Breeders' Cup

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.-Just the mere fact that a $3,500 yearling has won two races of any kind at Saratoga this summer, puts The Queens M G (Thousand Words) in a "that's impressive" category. In the GI Spinaway Stakes Saturday, she will try to add to her reputation by completing the rare sweep of the track's three stakes for 2-year-old fillies. The Queens M G scored in the 5 1/2-furlong Schuylerville Stakes, long the opening day feature, by 2 3/4 lengths at 44-1 July 11. She crushed the six-furlong GIII Adirondack...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.-When it became perfectly clear that the finish of Saturday's $1.25-million, GI DraftKings Travers Stakes at Saratoga Race Course was going to be desperately close, trainer Todd Pletcher went to work. Sitting up in his clubhouse box, the normally composed Pletcher rose to his feet and screamed and yelled for his 3-year-old colt Fierceness (City of Light) to get the job done in the Midsummer Derby. "I knew it was getting close," the Hall of Fame trainer said outside his office at his barn at the Oklahoma Training...

Breeders' Cup Limited and John Deere have renewed their multi-year partnership, further cementing John Deere as the official supplier of agricultural, turf and construction equipment for the Breeders' Cup World Championships, the organizations said in a joint release. As part of the arrangement, John Deere becomes the title sponsor of the GI John Deere Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies' Turf to be held on Future Stars Friday at Del Mar Nov. 1. "John Deere is immensely proud to be the official supplier of agricultural, turf and construction equipment for the Breeders'...

Byron López was 18 years old when he moved from Guatemala and began working for a talented new trainer named Todd Pletcher. He started out as a hot walker and soon moved up to becoming a groom. Twenty-four years later, he now cares for some of the best of the best among Pletcher's elite stable. López shared his story in Spanish, but the deep devotion he has for his equine charges surpassed any language barriers. "I am motivated by the horses," he said. "They are so affectionate and I get...

By winning last Sunday's GI Saratoga Derby Invitational, Carson's Run (Cupid) secured a spot in the AUS$5-million Ladbrokes G1 W. S. Cox Plate on October 26 in Australia. In U.S. dollars, the race is worth about $3.3 million. It's an invitation his connections  are seriously considering. "We're interested," said Terry Finley, the managing partner of West Point Thoroughbreds, which owns the horse with Steven Bouchy. "It is a very lucrative package. I haven't talked to (trainer) Christophe Clement about it yet but we are definitely game. That's an awful lot...

Colonial Downs Racetrack in New Kent, VA has rescheduled their Thursday and Friday racing cards to dates next week due to impending weather in the area from Tropical Storm Debby. The Thursday, Aug. 8 card will move to Monday, Aug. 12 while the Friday, Aug. 9 card will be held as drawn Tuesday, Aug. 13. Officials are still monitoring the weather as it relates to the Colonial Downs Festival of Racing card Saturday which includes the GI Arlington Million and the Breeders' Cup WAYI GII Beverly D. Stakes. A decision...

In a stylish defense of his title--though the word feels underwhelming to describe the ease--Next (Not This Time) did what Next does best in the Birdstone Stakes: turning a marathon into a runaway. Racing on appointment only the last couple of seasons, his smallest margin of victory came in his first appearance in the GII Brooklyn Stakes last year, where he defeated SW & MGSP Calibrate (Distorted Humor) by 2 1/4 lengths. His largest came when he wrapped 2023 a 25-length winner in Parx's Sept. 23 GIII Greenwood Cup, but...

Junior Alvarado wasn't among this year's class of inductees over the weekend at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. But the 38-year-old veteran put on a mini-clinic across the street at Saratoga Race Course that underscored his versatility as an unheralded rider on an ultra-competitive circuit who consistently coaxes the best out of his mounts, regardless of surface, distance, running style or odds. Although the headline-grabber among his trio of victories was Saturday's decisive wiring of the GI Whitney Stakes aboard the older-horse division's newest phenom, Arthur's...

Kentucky Downs will play host to the inaugural FanDuel TV U.S. Open Turf Championships Sept. 7. The event will feature six graded stakes races offering over $2m apiece for Kentucky-breds. In addition to the three Breeders' Cup 'Win and You're In Races', Kentucky Downs will pay the pre-entry and entry fees towards the Breeders' Cup for the winners of three additional stakes should they make a Breeders' Cup field at Del Mar Nov. 1-2. FanDuel TV has also been announced as the title sponsor for the GII FanDuel TV Kentucky...

Gatewood Bell has been appointed to serve on the management committee of Equibase Company LLC, announced company chairman Ian D. Highet. The vice president of racing for Keeneland and a third-generation horseman, Bell also served as president of Cromwell Bloodstock for a decade before joining Keeneland as well as previously serving on the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. He has been a member of The Jockey Club since 2020 and serves as a member of the Breeders' Cup. Bell fills the vacating board seat of James Gagliano, president and chief operating...

For many people, their passion for racing started with a horse. They watched Zenyatta dance to two Breeders' Cup victories, they had a strong opinion in the rivalry between Affirmed and Alydar or maybe they cheered American Pharoah on to a Grand Slam score when he won the 2015 Classic. For Priscilla Schaefer, her love of racing all started with a backstretch. She was in high school when she attended her first horse race at Emerald Downs outside of Seattle, Washington. Watching as the horses entered the starting gate, Schaefer...

Breeder and owner John C. Oxley has been selected by the Thoroughbred Club of America (TCA) as the 2024 Honor Guest, the organization said in a Wednesday press release. Oxley will receive the award at the TCA's 93rd Testimonial Dinner, which will be held at Keeneland on Friday, Nov. 15. "The Thoroughbred Club of America is delighted to name John C. Oxley as its 2024 Honor Guest", said Club President Charlie Boden. "Mr. Oxley is a true horseman whose equestrian exploits in the saddle are well documented and only eclipsed...