Today's Edition

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky--What started as a chance encounter one year at the GI Kentucky Derby has blossomed into a very successful partnership between Brad Stephens of Six Column Stables, Randy Bloch and a rotating group of other enthusiastic owners. They'll return to Churchill Downs on Saturday with Champagne Problems (Ghostzapper), who goes in the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff before being offered Sunday at Fasig-Tipton November through Hill 'n' Dale Sales Agency as hip 172. "One of my first trips to the Kentucky Derby was the year Street Sense won," recalled Stephens, a...

Middle-Eastern interest proved telling again at the Tattersalls Autumn Horses In Training Sale as prices rose beyond the 400,000gns mark for the first time in two days of trade. Monday's 335,000gns top lot Archetype (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire} had been bought on behalf of Saudi Arabian connections and that price was exceeded in substantial fashion once Corrosive (Uncle Mo) entered the ring in the early evening as lot 709 Auctioneers always have to work earnestly to drum up interest in many of the more prosaic offerings here but the price...

LOUISVILLE, Ky - With Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas leading the cavalry charge aboard his stable pony, there was no shortage of action on another chilly morning beneath the lights during the special Breeders' Cup training window at Churchill Downs Tuesday. Already boasting a Breeders' Cup-leading 20 victories, Lukas was out keeping a close eye on Calumet Farm homebred Derby Date (Will Take Charge), who is listed at odds of 30-1 on the morning-line for the Juvenile. The ageless 83-year-old continues to make the rounds throughout the week off...

  When Saturday comes around, the extravaganza at Churchill Downs will be all the richer for the involvement of two of the Breeders' Cup's most revered colonists. Freddy Head, who remains the sole winner of a race both in the saddle and as a trainer, returns to the Mile in which he lords it over even the domestic handlers thanks to the unprecedented deeds of the triple heroine Goldikova (Ire) (Anabaa). "Goldi" was a class act in Europe, but when she came to the Breeders' Cup she took on another...

Kris and Lorenzo Del Guidice lived out the dream of every small breeder when Shang Shang Shang (Shanghai Bobby) gritted out a dramatic victory in the G2 Norfolk S. at Royal Ascot  some four months ago. Now two-for-two, the juvenile filly will put her unbeaten record on the line in Friday's Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint. Two days later, her dam Yankee Victoria (Yankee Victor) (hip 151) and her weanling half-sister by Paynter (hip 53) will go through the sales ring at the Fasig-Tipton November Sale through the Baccari Bloodstock...

The figures might be dwarfed by the October Yearling Sale, but the Tattersalls Autumn Horses in Training Sale proved no less international with the top lot from Monday's opening session heading to Saudi Arabia for 335,000gns. Archetype (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}) was the horse in question, an Arqana Breeze-Up purchase by Highclere Thoroughbred Racing for just €60,000 in May 2016. Now four, he had been productive in two seasons running in the care of Simon Crisford with five victories in total and a Listed third at Longchamp. His credentials for...

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky--Fields for this weekend's Breeders' Cup World Championships took shape Monday at the Rood & Riddle Post Position Draw on the main stage at the second-annual Equestricon, held this year in Louisville's Kentucky International Convention Center. A total of 191 entrants (48 international) from a record 221 pre-entries remained in contention for the 14 Breeders' Cup contests set to be held Friday and Saturday at Churchill Downs. Hronis Racing's Accelerate (Lookin At Lucky), who enters the $6-million GI Breeders' Cup Classic off a trio of Grade I victories out...

LOUISVILLE, Ky - With the iconic Twin Spires illuminated in Breeders' Cup purple and the backstretch sky beginning to light up in stunning orange hues just before sunrise, the action began to pick up on a very brisk Monday morning at 7:30 a.m. at Churchill Downs. The Classic-bound Gunnevera (Dialed In) was the first to grab the eye with his blue reins and bridle as Breeders' Cup runners began to flood the track during the reserved private training window. Yoshida (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}), two lengths to the good of...

Four years ago, trainer David Simcock sent out Qatar Racing's admirably consistent galloper Trade Storm (GB) (Trade Fair {GB}) to finish a fine third in the GI Breeders' Cup Mile at Santa Anita. On Saturday, the same owner/trainer combination will take another shot at that same race at Churchill Downs-each in search of their first victories at the Breeders' Cup--with the 7-year-old veteran Lightning Spear (GB) (Pivotal {GB}). Lightning Spear has been a stalwart in the key European mile races over the last four seasons, and after an agonizing six...

When the pre-entries were announced for this year's Breeders' Cup, the presence of Rainbow Heir (Wildcat Heir) went largely ignored. That wasn't exactly a surprise since he'll go in one of the less glamorous races on the Saturday card, the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint, and he's never even run in a Grade I race. But what many probably did not know is that he is a racing oddity, a horse that has returned to run in the Breeders' Cup after standing a successful season at stud. The 8-year-old New...

Trainer William Haggas has never had a starter in the Breeders' Cup, but he is amending that blank on his resume in 2018. After a phenomenal season led by the Classic exploits of Sea Of Class (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), Haggas is attempting to add a Breeders' Cup victory or two at Churchill Downs on Nov. 2-3. His duo of runners are G1 Prix de la Foret heroine One Master (GB) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) who races for Lael Stable, and the Group 3 winner Queen Of Bermuda (Ire) (Exceed...

If Simon Callaghan believes in deja vu, he's sure experiencing a heady dose of it right now. This time last year, Callaghan had in his barn the favorite for the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies--Moonshine Memories. After breaking her maiden, the daughter of Malibu Moon harvested all available scalps in a couple of top flight 2-year-old contests, the GI Del Mar Debutante S. and the GI Chandelier S. The Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies was the next assignment, and for some who were looking to nail down a sure bet for...