Del Mar

Wednesday's Breeders' Cup Report: Thorpedo Anna 'Owned it Out There'

DEL MAR, CA - The 'Grizzly' is sitting on go. After a light training session on Tuesday, 'TDN Rising Star' Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna) turned in her first local gallop in the pre-dawn hours at Del Mar on a brisk Wednesday morning. The GI Kentucky Oaks heroine and GI Breeders' Cup Distaff 4-5 morning-line favorite displayed her typical high energy and was an absolute handful beneath exercise rider Danny Ramsey throughout her powerful 1 1/2-mile gallop. "Good?," trainer Kenny McPeek asked Ramsey as Thorpedo Anna was heading off the track....

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Fun, Fun, Fun as Frankie and Friends are Reunited 

He's been on board for both her Group 1 wins and on Wednesday morning Frankie Dettori was reunited with Emily Upjohn (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) for a spin on the grass track at Del Mar ahead of lining up for the Breeders' Cup Turf. It has been exactly a year since Europe's most recognisable jockey signed off with a Champion Stakes triumph in Britain before jetting to his new life in California. This new chapter started in the best possible way with another top-flight win, in the Breeders' Cup...

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Saratoga: The Fall Place to Be

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - If the 2024 racing season at Saratoga Race Course wrapped up Labor Day weekend, why are so many of the best horsemen in the country still sticking around? Overlooking the famed Oklahoma Training Track, and, at the moment, enveloped in bright fall foliage, the former home to 2023 Horse of the Year Cody's Wish (Curlin) seems like a good place to start. "What did we win, five the last two years? That's not bad," Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott said with a smile standing outside...

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Tuesday's Breeders' Cup Report: Classic Contenders Take the 'City' by Storm

DEL MAR, CA - With the rising sun attempting to make its way out of a dense cloud cover, contenders for Saturday's $7-million GI Breeders' Cup Classic were out in force during about a 30-minute window following the renovation break at Del Mar Tuesday morning. 'TDN Rising Star' Newgate and Pyrenees, a pair of blaze-faced, 4-year-old sons of the all-conquering Into Mischief, both entered on their toes and filled the frame nicely while training with good energy. Newgate, listed at a very generous 20-1 on the morning-line, adds blinkers for...

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Johannesburg to City Of Troy: Three Generations On and Back to the Dirt

DEL MAR, USA -- October 2001 was a sobering time to be in New York. Some seven weeks on from the devastating attack on the World Trade Center, the city was shrouded in sadness and America was a nation united in grief for the thousands who lost their lives on 9/11. Horseracing, often referred to as the great triviality, doesn't usually feel like that to those who work in the sport, but it did feel trivial, almost intrusive, to be at Belmont that year for what was a first visit...

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NBC, USA Network and Peacock to Air 12 hours of Coverage of Breeders' Cup

NBC Sports presents nearly 12 hours of live coverage of the 41st Breeders' Cup World Championships this weekend with more than $34 million in prize money at stake in 14 races.     Headlining the weekend's coverage is the $7-million Longines GI Breeders' Cup Classic Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock live from Del Mar Racetrack in Del Mar. Live racing coverage begins Friday, Nov. 3 at 4 p.m. ET on USA Network and Peacock. More than six hours of live coverage on Saturday begins at 2 p.m. ET...

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Keeneland Championship Sale Takes 'Flight' at Del Mar

by Steve Sherack & J.N. Campbell  DEL MAR, CA - It's not too late to own a Breeders' Cup contender. The inaugural Keeneland Championship Sale, set to be held in Del Mar's paddock Wednesday evening, will feature 10 offerings (12 were catalogued), including interests in four horses entered in this weekend's Breeders' Cup. The catalogue includes: - A 50% ownership interest in impressive GIII Vosburgh Stakes winner and GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile contender Mufasa (Chi) (Practical Joke) (Hip 9). The interest is consigned by I. C. Racing, LLC, agent....

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Little Red Feather Collecting for Hometown Breeders' Cup

"Boy Trapped in Refrigerator Eats Own Foot." Well, that got your attention, didn't it? Devotees of a certain spoof disaster movie may recall the spinning front-page story--but few will be aware that it may yet, in a roundabout way, lead to genuine headlines at the Breeders' Cup. Bret Jones of Airdrie Stud was at a dinner a few years ago when someone passing behind his seat overheard him saying how much he enjoyed Airplane! "I was in that movie," said Billy Koch. On the face of it, it seemed unlikely....

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City of Troy Draws Three, Made 5-2 Choice For Breeders' Cup Classic

Despite never having raced on the dirt in his two seasons at the races, Mrs John Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith's champion and 'TDN Rising Star' City of Troy (Justify) was assigned gate three as the 5-2 morning-line selection in a full field of 14 and will be ridden by Ryan Moore in Saturday's $7-million GI Longines Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar. Deemed by trainer Aidan O'Brien--a two-time runner-up in the Classic (Giant's Causeway, Declaration of War)--'the best he's ever trained,' the son of G1SW Together Forever (Ire)...

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Japanese Pedigrees Replete With Breeders' Cup Performances

Having created history at the Breeders' Cup with a pair of winners the last time the championships were held at Del Mar back in 2021, Japan comes into this year's event with an even stronger hand. Some 19 horses based in Japan have made the trip over, headed by GI Kentucky Derby third Forever Young (Jpn) (Real Steel {Jpn}, the third ante-post betting favorite for the $7-million GI Breeders' Cup Classic. It is no secret that for many years, Japanese breeders have shopped the U.S. bloodstock market, acquiring some of...

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East Avenue Tops Individual Interests In Pool 1 Of Kentucky Derby Future Wager

The first pool of the 2025 Kentucky Derby Future Wager opens Wednesday, Oct. 30 at noon and features 10-1 individual favorite in 'TDN Rising Star' and GI Breeders' Futurity winner East Avenue (Medaglia d'Oro). The pool includes 38 individual betting interests as well as options for "All Fillies Foaled in 2022" and "All Other Colts and Geldings Foaled in 2022." Bettors can place $2 Win and Exacta wagers on horses in Pool 1 with betting to conclude Friday, Nov. 1 at 6 p.m. before the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile is...

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Newgate Among Four Breeders' Cup Contenders to Work at Santa Anita

GI Breeders' Cup Classic contender 'TDN Rising Star' GISW Newgate (Into Mischief), along with three other horses pre-entered in this weekend's championships at Del Mar, worked Sunday morning at Santa Anita. Firing his second bullet in a row going five furlongs, this time in :58.80, the Bob Baffert-trainee shared the top ranking on the morning with John Sadler runner GSP-Arg & GISP Full Serrano (Arg) (Full Mast). In the Classic, Newgate will be making his second start since returning from a six-month layoff after a ninth-place finish in the G1...

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