New York Breeders' Cup preps with Maggie Wolfendale

The horses are nearing the paddock with a final week of prep until the top Thoroughbreds move into the starting gate for the 40th Breeders' Cup World Championships at Santa Anita Park. The southern California race track in Arcadia, just 16 miles from Los Angeles, hosts the Breeders' Cup for a record 11th time, and record wagering is expected…

The Breeders' Cup World Championships returns to Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California, for the 40th anniversary of thoroughbred racing's most prestigious two-day global event. The two-day racing festival at the Great Race Place had 205 horses, including 46 "Win and You're In" qualifiers, four former or returning Breeders' Cup Champions, and 59…

1 of 2 | Cody's Wish, shown winning the 2022 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, seeks a repeat in November at Santa Anita. Photo by Carolyn Simancik/Eclipse Sportswire, courtesy of Breeders' Cup Oct. 27 (UPI) -- The fields pre-entered this week for the 40th Breeders' Cup World Championships Nov. 3-4 at Santa Anita pretty much define the term "embarrassment…

The 2023 Breeders Cup is considered the conclusion of the annual horse racing event in American thoroughbred racing. As such, it has gathered the attention of many people worldwide. The 2023 Breeders Cup also showcases several racing events, notably the Classic, Turf, and the Juvenile. If you're one of the many people who look forward to this…

The next best thing to the Breeders' Cup is a weekend filled with Breeders' Cup preps. That was the story last week as 31 graded stakes races were contested, many of them races that would help shape the fields for the Breeders' Cup races. Who were the big winners? Who were the big losers? Here's our reports card: Up to the Mark: A+ It had been a…

The Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Stakes 2023 runners are headed by Godolphin's Rebel's Romance, who is coming over from the Charlie Appleby yard in the UK and wil be ridden by top English jockey William Buick. Will they be taking the $500000 purse back across the Atlantic, or will the Turf Classic stay on home soil? This Saturday's Joe Hirsch Turf…

Sept. 29 (UPI) -- A dozen Breeders' Cup "Win and You're In" entries are up for grabs in weekend races in France, England, New York and California with the highly anticipated Group 1 Prix de l' Arc de Triomphe in Paris high on the list. The Arc winner gets a bid to the Breeders' Cup Turf at Santa Anita on Nov. 4. Three big U.S. races will help shape…

The goal of handicapping a race, from a six-furlong claimer to the 10-furlong Kentucky Derby (G1), is to find the combinations that minimize risk and maximize success. To that end, bettors have a plethora of information at their fingertips, including discussions of what to look for in the conformation, or physical form, of the horses they are…

SUMMER STAKES SCHEDULE MIRRORS 2022 Del Mar's lucrative stakes schedule kicks off Friday with the traditional Opening Day feature, the $100000 Caesars Sportsbook Oceanside, a one mile test for 3-year-olds on the Jimmy Durante Turf Course. It's the start of a stakes line-up that keeps intact last year's record-breaking summer of stakes racing: 39…

Derma Sotogake (4) wins the Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun on Wednesday -- the second leg of the "Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby." Photo courtesy of Katsumi Saito Dec. 15 (UPI) -- Candidates for next year's Kentucky Derby take center stage again in a weekend horse racing schedule that also includes the first "Win and You're In" race for the 2023…

Now that the Breeders' Cup is over, hard-knocking claiming horses will have their day in the spotlight at Churchill Downs on Saturday. The claiming crown gives them the opportunity to compete in various divisions on both turf and dirt. Handicapper Sara Elbadwi discusses two long shots worth considering on the card in this week's Outrun the Odds…

Perhaps there is no racetrack in the world that better encapsulates the industry of Thoroughbred horse racing than the Keeneland Race Course. Set among the beautiful rolling hills of Kentucky's bluegrass, the Lexington, Kentucky track is the centerpiece of the capital of Thoroughbred horse racing worldwide. Home to numerous important races,…

