Breeders' Cup Classic

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 - 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....

Top sophomore and last month's GI Pennsylvania Derby winner Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow) put in his penultimate work for the GI Breeders' Cup Classic Saturday, breezing seven panels at Santa Anita in 1:26.60 (1/1). Regular rider Flavien Prat was aboard. "He galloped out good and we're feeling good," said trainer Doug O'Neill. "He'll ship Wednesday to Del Mar where he'll have his final work." The Classic looks likely to have plenty of early pace, which could prove advantageous to a stalker like Hot Rod Charlie. "Today he sat off a...

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...

Godolphin homebred Maxfield (Street Sense) will bypass an expected start in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic Nov. 6 and will instead point for the GI Clark H. at Churchill Downs 20 days later. The story was originally reported by the Daily Racing Form. "He has such a good record at Churchill. We're going to skip California with him altogether," trainer Brendan Walsh told the DRF. "It's very important for him to win a Grade I this year. This probably gives him his best chance to get a Grade I at...

Four-time Grade I winner and one of the favorites for 2021 Horse of the Year Knicks Go (Paynter--Kosmo's Buddy, by Outflanker) will retire to Taylor Made Stallions at the conclusion of his racing career, the farm announced Monday. Campaigned by Korea Racing Authority, Knicks Go is currently the top-ranked older horse on the NTRA Thoroughbred Poll as he prepares for his next start in the $6-million GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar Nov. 6. A stud fee will be announced after the Breeders' Cup. "The KRA's goal was to...

Trainer Doug O'Neill's Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow) began tightening the screws for the Nov. 6 GI Breeders' Cup Classic with a four-furlong move at Santa Anita Saturday morning. Out at 7:45 a.m., the popular dark bay, known for his gritty style, had Mike Smith in the irons. The Hall of Famer was filling in for regular rider Flavien Prat, who was riding at Keeneland Saturday. "He went a half-mile in 48 and change and galloped out in 1:01 and three," said O'Neill. "He looked good. It was his first piece...

For 110 seconds on an unseasonably hot Saturday afternoon in Southern California, all was right in the world of Zedan Racing Stables' Medina Spirit (Protonico). Having given last Saturday's GI Pennsylvania Derby a miss, the blue-collar colt was rerouted to Saturday's GI Awesome Again S. and a first try against some accomplished older horses. With a berth in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic on the line, the Florida-bred once again displayed the tenacity and raw ability that carried him past the post first in the GI Kentucky Derby, leading every...

Going...going... gone. Leading older horse Knicks Go (Paynter), as expected, punched his ticket to the GI Breeders' Cup Classic with a facile victory in Saturday's GIII Lukas Classic S. at Churchill Downs. The overwhelming 1-9 favorite took his usual spot on the front end and led the field of six through very manageable fractions of :23.53 and :47.27. Joel Rosario hit the gas entering the far turn, and Knicks Go responded in spades. He passed the quarter pole as the one to catch, cornered for home in the four path...

Medina Spirit (Protonico) looks to secure his spot in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic as he faces his elders Saturday in the GI Awesome Again S. at Santa Anita. Winner of the GIII Robert B. Lewis S. here in January, the Florida-bred was second in both the Mar. 6 GII San Felipe S.--won by his former stablemate and recent GII Kelso H. victor Life is Good (Into Mischief)--and Apr. 3 GI Santa Anita Derby. The dark bay went wire to wire in the May 1 GI Kentucky Derby, a win...

The inaugural running of the GIII Lukas Classic in 2013, contested as the Homecoming Classic, was won handily by the previous year's GI Breeders' Cup Classic hero Fort Larned (E Dubai), who would go on to finish a hard-trying fourth in defense of his Classic title five weeks later. This year's renewal goes through Korea Racing Authority's Knicks Go (Paynter), who is expected to cement his status as the favorite for the championship day feature Saturday afternoon. An imperious winner of last year's GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile over a...

Brad Cox-trained divisional leaders and GI Breeders' Cup Classic-bound runners Knicks Go (Paynter) and 'TDN Rising Star' Essential Quality (Tapit) each breezed Saturday morning at Churchill Downs. The former, last seen running away with the GI Whitney S. at Saratoga last month, was clocked in 1:00.80 (17/61) for five panels. The Korea Racing Authority colorbearer is expected to go postward a heavy favorite in next Saturday's GIII Lukas Classic at Churchill Downs. Last year's champion juvenile and leading sophomore Essential Quality, meanwhile, went a half-mile in :50.60 (87/102). Most recently...