2024 might have been the Year of the Dragon, but in the land of U.S. Thoroughbred racing, it was the Year of the “Grizzly.”

Straight No Chaser raced prominently from the start and courageously reeled in Bentornato late in Saturday’s $1,840,000 Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1) at Del Mar.

Rebounds were the theme in Santa Anita’s graded stakes on Sunday, as Straight No Chaser wired the Santa Anita Sprint Championship (G2), and Sugar Fish won the Zenyatta (G2).

Che Evasora, winner of a Breeders’ Cup Challenge event in her native Argentina, will make her stateside debut in Sunday’s Zenyatta (G2) at Santa Anita.

The Chosen Vron defied trouble to prevail in last year’s Bing Crosby (G1) at Del Mar, but in Saturday’s title defense, the California-bred win machine found clear sailing throughout.

Last seen finishing fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1), the ultra-talented but lightly raced Arabian Knight returns to action in Saturday’s San Diego H. (G2) at Del Mar.