Breeders' Cup

Two-time Breeders' Cup winner Rebel's Romance (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) made a victorious return to U.S. soil with an effortless victory in the GI Joe Hirsch Turf Classic at Aqueduct Saturday. Sent off at 3-5, the globetrotting veteran was under a snug hold while prompting Redistricting (GB) (Kingman {GB}) through an opening quarter in :24.78. He took control as the half went up in :49.26 and loped along on a clear lead through moderate splits from there. Let loose midway on the final bend, Rebel's Romance continued to find more down...

Multiple Grade I-winner Locked (Gun Runner) looms the big favorite in the scratch-decimated GII Woodward Stakes on Saturday at the Belmont Big A meet, but is far from the only marquee name this upcoming weekend across the country. One of three confirmed runners for Saturday's co-feature in New York, Locked comes into the race with a two-race skid to break after he missed the board May 2 in the GII Alysheba Stakes when returning to the races after a tour de force effort in the GI Santa Anita Handicap Mar....

GI Santa Anita Derby and GI Preakness Stakes winner Journalism (Curlin) continued to prep for his upcoming start in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic Nov. 1, working a half-mile bullet in company in :47.0 (1/41) Friday at Santa Anita. Journalism shared the bullet for the distance with his workmate, Touch of Destiny (Midshipman), an group-winning import from Uruguay who has not started in the U.S. Of Journalism, trainer Mike McCarthy said "I thought he worked well. It was just an easy half-mile, a leg stretcher." Journalism most recently was second...

A few hours after winning this year's GI Saratoga Derby Invitational Stakes with World Beater (Oscar Performance), Riley Mott was home with his family eating takeout pizza. He shared a beer with his father, Bill, and was in bed by 9 p.m. The celebration was quiet, almost ordinary, but the milestone was anything but. Less than three years after going out on his own, Mott, age 33, had claimed his first Grade I win at the track that he had once called his playground and the town where he had...

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...

There's never a good time for a spill, but the one Sunday at Churchill Downs that landed Brian Hernandez Jr. in the intensive care unit at the University of Louisville Hospital could not have come at a worse time. Hernandez sustained seven broken ribs, a punctured lung, and a liver laceration that was treated by a minor surgical procedure. The doctors have told Hernandez he should expect to be out six to eight weeks. That means he will not be able to ride Mystik Dan (Goldencents) in Saturday's GII Lukas...

Eight races with purses and awards totaling more than $1.5 million will be offered as part of the undercard of Breeders' Cup championship weekend at Del Mar Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, the Breeders' Cup and Del Mar Thoroughbred Club announced Monday. Five undercard races will be contested as part of the Oct. 31 Future Stars Friday program, highlighted by the $200,000 Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance Stakes for 2-year-olds at one mile on turf, and the $200,000 Listed Senator Ken Maddy Stakes for fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up at five...

For C R K Stable, owned by Lee and Susan Searing of Claremont, Calif., the celebration actually started the day before the GI Pennsylvania Derby won by Baeza (McKinzie). The Searings own Baeza, who is trained by John Shirreffs, in partnership with Grandview Equine. His victory came just 27 1/2 hours after the stable unveiled a horse who could potentially be better than Baeza. Yes, 'TDN Rising Star' Englishman (Maxfield) was that impressive. The son of a first crop sire, he annihilated a field of maidens at Churchill Downs winning...

Racing has a serious integrity problem, Jim "Mattress Mack" McIngvale believes, and that is why he has pulled the plug and is leaving the game entirely. The Blood-Horse was the first to report the story. "We couldn't compete with all the drugs and all the injections when we were running on just hay, oats and water," he said. "It was an uphill battle. Runhappy climbed that hill but the rest of them couldn't. I'm not going to damage my integrity by drugging them and injecting them. I do right by...

Ken Freirich, who was part of the ownership group behind Horse of the Year Flightline, has made a $500,000 gift to Breeders' Cup Charities in an effort to positively impact the Thoroughbred industry's culture of giving by illustrating the importance of long-term commitments, the Breeders' Cup said via a press release on Friday. Funds from Freirich will be released over a 3 1/2-year period. This major gift is in addition to the $100,000 match the international philanthropist provided to Breeders' Cup Charities in July during the organization's Annual Day of...

2023 GI Breeders' Cup Classic winner White Abarrio (Race Day) will target the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. confirmed Thursday. The now 6-year-old, who started the year with a win in the GI Pegasus World Cup, has returned to Gulfstream Park from Saratoga, where he is scheduled to breeze next week for the first time since finishing fourth in the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup Aug. 31. "Obviously, things didn't go the way we wanted in the Jockey Club. We're going to regroup in the Mile,"...

Joe Murphy has raised the possibility of stable star Cercene travelling to Del Mar for the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf in November. A winner of the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot, the Australia filly went on to finish second to Whirl in the Nassau Stakes at Goodwood over a-mile-and-a-quarter before reverting to a mile when fifth in the Matron Stakes at the Irish Champions Festival.  While unable to land a telling blow, Cercene was only beaten three lengths and Murphy feels she could have finished closer with a...