Breeders' Cup Classic

Jesus' Team Points for BC Classic or Dirt Mile

Grupo 7C Racing Stable's Jesus' Team (Tapiture), who finished third in Saturday's GI Preakness S. at Pimlico, will make his next start in either the GI Breeders' Cup Classic or GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile. "He will run in the Breeders' Cup, 100%," said trainer Jose D'Angelo. "We just don't know what race--maybe the [Dirt] Mile or maybe the Classic. I will wait for the decision from the owners." Jesus' Team is currently getting some down time at Kenny McPeek's Magdalena Farm in Lexington and will head to Keeneland Friday...

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McPeek Says Classic Distance a Better Fit for Swiss Skydiver

While putting off a final decision regarding which Breeders' Cup race GI Preakness S. winner Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil) will run in, trainer Ken McPeek said Sunday morning that he prefers running his filly at a mile-and-a-quarter, the distance of the GI Breeders' Cup Classic. His other option is the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff, which is run at a mile-and-an-eighth. "It's a little early and we don't have to make a decision right now but I do like her at the mile-and-a-quarter," he said. "The further, the better. She gets to...

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Tiz the Law Fires Bullet at Big Sandy

Sackatoga Stable's top sophomore Tiz the Law (Constitution) breezed a speedy, best-of-six five furlongs in :57.87 at Belmont Park Friday morning under regular breeze rider Heather Smullen. "I didn't want to see him go that fast, but he came out of the work well," trainer Barclay Tagg said. "He scoped well and everything is going good with him." Upset when second in the GI Kentucky Derby Sept. 5, the four-time Grade I winner is skipping Saturday's GI Preakness S. and training up to the GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Keeneland...

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Improbable Romps In the Awesome Again

The lesser-fancied of the Bob Baffert-trained duo, 'TDN Rising Star' Improbable (City Zip) was uncustomarily taken well off a fast early pace, began to hit his best stride while wide on the second turn, inhaled the leading group in upper stretch and rolled home to defeat odds-on Maximum Security (New Year's Day) by 4 1/2 lengths in the GI Awesome Again S. at Santa Anita. Though he hadn't been more than two lengths off the early pace in any of his last four races, Improbable was taken back to last...

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Tiz the Law Returns to Worktab

Sackatoga Stables' Tiz the Law (Constitution) returned to the worktab for the first time since finishing second to Authentic (Into Mischief) as the favorite in the Sept. 5 GI Kentucky Derby, breezing a half-mile in an easy :50.07 with regular exercise rider Heather Smullen in the irons. "It was a nice, easy work," trainer Barclay Tagg said. "I wasn't looking for much. I just wanted him to go out there and stretch his legs. He hadn't done anything in three weeks." Prior to his hard-trying runner-up effort in the Derby,...

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Baffert Appears to Have Stranglehold on Awesome Again

Twice in its last seven runnings, the GI Awesome Again S. has produced the winner of the GI Breeders' Cup Classic, with Mucho Macho Man (Macho Uno) and Accelerate (Lookin At Lucky) completing the double in 2013 and 2018, respectively. Just a field of five faces the starter this weekend for the nine-furlong test--a 'Win and You're In' qualifier for the Classic--but the two marquee horses have legitimate claims at Keeneland in six weeks' time. Maximum Security (New Year's Day), whose topsy-turvy championship sophomore season saw him miss a start...

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The House that Awesome Again Built

All eyes will be on Santa Anita for their opening weekend feature in the GI Awesome Again S. as Bob Baffert trainees Maximum Security (New Year's Day) and Improbable (City Zip) go head to head for the first time since that consequential first Saturday in May last year. The $300,000 Breeders' Cup "Win and You're In" contest could mark the emergence of an unusual stablemate rivalry. Over two decades ago, the race's namesake was part of a different rivalry-- one for 1998 Horse of the Year. Awesome Again had gone...

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Breeders' Cup Announces Post Times for 2020 World Championships

The Breeders' Cup announced post times Thursday for the two-day Breeders' Cup World Championships, consisting of 14 Championship races and eight undercard races with total purses and awards of more than $31 million, which will be held Nov. 6-7 at Keeneland. The official race order and wagering menu for both days of the Championships will be announced Wednesday, Oct. 28. The 37th Breeders' Cup, which will be held in Eastern Standard Time, begins Friday, Nov. 6 with Future Stars Friday, featuring all five Breeders' Cup World Championships races for 2-year-olds....

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Tiz the Law to Skip Preakness, Train Up to Breeders' Cup

Sackatoga Stable's Tiz the Law (Constitution), runner-up in the GI Kentucky Derby, will bypass a run in the Oct. 3 GI Preakness S. and instead train up to the Nov. 7 GI Longines Breeders' Cup Classic, according to a statement from Sackatoga principal Jack Knowlton. "Tiz the Law [is] officially skipping [the] Preakness," Knowlton said on the Sackatoga Twitter account. "Disappointing that Tiz will not be able to run in the Preakness, [but] our primary interest is doing what's right for the horse and in this case he's not ready....

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Maximum Security, Improbable Both Being Pointed to Awesome Again

Stablemates Maximum Security (New Year's Day) and 'TDN Rising Star' Improbable (City Zip) will face one another in Saturday's GI Awesome Again S. at Santa Anita, trainer Bob Baffert has confirmed. Baffert had earlier discussed shipping Maximum Security to New York for the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup, but instead will race him this weekend in his own backyard. Via text, Baffert said he thought the race was a good fit for both horses because he likes the spacing and the fact that no one has to ship. The Jockey...

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'Tiz' Back at Belmont; Preakness Still Under Consideration

Sackatoga Stable's four-time Grade I winner and recent GI Kentucky Derby runner-up Tiz the Law (Constitution) has returned to trainer Barclay Tagg's Belmont home base as his connections consider a start in the Oct. 3 GI Preakness S. "He'll be doing his regular gallops and as long as everything continues along well, then we'll have a work next weekend to assess where we are," said Sackatoga Operating Manager Jack Knowlton. "We want to make sure he comes out of the race well and acts like he did after the [Aug....

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Preakness Added To Breeders' Cup Challenge Series

Officials at Breeders' Cup Limited and The Stronach Group have announced that the Oct. 3 GI Preakness S., the final leg of this year's reconstituted Triple Crown, has been added to the Breeders' Cup Challenge series and will offer the winner an all-expenses-paid berth in the starting gate for the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Classic at Keeneland Nov. 7. It will mark the first time that a Triple Crown races is part of the series. Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, the traditional first leg of the Triple Crown was postponed...

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