BC Mile (Grade 1)- $2,000.00 Purse
KEE- For Three Year Olds and Upward
One Mile on the Turf
October 31, 2026

On June 2nd, a horse named Magnum Opus ran in a free track claimer, a similar theme for most of his racing career to that point. On that day, he’d be claimed by Mojica Racing, an active trainer since 2007 and had a steady career, averaging about $2.5K in earnings per year. Steady, but probably not your first choice if you were going to run off names of trainers that would pull off what was about to happen. Somehow, something just clicked in his new barn with Magnum Opus as the gelding quickly showed what he was fully capable of. Three months later, he was winning the $2,000.00 Grade 3 Mint Million at KD. This trend would lead to here to KEE on Halloween, as this unlikely horse now had the opportunity to be a BC Champion, and to deliver the first ever BC title to Mojica Racing. Astoundingly, that is what would happen here as Magnum Opus came from towards the back to grab the win in the BC Mile. A special shout out of congratulations will go out from me to Mojica Racing, as he celebrates this monumental accomplishment. Leading Magnum Opus in the saddle was J L Ortiz for his first BC Mile win. Congrats to him as well. The winning time was 1:32.24, the second quickest edition of the race held here at KEE. Let’s take a look at it!

(1/4 Mile- :22.69)- Sioux Arrival is the quickest out of the gate, and the High Voltage- trained horse will clear the field by a length as they work around the opening turn. Stalking the pace are Rearranger and Extravagant, respectively trained by Our Athletes and Bigchief Stables, and behind them, we have a group of three that sees two Mb Stables runners, Ello Santa and Seven Is Lucky, running with the Lemax Farms- trained Brit Style. Next in line, and running evenly with one another are Kidding, another High Voltage runner, and Legit, another Bigchief Stables runner. Further back, and running in the ninth position is where we find our eventual race winner from Mojica Racing, Magnum Opus. He’s five lengths from the leader, and running in the third lane at this point. Prince Mbilini, from Winning Link Stables, hopes that his day will end as close to Magnum Opus as he is here after a quarter mile. Ultimate Champion (Night Rider Stables) and American Nightmare (D J C Racing Stables) are next, with Highway Robber (Mb Stables) and Anna Anna Anna (Maxmillion Farm) trailing the field.

(½ Mile- :45.78)- Sioux Arrival will extend his lead as they make the run down the backstretch, and now leads the field by two lengths. Rearrranger and Extravagant still hold the second and third spots, and are unconcerned with what the frontrunner is doing. Right behind them, Brit Style will continue to run to the outside of Ello Santa and Seven Is Lucky. Legit is now by himself in sixth, and may be looking to make a four wide move once they get to the turn. Kidding drops back a bit and loses a spot to Magnus Opus. That one is still content to hold his spot in line, and Prince Mbilini still runs evenly with him. Anna Anna Anna is looking for a gap in those in front of her to try and come through while Ultimate Champion pulls up right behind Prince Mbilini. Highway Robber will look to do the same, but closer to the rail. American Nightmare seems to want to wait a little longer to try something.

(Top of Stretch, 1.8F To Go)- Entering the turn, Sioux Arrival still looked good, but by the time they reached the top of the stretch, he was looking very vulnerable. The rest of the field would all begin to close in, leading the question to become who was going to have the best stretch run coming up. Extravagant was in the best position to be the first one to take over the lead as he held his spot on the rail, and Brit Style was also looking sharp, holding his outside lane to work around Rearranger. Legit would indeed take the outside lane and advanced to the fifth position. Meanwhile, Magnum Opus methodically advanced his position, moving his way past the two horses owned by the trainer that once owned him as well. As for Ello Santa and Seven Is Lucky, they were each surprisingly lacking a push at this stage of this race. Behind them, both Anna Anna Anna and Highway Robber tried to work their way through traffic, but that running style looked to be a tough way to go for a win with the way this race had developed. Kidding slipped back a little more, and Prince Mbilini forgot his plan of continuing to race evenly with Magnum Opus. Ultimate Champion and Highway Robber were coming up on flat on this day, something was that particularly surprising for the former.

(Finish- 1:32.24)- We move into the stretch, and as begin to track the run of Magnum Opus and how the race is won, we see a nice hole open up right in front of him early in the stretch to come on through without the need to alter his path. Perhaps A Fresu, aboard Brit Style, saw Legit as the bigger threat and wanted to move into that lane a bit, but the more legitimate challenge would come from Magnum Opus, as J L Ortiz certainly knew what to do with this opportunity when it developed. With a furlong to go, it was still Sioux Arrival leading, but clearly that was not going to last as both Brit Style and Extravagant were now within a quarter length. While that was good news for those two, Magnum Opus used this time to gain more ground, and was also only about a length back. Legit tried to stay with the lead group, but didn’t seem to have a winning push coming. Seven Is Lucky’s story was similar, and Rearranger was slowly beginning to tire. Highway Robber was making a nice charge from behind, but now the traffic was going to get difficult and probably unworkable to deal with to get to the lead. On the far outside, Anna Anna Anna was coming on well, but the being so far out may do her in from cashing a check. The story, however, is out in front, as while Extravagant and Brit Style first got around Sioux Arrival, the biggest charge would be from Magnum Opus, as he would take over the lead with half a furlong to go. At that point, Mojica Racing could begin to realize what was about to happen, that they were about to become a BC winning trainer, giving hope to all of us that have been around for a long time that still have not been able to do this, that we may be able to still do so. Magnum Opus would win by half a length, with Brit Style holding on for second in a photo with Highway Robber. For Highway Robber, he had to essentially follow Magnum Opus through traffic too long approaching the wire, and while that worked to accomplish getting by mostly everyone else, he never really concerned the winner. Extravagant and Legit will finish fourth in a dead heat, with Anna Anna Anna coming up for sixth. Seven was unlucky for Seven is Lucky in his seventh place finish. The second half of the field will read Kidding, Sioux Arrival, Rearranger, Ello Santa, American Nightmare, Prince Mbilini, and Ultimate Champion.

About The Winner- Magnum Opus, trained by Mojica Racing and ridden by J L Ortiz, is a five year old gelding by the late Opus The Great and is out of First Class Lass. He was bred in West Virginia as a third quarter two year old by Boulevard and was acquired by Mojica Racing via Spinetingling in June of this year for a $5.00 claim at PEN. Congratulations to the connections! The win is his seventh in 16 starts, and his second stake win, each of which area graded. His career earnings are now $2,702.14.

— NS

Categories: BC 2026, Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES, THE BREEDERS CUP