Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint

"It's been a long time since a country boy from Conway, Arkansas, has been invited to a race in a place like Saudi Arabia." So says Alex Lieblong, who in partnership with his wife JoAnn bred and race Reef Runner, a homebred son of the couple's Grade I King's Bishop Stakes winner The Big Beast, who flies a bit beneath the radar, but looms a real chance in Saturday's $2-million G2 1351 Turf Sprint at King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Riyadh. The Lieblongs, who have campaigned the likes of Grade I...

If bloodstock agent Mike Pender feels the urge to pinch himself from time to time, it would be hard to hold that against him. Having trained the likes of Grade I winners Jeranimo and Ultimate Eagle for his late client B. J. Wright in a career that lasted 15 years, Pender is now very much focused on the bloodstock side of the game, and his two current success stories--the three-time graded-stakes winning turf sprinter Queen Maxima (Bucchero) and Grade I-winning 'TDN Rising Star' presented by Hagyard Intrepido (Maximus Mischief)--are doing...

It was a huge Breeders' Cup Day for 35-year-old Venezuelan-born trainer Jose D'Angelo, who not only won two races, but won two in a row. The greatest 35 minutes of his training career began with a win by 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' Shisospicy (Mitole) in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint and D'Angelo also won the next race, the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint, with Florida-bred Bentornato (Valiant Minister). To talk about his Breeders' Cup success story, his background, his plans for the future and more, D'Angelo joined the...

Khaadem (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) is nine, but clearly hasn't lost a step. The same can be said for his 54-year-old jockey Frankie Dettori. He, too, is still getting it done. But can the geriatric duo pull off a win in the GI Prevagen Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint? As well as Khaadem has been running this year, it's entirely possible. "That's two old boys together," trainer Charlie Hills said of the horse-jockey combination. Dettori will be the second oldest jockey in this year's Breeders' Cup behind only 60-year-old Mike Smith...

Calumet Farm homebred Gin Gin (Hightail) and Morplay Racing and Qatar Racing's Shisospicy (Mitole) turned in works over the Keeneland main track Thursday morning in advance of next weekend's Breeders' Cup World Championships at Del Mar. Returning to the worktab for the first time since narrowly defeating top 3-year-old filly Nitrogen (Medaglia d'Oro) in the GI Juddmonte Spinster Stakes on Oct. 5, Gin Gin had Luis Saez in the irons when covering a half-mile in :49.40 (20/48) (video). Gin Gin, whose sire--a son of Mineshaft--won the short-lived Breeders' Cup Juvenile...

Edited Press Release Darby Dan Farm has set 2026 stud fees for its roster of 11 stallions that will stand the upcoming breeding season, led by Blazing Sevens, Flameaway, and Dialed In, who will each stand for $10,000 S&N. Blazing Sevens, winner of the stallion-making GI Champagne Stakes at two and runner-up by just a head to subsequent Eclipse Award-winning champion older male National Treasure (Quality Road) in the GI Preakness Stakes, hails from the first crop of leading sire Good Magic. Blazing Sevens broke his maiden at Saratoga in...

3rd-SA, 60k, Msw, 2yo, f, 6fT, 5:01 p.m. ET Randall Lowe homebred Essential Lady (Essential Quality), a half-sister to two-time Breeders' Cup winner and young Coolmore stallion Golden Pal (Uncle Mo), debuts for Tim Yakteen sprinting over the Santa Anita lawn. Her talented dam Lady Shipman (Midshipman) was a GSW and narrow runner-up in the 2015 GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint at Keeneland. Lady Shipman's yearling colt by Flightline brought $1.5 million from Resolute Bloodstock at the recently concluded Keeneland September sale. The field of eight also includes Ramayana (Uncle...

Morplay Racing and Qatar Racing's 'TDN Rising Star' Shisospicy (Mitole) faced a couple of niggling questions entering Saturday's GII Music City Stakes at Kentucky Downs. Already accomplished over sharper turf sprint trips, how would she handle the extended 6 1/2-furlong distance of the $2-million contest, one, and two, what sort of lingering hangover might there be from an overseas trip to face the boys in the G1 Commonwealth Cup, when she dropped away tamely to finish in the latter third of that 21-strong field? Well, it took fewer than 75...

East Coast shipper Reef Runner (The Big Beast) crossed the wire narrowly first in Saturday's GIII Green Flash Handicap at Del Mar, but was disqualified and placed second, as Motorious (GB) (Muhaarar {GB}) was elevated to the victory, completing a three-peat in the 'Win and You're In' qualifier for the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint over the same course and distance on Nov. 1. It was the 7-year-old gelding's third consecutive win in the race. Reef Runner was one of the first away from his double-digit box, but came over...

Charles Marquis's hard-knocking Bear River (Flameaway) grab command of Saturday's $2-million GII Mint Kentucky Turf Sprint soon after the start and never relinquished the advantage while reversing form with comebacking favorite Howard Wolowitz (Munnings) to earn a fees-paid berth into the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint at Del Mar on Nov. 1. A no-excuses sixth to Howard Wolowitz in last year's GI Franklin-Stamps Stakes in his lone previous attempt at this quirky layout, the chestnut ridgling was returning to southern Kentucky off a narrow victory at 17-1 in the Turf...

Alex Cole, racing manager for owners Jim and Fitri Hay, has paid tribute to their "superstar" Starlust (GB), who has reportedly attracted plenty of interest from Australia with a view to a stallion career following his victory in Saturday's GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint at Del Mar. Trained by Ralph Beckett, Starlust is now the winner of six of his 18 career starts, having thrived on his racing in 2024, notably winning at the Breeders' Cup on his tenth run of a three-year-old campaign which began at Meydan back in...

DEL MAR, CA - Mrs. Fitri Hay's Starlust (GB) (Zoustar {Aus}), a longshot third in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint at Santa Anita last year, added to a dream run for trainer Ralph Beckett and jockey Rossa Ryan with a 33-1 upset in an eventful renewal of the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint at Del Mar. With the rail-drawn, 4-year-old filly Believing (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}) a late scratch after flipping in the gate and delaying the start by a good 10 minutes, 4-5 favorite and world-record setter Cogburn...