Claiming Crown races to give blue-collar horses a day in the sun

Claiming Crown races will be held at Churchill Downs this weekend. The turf course has been mostly idle since springtime. There are races for 2-year-olds all around North America. Del Mar is back in action and Woodbine has graded stakes. There's the Queen Elizabeth II Cup in Japan and the All-Weather Championships in England.

Claiming Crown races are to give blue-collar horses a day in the sun.

The Claiming Crown series is a Breeders' Cup for horses that have run this calendar year or last in a claiming race. The series started in 1999 at Canterbury Park and has been staged at Philadelphia Park, Ellis Park,. Fair Grounds and Gulfstream Park. This is its first visit to Louisville. Two of Saturday's Claimings Crown events are on the turf. River City Stakes at 1 1/8 miles has a field of 12 plus also-eligibles.

The 2-year-olds are racing on Saturday. The Jean Lafitte Stakes at Delta Downs, Saturday's $50,000 Golden Nugget at Golden Gate Fields and Saturday’s $100,00 James F. Lewis Stake at Laurel Park are open affairs. Friday's Don C. McNeill Staking at Remington Park is for Oklahoma-bred juveniles. State- bred juvenile fillies go in Friday's Slide Show atremington. Park and on Friday and in Saturday, $75, 000 Showtime Deb at Hawthorne Race Course.

Woodbine's Saturday's $175,000 (Canadian) Grade II Bessarabian Stakes at 7 1/2 furlongs on the all-weather track drew nine fillies and mares. The $150,00 ( Canadian) Maple Leaf Stake at 1 1 /4 miles on all weather has a well-matched field of 11.

Crown races are being held to give blue-collar horses a day in the sun.

The Queen Elizabeth II Stakes takes place at Hanshin Racecourse on Sunday. Magical Lagoon, a Galileo filly, is set to take her place in a field that also includes the second- and third-place finishers from this year's Grade 1 Shuka Sho or Japanese Oaks.

Saturday's Fast-Track Qualifiers at Lingfield Park attract high-quality horses. The Listed BetUK Churchill Stakes has 15 entries pending declarations. There are also two Irish entrants: Logo Hunter and Harry's Bar.

Keeneland's time for the Breeders' Cup Classic was wrong. The back-up time was 1:09.27. Tickets are on sale for Dubai World Cup. Lane's End's 2023 stud fee is $200,000, Dubawi's is 350,00. The fastest Classic on record was the 1.59.02 turned in by Ghostzapper in 2004.