Breeders' Cup

Bentornato (Valiant Minister), winner of last year's GI Breeders' Cup Sprint, was named the 2025 Florida-bred Horse of the Year, it was announced at the FTBOA Awards Gala held Monday night at the Circle Square Cultural Center in Ocala. Bentornato, chosen as champion by a vote by the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders' and Owners' Association board of directors, was the sixth Florida-bred to win the Sprint and the 30th from the state to win a Breeders' Cup race. The 2025 FTBOA Breeder of the Year, also as voted by the FTBOA...

White Abarrio (Race Day) and Sovereignty (Into Mischief) both exited their one-two finish in the GII Oaklawn Handicap Saturday in fine shape and connections were considering next steps Sunday morning. White Abarrio, the 2023 GI Breeders' Cup Classic winner, beat reigning Horse of the Year Sovereignty by two lengths, with Journalism (Curlin), the 2025 GI Preakness Stakes winner, finishing 1 1/4 lengths farther back in third. "It's rare you get to see something like that," White Abarrio's co-owner Mark Cornett said as the 7-year-old veteran was munching hay in his...

In an article posted last week in Sports Business Journal, it was reported that the GI Preakness Stakes would be pushed back a week next year to be run three weeks after the GI Kentucky Derby and that the GI Belmont Stakes would also be pushed back by a week. The stir the article caused quickly died down when Maryland Jockey Club President and General Manager Bill Knauf denied that any decisions had been made regarding the date of next year's Preakness. But the story did get some important things...

One of Kevin Lay's fondest memories with Blame involved an unexpected olive branch from a 9-year-old girl. Years ago, Lay was giving a tour through Claiborne Farm's stallion complex. When the group reached Blame's stall and the amicable stallion stuck his head out to greet the visitors, a young girl pointedly turned her back, refusing to look at the horse that had caused her such devastation in the infamous 2010 GI Breeders' Cup Classic. A few weeks later, the farm received a hand-drawn portrait of Blame with a note stating...

Not a day goes by when Dana Bernhard doesn't think of her late husband, Jim, and his passing at age 71 in November after a brief illness. "It's still an extremely profound loss," she said. But something has come along to lift her spirits: the recent success of Incredibolt (Bolt d'Oro) and Albus (Yaupon). Incredibolt won the Virginia Derby and Albus captured the GII Wood Memorial Stakes, giving both enough points to make it into the field for the GI Kentucky Derby. It is a remarkable achievement for Pin Oak...

Owners Gary Barber and C2 Racing Stable have filed a suit in a California Superior Court alleging that defendants Breeders' Cup Limited, the California Horse Racing Board, and the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club engaged in intentional interference with prospective economic relations, negligent interference with prospective economic relations, violation of California business & professions code, gross negligence, negligence, breach of contract, and breach of the implied  covenant of good faith and fair dealing. The matter involves the scratching of White Abarrio (Race Day), which took place just minutes before the running...

Community leaders and Thoroughbred racing executives gathered at Keeneland Race Course to officially welcome the return of the Breeders' Cup World Championships to central Kentucky, marking a highly anticipated homecoming for one of the sport's most prestigious global events, the organization said via a press release on Tuesday. Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton, Keeneland President & CEO Shannon Arvin, Breeders' Cup Limited President & CEO Drew Fleming, and Kip Cornett, Chair of the Breeders' Cup Festival, joined to commemorate the occasion and highlight the significance of hosting the 2026 Breeders' Cup...

Edited Press Release  The 2025 Breeders' Cup World Championships at Del Mar provided an economic boost to the San Diego region estimated at $125-million in total industry output, it was announced by Breeders' Cup Monday. Citing an independent study conducted by Sport Management Research Institute, the organization said that the report found the World Championships supported 1,023 jobs across the region, generating $51.8-million in labor income, and $80.2-million in value added (equivalent to GDP). In addition, $11-million in federal taxes and $7.6-million in state and local taxes were generated. Applicable...

Always in the bridal party, but never the bride, it was finally her time in the Sunday feature at Keeneland. Having been the runner-up against elite company last year, In Our Time (Not This Time) put it all together in the lane and kicked home smartly to secure her career-first graded black-type in the GII Giant's Causeway Stakes. Traditionally found at the head of affairs, the Not This Time mare hit the board seven times from eight starts last year with her seasonal highlight reel including a runner-up effort two...

Miller Racing's Claret Beret (Not This Time) hit the front at the top of the Oaklawn Park stretch and refused to be pulled back by a charging Nitrogen (Medaglia d'Oro) to win the GI Apple Blossom Stakes, a 'Win and You're In' for this year's GI Breeders' Cup Distaff at Keeneland. The now 5-year-old mare has shown a remarkable uptick in form since being claimed by Saffie Joseph Jr. just about one year. Since winning her first start for him at Gulfstream, a $70,000 handicap race by 19 3/4 lengths,...

Nitrogen (Medaglia d'Oro), fresh off an Eclipse Award-winning season in 2025, opened her 4-year-old campaign with a win in the Feb. 7 GIII Bayakoa Stakes--a victory trainer Mark Casse called "the best race she's ever run." Things didn't go quite as well when the filly faded to third in the Mar. 7 over a sloppy Oaklawn surface in the GII Azeri Stakes, but she will look to get back on track when she returns in the GI Apple Blossom Handicap Saturday at Oaklawn Park. She is the 9-5 morning-line favorite...

"I just watched the Breeders' Cup as a fan. Now we're here!" Jose Francisco D'Angelo was overcome with emotion as he spoke with Nick Luck on the NBC broadcast from the winner's circle at Del Mar. Some 3,500 miles away in Caracas, Venezuela, his friends and family were gathered to celebrate as Shisospicy (Mitole) claimed the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint, handing D'Angelo his first victory at the World Championships. It turned out the party was just getting started. Roughly 30 minutes later, D'Angelo was back in the winner's circle...