Breeders' Cup

LEXINGTON, KY--Everything must fall the right way, no doubt, to win any horse race, let alone one on the greatest of stages. There were many dominoes that fell that led to Order Of Australia (Ire) (Australia {GB}) getting a start in Saturday's GI Breeders' Cup Mile at Keeneland, and as the English and Irish Guineas winners Kameko (Ire) (Kitten's Joy) and Siskin (First Defence) toiled in behind, it was a dark horse-indeed, the longest shot in the field at 73-1-that burst from the pack in midstretch to lead home an...

Already boasting two out of the three highest Beyer Speed Figures on the year for all 3-year-olds, 'TDN Rising Star' Gamine (Into Mischief) produced another spectacular performance, airing by 6 1/4 lengths in track-record time in Saturday's GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Keeneland. Content to stalk the blazing speed of last year's GI Kentucky Oaks heroine Serengeti Empress (Alternation) through early fractions of :21.77 and :44.27, the even-money choice put the screws to the frontrunner turning for home. Moving easily from there beneath Hall of Famer John...

The winners of Friday's juvenile races at the Breeders' Cup were reported in good order Saturday morning. Trainer Brad Cox celebrated two winners on the championship card when Aunt Pearl (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) captured the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf S. and Godolphin homebred Essential Quality (Tapit) won the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile. "It was a fantastic day," Cox said. "Both came out of their races really well. So far so good. Both are a little tired, but they have a right to be. They both appear...

All-sources handle on the Breeders' Cup card on Friday at Keeneland was $50,285,986, a decrease of 11% compared to 2019 at Santa Anita ($56,517,228). In 2015, the last time the Breeders' Cup World Championships were at Keeneland, the all-sources handle was $44,949,165 before a crowd of 44,497. The Future Stars Friday card took place without the general public in attendance due to COVID-19 safety measures established by the Breeders' Cup and Keeneland. On-track handle for Friday was $1,123,620 with only participants and essential personnel present. On-track handle from Santa Anita's...

LEXINGTON, KY--The European-trained runners may have been shut out on opening day of the Breeders' Cup at Keeneland, but there would have been plenty of smiling faces in Ireland, France and England on Friday evening as 'TDN Rising Star' Aunt Pearl (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) kept her perfect record intact with a powerful front-running score in the GI Juvenile Fillies Turf under Frenchman Florent Geroux for trainer Brad Cox. Aidan O'Brien's Mother Earth (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) made up significant ground late to grab second, mowing down the Ringfort Stud-bred...

French-based jockey Christophe Soumillon has tested positive for COVID-19 and has been stood down from his rides on Tarnawa (Ire) (Shamardal) and Order of Australia (Ire) (Australia {GB}) in Saturday's GI Breeders' Cup Turf and GI Breeders' Cup Mile, respectively. Colin Keane will take the ride on Tarnawa, and Pierre-Charles Boudot has been named on Order Of Australia. Soumillon was tested for coronavirus on Wednesday at Keeneland and upon receipt of the positive result on Thursday, another test was performed which also came back positive. Soumillon is now in isolation...

Featuring five deep, competitive fields and plenty of intrigue, Future Stars Friday will get the two-day, 37th Breeders' Cup World Championships festivities underway from historic Keeneland Race Course. First post on the all-stakes card at the bucolic oval, hosting the Breeders' Cup for the second time, is 11:30 a.m. ET, with the first Breeders' Cup race set to run at 2:30 p.m. All in all, 184 horses were entered in the 14 World Championship races, which conclude with the highly-anticipated GI Longines Breeders' Cup Classic, slated for 5:18 p.m. Saturday....

Over 50 connections of horses running in Friday and Saturday's Breeders' Cup races have pledged a portion of their runners' earnings to New Vocations, the largest racehorse adoption program in the country. Now in its 11th year, the annual pledge has raised over $650,000, with 100 percent of funds raised supporting the program's rehabilitation, retraining and rehoming efforts. "We pledged for two reasons: We love the New Vocations model of repurposing these magnificent Thoroughbreds for a new life, and it's the right thing to do," said owner B. Wayne Hughes...

LEXINGTON, KY-With the breeze-up sales having been thrown into turmoil in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic this spring, Yorkshire trainer Nigel Tinkler found himself with an important decision in his hands. Breeze-up consignors Roger Marley and John Cullinan, like others in the sector, had begun offering some of their pinhooks privately in an effort to soften the financial blows of the global economic crisis, and Tinkler was offered his choice of colts by Kodiac (GB) and Dandy Man (Ire) for his clients Martin and Lisa Webb. "We had the...

Triple G1 Prix de la Foret winner One Master (GB) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) has been scratched from Saturday's GI Breeders' Cup Mile at Keeneland after suffering from set-fast, or 'tying up.' Speaking from Newmarket, trainer William Haggas said, "She got a bit set-fast on her first morning out. Her muscle enzymes are too high. I'm disappointed, but very pleased that they are not risking her at all." A homebred for Roy and Gretchen Jackson's Lael Stable, the 6-year-old One Master has won the seven furlong Foret on the Prix de...

Well, we know that such Europeans as have been able to make the trip--another lockdown began in England on Thursday--won't be in the slightest danger of catching anything on the dirt track. If we can meanwhile break the shackles of the pandemic as well, maybe someone might feel sufficiently liberated finally to have another go next year. But at least the raiders should again be in the thick of things over on the grass. Now that the Breeders' Cup returns to Kentucky, moreover, they will be expecting an especially congenial...

Putting their skills on the line for their chosen charities, five teams will participate in the first ABR Charity Betting Challenge on the 2020 Breeders' Cup World Championships races this Friday and Saturday. The teams and their charities are: TEAM ABR: Dan Tordjman, Ren Carothers, Ellis Starr - The Jockey Club Safety Net Foundation TEAM KEENELAND: Tom Leach, Jim Goodman - Nourish TEAM KSR: Matt Jones, Drew Franklin, Ryan Lemond - five Kentucky Sports Radio causes TEAM TVG: TVG on-air talent - Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund TEAM WLEX: Nancy Cox,...