Races
Invasor - Classic - 92 days
Magician - Turf - 142 days
Marche Lorraine - Distaff - 86 days
Last Tycoon – Mile – 72 days
Precisionist – Sprint – 132 days
Sistercharlie – F+M Turf – 84 days
City of Light and Cody’s Wish – Dirt Mile – 70 days
Mizdirection – Turf Sprint – 160 days (also won off 147 days)
Judy the Beauty – F+M Sprint – 76 days