Breeders' Cup
Fan favorite and beloved Bradley family member Groupie Doll won two Eclipse Awards, two Breeders' Cup races, four Grade Is, and nine graded stakes; she set two track records, including at Churchill Downs in the GI Humana Distaff; and she sold to Mandy Pope's Whisper Hill Farm for $3.1 million. But it's not the accolades that mean the most to co-breeder, co-owner, and trainer Buff Bradley, he said. It was the special ride she gave the Bradley family during a difficult time. "Winning the Breeders' Cup was great and awesome...
Trainer Todd Pletcher breezed a remarkable 12 of his intended Breeders' Cup starters at Keeneland on Thursday morning over the main track. Heading the dozen was GI Breeders' Cup Classic hopeful Bright Future (Curlin), who arrived in Kentucky this week from Saratoga. He worked five furlongs in 1:01.40. Also working five furlongs for a possible Breeders' Cup start was Charge It (Tapit), who covered the distance in 1:01.20. "We originally were going to work all of our Saturday (Nov. 4) horses tomorrow but with rain in the forecast for tomorrow,...
Purses at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club are getting a haircut for the 13-date fall meet that spans Nov. 10-Dec. 3. Del Mar executives speaking about the meet at Thursday's California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) meeting did not initially mention the purse cuts when making their standard presentation for licensure, which the CHRB unanimously granted. But Del Mar's president, Josh Rubinstein, detailed the reductions when directly queried about the state of purses by CHRB vice chair Oscar Gonzales. "We have reduced purses slightly for this fall meet," Rubinstein said. "[We're] coming...
The announcement of pre-entered fields for this year's Breeders' Cup championship weekend will be televised live on FanDuel TV and on Breeders' Cup website, official Mobile App, and Facebook, X, and YouTube channels Oct. 25 at 9 a.m. PT/12:00 p.m. ET. The pre-entry announcement will be hosted by FanDuel TV talent Christina Blacker and Joaquin Jaime. Featuring 14 Grade I races and $31 million in purses and awards, the 40th running of the Breeders' Cup World Championships will be held Nov. 2 and 4 at Santa Anita. Fields for the...
Just a few days removed from his 70th birthday, Pat Day joined the TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland to talk his career, what he's been up to since retiring in 2005 and, most of all, the Breeders' Cup. Day rode Wild Again to victory in the inaugural GI Breeders' Cup Classic in 1984 and it was an historic win that helped turn the future Hall of Famer into one of the biggest stars in the sport. Day was this week's Green Group Guest of the Week. "What that...
Celebrating 40 Years of the Breeders' Cup Can you imagine being a horse racing-crazy kid with a ringside seat to the creation of the Breeders' Cup? Mark Taylor can, because he was. Fast forward more than four decades and now he is president and CEO of the Central Kentucky farm that is believed to have raised and/or sold more Breeders' Cup winners than any other. There's also the matter of having stood the Breeders' Cup winner who currently holds the record for siring the most Breeders' Cup winners in turn....
"The American Horse of the Year and the Arc winner are heads apart with a furlong to go in the Classic... Here's the wire, desperately close. Tiznow wins it for America!" Chances are you can actually hear Tom Durkin's legendary call as you read those words. And chances are listening to the call now will give you goosebumps all over again and bring you straight back to that amazing moment. Tiznow became an American hero that day at Belmont Park, just weeks after what would become known as 9/11. Still...
Godolphin's Classic winner Mawj (Ire) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}) is expected to make her next start in the Nov. 4 GI Breeders' Cup Mile, according to trainer Saeed bin Suroor on Tuesday. Unbeaten in four starts this season, the sophomore filly most recently came home a half-length winner over Lindy (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}) in Keeneland's Oct. 14 GI QEII Challenge S. "She's a tough filly with a big heart, to do that on her first run for five months and win a Grade I," said Bin Suroor. "She had...
Jay Hanley considers himself lucky to have had more than his fair share of highs in horse racing, but he has also gone through plenty of mishaps, frustrations and heartbreaks. A co-owner of champion Lady Eli (Divine Park), he was there for the ups and downs of the extraordinary mare's career as she fought a seemingly insurmountable battle with laminitis and returned to the top of the sport. Then there is Goodnight Olive (Ghostzapper - Salty Strike, Smart Strike), who overcame two setbacks early in her career and went on...
The time Corniche, a $1.5-million OBS topper and 'TDN Rising Star', spent on the track might have been brief, but it was bright. Undefeated in three starts at two and a dual Grade I winner, he was simply better than the rest. "Corniche was always a dominating colt on the farm and so good looking as a foal," said Leah O'Meara of Stonehaven Steadings, who co-bred the Juvenile winner. "We always had high hopes for him. He gave us the first round of excitement when he breezed so well and...
Trainers House Enterprises Ltd.'s G1 Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp Longines winner Highfield Princess (Fr) (Night of Thunder {Ire}) will make her next start in the G1 Hong Kong Sprint at Sha Tin on Dec. 10, trainer John Quinn revealed. The 6-year-old mare had originally planned to start next in the Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita on Nov. 4, but will skip a trip to California in favor of a journey to the Far East. "All being well, we're going to go to Hong Kong with her," Quinn said. "It...
Blue Rose Farm's Arcangelo (Arrogate--Modeling, by Tapit), a likely favorite for the upcoming GI Breeders' Cup Classic, will enter stud at Lane's End Farm at the conclusion of his racing career. The gray went to the head of the sophomore division with victories in the GI Belmont S. and GI Travers S. He also captured this year's GIII Peter Pan S. "It has been a surreal experience to own a horse of this magnitude," said owner Jon Ebbert. "The day I laid eyes on him at the yearling sale, I...