The first instinct when looking at Saturday’s Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes at Del Mar is to see who’s not here for California’s richest sprint race ($400,000). There’s no Brickyard Ride. No Cezanne. No Dr. Schivel, the defending Bing Crosby champion, who finished second by an eyelash in the Breeders’ […]
Tag: Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series
NYRA Moves Belmont Fall Meet to Aqueduct as ‘Belmont at the Big A’
Belmont at the Big A sounds like a mash-up of two tracks, which – thanks to construction – this year’s Belmont Fall Meet became. The New York Racing Associations announced Thursday that this year’s Belmont Fall Meet will run at Aqueduct Racetrack. The reason for the switch is ongoing tunnel […]
The Haskell Buzz Follows Baffert’s Taiba, Brown’s Jack Christopher
The buzz horse in Saturday’s Grade 1 Haskell Stakes is definitely Jack Christopher. The buzz trainer – as he usually is in high-profile 3-year-old races – is Bob Baffert who brings in 7/5 morning line favorite Taiba. So when the starting buzzer goes off in the 1 1/8-mile Haskell, who’s […]
King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes Come With Plenty of Jewels
Consider Saturday’s Group 1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot a European preview to November’s Breeders’ Cup Turf at Keeneland. And consider it a meeting of some of the best turf runners in the world: European Division. Which is appropriate, given the winner of this 1 1/2-mile jaunt […]
It’s US vs. Australia in a Royal Ascot Rumble
They’re not wasting any time in giving the well-heeled racing fans at Royal Ascot the meet’s main attraction. On Tuesday’s first day of the 2022 Royal Ascot meet, those fans get Golden Pal vs. Nature Strip in the Group 1 King’s Stand Stakes. Only the top North American turf sprinter […]
Smooth Like Strait Looks Like the Right Fit in Shoemaker Mile
That Smooth Like Strait is the 4/5 morning line favorite for Monday’s Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile at Santa Anita Park is understandable on several levels. Thirteen of them, to be precise. That’s the string of graded stakes races the 5-year-old turf terror brings into the second of Santa Anita’s three […]
Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series Brings New Twist to US Races
The Breeders’ Cup announced its 2022 list of Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series races, known as the “Win and You’re In” events. The premise is simple: win one of these 82 races in 11 countries and you have a starting spot in one of the 14 Breeders’ Cup races. That brings […]
Café Pharoah Earns First 2022 Breeders’ Cup Classic Berth
Yes, February seems to be rather early to discuss qualifying for November’s Breeders’ Cup Classic, but Japan’s Café Pharoah became the first horse to qualify for the Breeders’ Cup’s marquee race when he won Sunday’s February Stakes at Tokyo Racecourse. Café Pharoah’s defense of his 2021 February Stakes title in […]
But Wait … There’s More Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series Races in the UK
The Breeders’ Cup added two final Challenge Series races on Tuesday, giving “Win and You’re In†berths to the winners of Saturday’s Champion Stakes and Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at England’s Ascot Racecourse. Those two races are part of British Champions Day, one of the richest days in British racing, […]
Breeders’ Cup Challenge Pick 6 Wager Returns With Some Familiar Names
The Breeders’ Cup Challenge Pick 6 wager returns Saturday, incorporating Keeneland’s opening weekend with Belmont Park to create an intriguing handicapping puzzle featuring familiar names. This is the second version of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Pick 6, which mandates bettors pick winners from each of six Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series […]
Awesome Again Pits ‘Youngster’ Medina Spirit Against His Elders
Medina Spirit is considered one of the “kids†in the Grade 1 Awesome Again Stakes, a change in status from what his consideration would have been, had he run in last week’s Pennsylvania Derby. From one of the fellow 3-year-olds in that race, to one of the kids in Saturday’s […]
Inaugural Breeders’ Cup Challenge Pick 6 Gives Bettors Their Challenge
The New York Racing Association is adding a Pick 6 with a twist this weekend, playing host to the inaugural two-day Breeders’ Cup Challenge Pick 6 that features six races from the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series. All six races coming to bettors from Belmont Park and Santa Anita Park are […]
Kentucky Downs Wrap: Bettors, Rosario Make it a Record-Setting Meet
Whether it was riding or betting, records fell in bunches during Kentucky Downs’ recently completed six-day meet. The boutique, all-turf track located on the Kentucky-Tennessee border destroyed its previous handle record, both for a single day and for the overall meet. Kentucky Downs came in with a six-day, all-sources handle […]
Santa Anita’s Popular Hillside Turf Course Returns for Opening Weekend
Even with three Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In†Challenge Series events headlining Santa Anita Park’s Autumn Meet opener, the iconic track’s famous hillside turf course could seize the day’s attention. That unique and popular course returns to the forefront for the Friday, Oct. 1 opening day. It provides the […]
FanDuel to Become Title Sponsor of Kentucky Downs Meet
Kentucky Downs and FanDuel announced a three-year partnership this week that will put the betting platform’s name on the track’s boutique late-summer meet. The six-day meet, which runs Sept. 5-6, 8-9, and 11-12, now goes by the name FanDuel Meet at Kentucky Downs. FanDuel is the parent company of the […]
Del Mar Breaks Previous Daily Handle Record With $36 Million Windfall
Fueled by an eight-figure Jackpot Pick 6 pool, Del Mar set a single-day handle record Saturday, drawing $36,005,613 in wagers. The windfall washed down on Del Mar’s 11-race Pacific Classic card. In doing so, it destroyed the previous record of $25,870,431 set on Pacific Classic day in 2018. Much of […]
Santa Anita Puts Plenty at Stake for its Autumn Meet Opening Weekend
Each year, the Santa Anita Park Autumn Meet packs in three of the deepest meet-opening racing days of any major American track. This year’s 16-day Autumn Meet continues the trend, stacking seven Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series events on the track’s opening weekend. “Our intention is to get the Autumn Meet […]
McPeek Sending Swiss Skydiver Against Colts Again in the Whitney
One of the ways Kenny McPeek made his bones as a trainer was to never doubt himself or his charges. This explains one reason why he plans on running star filly Swiss Skydiver in the Grade 1 Whitney Stakes at Saratoga. “Someone brought up the word ‘can’t’ to me the […]
Four Grade 1s, 20 Graded Stakes Headline Belmont Park’s Fall Meet Slate
Bettors will have a veritable smorgasbord of options to choose from when Belmont Park’s Fall Meet takes to the track in September. In a schedule released by the New York Racing Association on Tuesday, organizers are featuring four, Grade 1 races and five Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In†Challenge […]
Breeders’ Cup Crowns Royal Ascot With Four Challenge Series Races
For the fourth consecutive year, Royal Ascot’s 2021 meet not only features the usual pomp and pageantry, but four tickets to the 2021 Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar. The prestigious meet, which begins Tuesday and runs through Saturday, will play host to the season’s first four Breeders’ Cup “Win and […]