Keeneland Barn Notes: Twilight Gleaming Headlines Field for Sunday's Franklin Stakes (Twilight Gleaming / Coady Photography) From the Keeneland Media Team: TWILIGHT GLEAMING (IRE) HEADS OVERFLOW FIELD FOR SUNDAY'S FRANKLIN Stonestreet Stables' Twilight Gleaming (IRE), winner of last fall's Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G2) at Del Mar,…

HORSE RACING - No complaints from trainer Bill Mott this time. After War Like Goddess won the Grade II Glens Falls at Saratoga Race Course on Whitney Day Aug. 6, he expressed disappointment that the next logical stop for his star turf mare, the Flower Bowl, had been downgraded from a I to a II. Then War Like Goddess ran in the Flower Bowl, anyway,…

These are the kinds of days that horseplayers live for: There are excellent stakes races from one end of this great continent to the other. There are so many, in fact, over three dozen by our count, that we cannot even begin to cover them all, so we've selected six of the most important, which are worth watching purely for entertainment, but which…

Coming off a successful episode where both horses that did run were first or second, this week's focus is on stakes races at both Keeneland and Belmont at the Big A. Handicapper Sara Elbadwi discusses price plays in the Breeders' Futurity and Turf Mile on Saturday at Keeneland, as well as in the Beldame on Sunday at Belmont at the Big A. A new…

Keeneland Barn Notes: 10 Fillies Invited to $600000 QEII Challenge Cup (Keeneland / Coady Photography) From the Keeneland Media Team: TEN FILLIES INVITED TO $600000 QUEEN ELIZABETH II CHALLENGE CUP PRESENTED BY DIXIANA Bobby Flay's Pizza Bianca, winner of last fall's Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1), and Klaravich Stables' McKulick (GB),…

With less than one month remaining until this year's Breeders' Cup, the final major prep races take place this weekend. Keeneland hosts the end-of-the-year championships, as well as many of the win-and-you're-in opportunities left. Handicappers Ed DeRosa and Sara Elbadwi go through the Grade 1 events, including Friday's Alcibiades. The Saturday…

Join our channel to stay up to date on the latest in marketing The Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Stakes this Saturday is another top Grade 1 contest taking place this weekend. It's a race the Chad C. Brown barn have won three times since 2015, while the Todd Pletcher and Bill Mott yards also have decent records in the 1m4f event. Interested in horse…

The Saturday card at Belmont at the Big A features the Grade 1 Woodward and the return of Life Is Good. Handicapper Sara Elbadwi is joined by New York Racing Association analyst and Fox Sports host Andy Serling to cover four graded stakes. With rain in the forecast for October 1, there is the potential that certain turf races are in jeopardy of…

With the Breeders' Cup just about one month away, the upcoming first Saturday in October features several key prep races. Handicapper Sara Elbadwi highlights three horses that have a big chance to outrun the odds, one of which will be running in the Ack Ack (G3), a "win and you're in" for the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile. The focus begins with race 6 at…

ARCADIA, Calif.-Santa Anita's 18-day Autumn meet which begins Friday will be highlighted by 26 stakes, 15 of them graded. Overnight purses remain the same as last year. Most all stakes purses are the same as in 2021, with the following exceptions: both the Golden State Juvenile and the Golden State Juvenile Fillies have had purses increased from…

On the final day of the 2022 Del Mar meet on Sunday, the Pick 6 must go. The sequence encompasses races 6 through 11, three of which are for 2-year-olds. Handicapper Sara Elbadwi goes through each of the races with expert racing analyst Michelle Yu. The first leg features maidens, and two of the debut runners rank highly on the Horse Racing…

Just one live day - the New Year's Eve card at Aqueduct Racetrack - remains in 2020 to complete a remarkable year of racing action on the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) circuit. The NYRA Press Office checked in with a selection of New York-based racing personalities to get their reflections on the memorable year. As a third-generation…

Unlike in years past, the biggest story of the 2019 Breeders' Cup Turf could be which horses don't run in the 12-furlong turf race Nov. 2 at Santa Anita Park. Enable and Waldgeist, the winners of Europe's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe over the last three years, will not be heading stateside. Leading Horse of the Year contender Bricks and Mortar may end…