Breeders' Cup Classic

ARCADIA, CA -- After firing a five-furlong warning shot at Santa Anita Monday morning, Zedan Racing's 'TDN Rising Star' Arabian Knight (Uncle Mo) was installed as the 3-1 morning-line favorite while drawing post 12 at the Rood & Riddle Post-Position Draw for Saturday's GI Breeders' Cup Classic. The Bob Baffert-trained GI Pacific Classic hero and $2.3-million OBS April breezer will face 12 rivals in the $6-million centerpiece, including fellow sophomore and the rail-drawn GI Belmont S. and GI Travers S. hero Arcangelo (Arrogate), GI Whitney S. winner White Abarrio (Race...

GI Kentucky Derby winner Mage (Good Magic) has been ruled out of the GI Breeders' Cup Classic by trainer Gustavo Delgado. Delgado made the announcement Sunday on X (formerly Twitter), writing: "We are sorry to announce that we have decided to cancel Mage's trip to California. He presented a feverish state this morning and we have noticed symptoms of loss of appetite. Given the proximity to the race, we feel that it is best for the horse to skip the Classic." Delgado wrote that prior to this setback, Mage had...

Surely there's not much that hasn't been said about the inimitable Gun Runner. A top 3-year-old--Grade I winner who placed in the Kentucky Derby, Travers, and Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile--he was nearly perfect at four. After a runner-up finish behind Arrogate halfway across the world in the Dubai World Cup, he never lost again, reeling off a string of Grade I scores which included the Breeders' Cup Classic. He hasn't broken stride at stud either, currently and remarkably ranked second on the U.S. general sires list with only his third...

It was a tale of two Breeders' Cup preps Monday morning at Santa Anita for Arabian Knight (Uncle Mo) and White Abarrio (Race Day), the former putting in an eye-catching six furlong work in 1:11.54 and then galloping out a mile in 1:37.57 without any pressing encouragement, as reported by the DRF in the Breeders' Cup Clocker Report, and the latter having it tentatively postponed until Wednesday. When asked for a reason, conditioner Rick Dutrow only said: "We weren't able to work [White Abarrio] this morning. Hopefully we'll get to...

Pin Oak Stud LLC's Geaux Rocket Ride (Candy Ride {Arg}), winner of the GI TVG.com Haskell S. ahead of a runner-up effort in the GI TVG Pacific Classic, breezed three-quarters of a mile in 1:13.80 over the Santa Anita main track Friday morning as he resumed his serious preparations for the GI Breeders' Cup Classic Nov. 4. Taking to the track at around 7:45 a.m. PT, the $350,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga graduate was put through his paces by regular rider and four-time Classic winner Mike Smith, who pronounced himself pleased with...

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...

Between winning the COVID-delayed Kentucky Derby in September and giving thousands of microshare owners cause to celebrate, Authentic was a major talking point the fall of 2020. His first foals, yearlings of 2023, include 10 who fetched $700,000 or more at recent Keeneland and Fasig-Tipton sales. "Authentic is a very special horse to us here at Spendthrift," said the farm's general manager, Ned Toffey. "He is a horse that we initially pursued the breeding interest in, but very quickly we found ourselves taking it a step farther and buying him...

The first of back-to-back GI Breeders' Cup Classic winners retired to Spendthrift, Vino Rosso currently leads the U.S. freshman sire list and has had four individuals place in Grade I races in the last five weeks, including three on Oct. 7. "Since he is a son of Curlin, we were fortunate enough to acquire the breeding rights to him in his 4-year-old year, and that's when he really began to take off," said Ned Toffey, general manager of Spendthrift. "He won the Wood Memorial, so he was good early in...

Horses aren't supposed to be able to do what Ghostzapper did. The Hall of Famer was so dazzling that the 128 Beyer Speed Figure he registered in the GIII Philip H. Iselin H.--still the highest figure in the history of American racing at a route--isn't even remembered as one of his top races. Some people might count his GI Vosburgh sprinting at three against older horses as one of his best, others might prefer his GI Woodward battle over eventual Horse of the Year Saint Liam, and still others might...

Slow Down Andy (Nyquist), front-running winner of Saturday's GI Awesome Again S. at Santa Anita, will miss the GI Breeders' Cup Classic Nov. 4, according to a report in Daily Racing Form. Although he was sound following the Awesome Again, the 4-year-old came out of the race with some filling in his ankle and will get 60 days off. The Awesome Again was Slow Down Andy's first Grade I win and earned him a paid berth into the Classic as it was a "Win and You're In" race. He got...

Leading GI Breeders' Cup Classic contender Arcangelo (Arrogate), winner of this summer's GI Belmont S. and GI Travers S., had his first work at Santa Anita Thursday, breezing five furlongs in 1:02.20 under exercise rider Robert Mallari. "We're just getting him used to the track," trainer Jena Antonucci said. "There's plenty of time go fast." Antonucci was on hand in California for the work from her stable in New York. She will be back in New York Friday morning, but will return to Santa Anita later this month and remain...