Breeders' Cup

Repole Stable's 'TDN Rising Star' Fierceness (City of Light), expected to vie for favoritism in next Saturday's GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar, turned in his final breeze Friday ahead of the $7-million centerpiece of championship weekend, going a half-mile in :48.98 over the Oklahoma training track. With his regular work rider Danny Wright in the irons, the homebred began his work slightly behind a workmate, drew alongside at the entrance to the stretch and was in front at the line before galloping out five furlongs in 1:02 1/5....

There are people that work with horses and there are people that love horses. In the case of Katie Tolbert, there is no better example of a person that works with horses because of how much she loves them. You see the devotion on a quiet morning on the backside of Churchill Downs as she sits in the saddle, stroking the neck of the horse she is astride or is ponying alongside her. You hear it in the echo of a nicker from an excited trainee, eager for her company,...

3-year-old fillies will go one mile on the turf for Friday's $350,000 GII Valley View Stakes at Keeneland in the penultimate weekend before the Breeders' Cup. Last year, in its first rendition run at one mile (the race was previously held going 1 1/16 miles), Chad Brown's Surge Capacity (Flintshire {GB}) spring-boarded from victory into becoming a next-out Grade I winner in the Dec. 3 GI Matriarch Stakes. A full field of 12 (along with four also-eligibles) will look to do the same. Morning-line favoritism lies with the Christophe Clement-trained...

Breeders' Cup Limited has launched a text-to-donate program ahead of next weekend's races to benefit Thoroughbred aftercare in the lead-up to the 2024 Breeders' Cup World Championships held Nov. 1-2 at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, the program announced Thursday. The Breeders' Cup will match up to $10,000 to support the program. Beginning Oct. 24, patrons can donate directly to the 501(c)(3) nonprofit Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, the official aftercare partner of the Breeders' Cup World Championships by texting BC4TAA to 56651. The Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance accredits, inspects and awards grants...

Owner Paul Teasdale of RP Racing has described Big Evs (Ire) as "a horse of a lifetime" as the Mick Appleby-trained colt prepares for his career swansong in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint at Del Mar on Saturday, November 2. Named after Paul Evans, a friend of Teasdale who died of lung cancer in 2022, Big Evs won four of his six starts in a memorable two-year-old campaign, including at Royal Ascot where he shed his maiden tag with victory in the Listed Windsor Castle Stakes. Group-race successes followed...

Some of the best fillies and mares in the world will soon descend on Southern California for the Breeders' Cup. But one of the fastest fillies in the sport will spend the afternoon in a stall for the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff, while her trainer, Michael McCarthy. figures out path he wants to take with 3-year-old filly Accuracy (Arrogate). She's certainly not ready for the Breeders' Cup after maiden win, but a phenomenal performance in an Oct. 19 race at Santa Anita suggest the Mike Repole owned 3-year-old could...

Trainer Chad Brown joins this week's TDN Writers' Room to discuss a stacked lineup of Breeders' Cup-bound trainees, from juvenile Chancer McPatrick to highly regarded older horses Carl Spackler and Domestic Product.

Bolstered by a record 80 entries from the connections of horses based overseas--smashing the previous mark of 60 set just last year--some 212 horses have been pre-entered for the 2024 Breeders' Cup World Championships to be held Friday and Saturday, Nov. 1 and 2. For the third time, the festival will take place at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, which hosted the event for the first time in 2017 and again in 2021. "The record number of outstanding international contenders pre-entered this year speaks to the truly global nature of...

Officials at Breeders' Cup Limited have released the official order of races, post times and wagering menu for the 2024 Breeders' Cup World Championships at Del Mar Friday and Saturday, Nov. 1 and 2, including slight changes from the race order announced earlier this month. The $7-million GI Longines Breeders' Cup Classic will be broadcast live on NBC and streamed on Peacock remains the centerpiece of championship Saturday, with post time set for 2:41 p.m. PT to take advantage of a 2 1/2-hour window on NBC. There are four Breeders'...

Two-time GI Bing Crosby Stakes winner The Chosen Vron (Vronsky), who holds a 'Win and You're In' berth for the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint Nov. 2, will bypass the race, according to a report by Zoe Cadman on X. Cadman, part of the team who hosts the TDN Writers' Room Podcast, attributed the news to The Chosen Vron's co-owner John Sondereker. The Chosen Vron won six straight after a fifth behind champion Elite Power (Curlin) in last year's Breeders' Cup Sprint and most recently finished second by a neck in...

Sportsmen Stable, Parkland Thoroughbreds, Photos Finish, Corms Racing Stable and trainer Jorge Abreu's Grade I-winner Scottish Lassie (McKinzie) worked Sunday at Belmont Park in preparation for the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Nov. 1 at Del Mar. The 2-year-old filly was among the first to breeze after the training track reopened at 7:30 a.m., and was guided through her exercise by jockey Jose Lezcano, who piloted her to victory last out to the graduate in the GI Frizette Stakes Oct. 5. Scottish Lassie worked outside of Jody's Pride (American Pharoah),...

With the Del Mar Breeders' Cup officially less than two weeks away, trainer Chad Brown is continuing to oversee his string's preparations at Belmont Park, while the accomplished MGISW Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna) puts in her final works for conditioner Ken McPeek upstate at Saratoga. Over the training surface in Elmont, Brown sent out two juveniles for half-mile works in 'TDN Rising Star' Chancer McPatrick (McKinzie) [:48.01] and Zulu Kingdom (Ire) (Ten Sovereigns {Ire}) [:48.63], who are targeting the GI FanDuel Breeders' Cup Juvenile and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf,...