Del Mar

DEL MAR, CA - With no sign of the sun under a dense cloud cover at daybreak, champion Essential Quality (Tapit) set the stage for this weekend's 38th Breeders' Cup World Championships jogging the wrong way along the outer rail on a cool and comfortable Tuesday morning at Del Mar. Last year's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner is the second choice on the morning-line at 3-1 for Saturday's GI Breeders' Cup Classic trailing only his Brad Cox-trained stablemate Knicks Go (Paynter) at 5-2. More on the latter gray in a...

DEL MAR, CA - With a tip on 2-year-old first-time starter Ocean Size (Maclean's Music), Jake Ballis watched with interest--and a win wager--on the fifth race at Colonial Downs Aug. 17. When Hidden Connection (Connect)--the co-second choice at 5-2 on the morning line for Friday's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies--ran away to a daylight score carrying the colors of Hidden Brook Farm with Ocean Size back in second, the frontman for the fledgling partnership Black Type Thoroughbreds quickly switched gears. "When she drew off at the eighth pole, I looked...

DEL MAR, CA - Leading older horse Knicks Go (Paynter) received the nod at 5-2 on the morning-line for Saturday's $6-million GI Breeders' Cup Classic as a field of nine was drawn during Monday's Rood & Riddle Breeders' Cup Post-Position Draw held in the Del Mar paddock. The speedy 2021 GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational S. and GI Whitney S. winner, hero of last term's GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile at Keeneland, will be on the engine from post five in this first attempt at the 1 1/4-mile Classic distance....

NEWMARKET, UK--There's grey, cloud-stuffed sky hanging over Newmarket as the mild autumn is bustled along by an impatient winter. Exactly a week ago, it felt like spring was still in the air in Paris as a sun-dappled day saw second-season trainer James Ferguson announce his presence in the international stage with a first Group 1 winner. The diminutive El Bodegon (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) passed almost literally under the noses of observers on the paddock rails who mostly had eyes for his bigger, stronger rivals, but the little colt has the...

St. George Stable's Letruska (Super Saver), the expected favorite for the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff next week, had a somewhat eventful final breeze at Del Mar Saturday. Scheduled to work a solo five-eighths, the four-time Grade I winner broke off behind 2-year-old filly Brandon'smylawyer (Astern {Aus}), and hooked that runner near the half-mile pole. The other filly continued on with Letruska, and finished her half-mile work several lengths to the good of Letruska, who was credited with five furlongs in 1:01.20 (2/7) (Click for video). Brandon'smylawyer, a $340,000 OBS April...

Larry Collmus, who stepped up to pinch hit for Del Mar's longtime caller Trevor Denman during the height of the COVID 19 crisis in 2020, will take over for the recently injured Denman for the majority of the track's upcoming fall race meet starting Nov. 3. Denman, 68, suffered a herniated disc in his back earlier this week after a fall at his home in Minnesota. Collmus, who will cover the Breeders' Cup for NBC at Del Mar, will take over calling duties at Del Mar though closing day Nov....

Thoroughbred Charities of America will host Bash at the Breeders' Cup on Friday, Nov. 5 at the Hilton in Del Mar. An outdoor event featuring signature cocktails, music, hors d'oeuvres, and a live auction of racing memorabilia and experiences, Bash at the Breeders' Cup is a fundraiser for TCA. The Hilton San Diego/Del Mar is directly across the street from the racetrack. Tickets are available here. "Bash at the Breeders' Cup has become a significant fundraiser for TCA and, after a hiatus last year, we're thrilled to return to Del...

Champion Essential Quality (Tapit), GI Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit (Protonico), MGISW turf star Domestic Spending (GB) (Kingman {GB}), defending GI Breeders' Cup Turf heroine Tarnawa (Ire) (Shamardal), top distaffer Letruska (Super Saver) and GI Kentucky Oaks victress Malathaat (Curlin) are among the 196 horses entered in the Nov. 5-6 Breeders' Cup World Championships to be held at Del Mar. This will be the second time the SoCal venue plays hosts to the Breeders' Cup, with the first being in 2017. The 56 international horses are a record number of...

Last year's GI Breeders' Cup Turf heroine Tarnawa (Ire) (Shamardal), who was a close second in the G1 Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe when last seen, is in good order ahead of the 2021 Breeders' Cup at Del Mar. Trainer Dermot Weld is pleased with High Highness The Aga Khan's homebred's preparation and she leaves for California on Oct. 29 in a bid to defend her Turf title. "The Arc took a fair bit out of her, but she's an amazing animal with a wonderful constitution and huge determination,"...

Four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown worked multiple Breeders' Cup contenders on a crisp and overcast Saturday morning at Belmont Park. Unbeaten 'TDN Rising Star' and GI Champagne S. winner Jack Christopher (Munnings) breezed five furlongs in 1:00.85 (4/18) in preparation for the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Nov. 5 at Del Mar. The move was completed in company with GI Frizette S. runner-up Gerrymander (Into Mischief), who is possible for the one-mile $150,000 Tempted S. Nov. 5 at Belmont. "He's trained brilliant since day one and he continues to do...

Zedan Racing Stables' Medina Spirit (Protonico) drilled six furlongs in 1:13 (2/7) on a foggy Friday morning at Santa Anita as he prepares for his next start in the $6-million GI Longines Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar Nov. 6. The Florida-bred was put through his paces by former jockey Juan Ochoa. "I got :59 and four," said bloodstock agent Gary Young, who recommended the purchase of Medina Spirit to owner Amr Zedan. "You can see fine now [8:15 a.m.], but you couldn't see him when he worked. It was...

Following a conversation with owner Robert Lothenbach of Lothenbach Stables, trainer Neil Pessin confirmed that his Grade I-winning mare Bell's The One (Majesticperfection) will not start in the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint Nov. 6 and will instead make her final start of the season in the $300,000 Dream Supreme S. at Churchill Downs one week later. Pessin added that the relatively lightly raced mare would likely remain in training for a 6-year-old campaign in 2022. The $155,000 Fasig-Tipton July gradauate has won three of her six starts...