Share This: The Breeders’ Cup Trophy on the grounds of Churchill Downs
Today, we welcome the world back to my old Kentucky home! Once again, Churchill Downs in Louisville, KY welcomes visitors and viewers from all corners of the earth. This racetrack continues to take the international spotlight for grand Thoroughbred racing! Churchill Downs is known for delivering the “Greatest Two Minutes In Sports” for over 144 years and is now hosting it’s ninth of 35 Breeders’ Cup Events. The Breeders’ Cup is serving up 2 days of 14 World Championship races with $30 million in purse money. I just could not help but attend Dawn at the Downs to see the last morning workout before Breeders’ Cup 2018 (BC18) begins!
Share This: Lawn jockeys decorated with the winners of previous stakes decorate Keeneland.
It’s been exactly one week since things really heated up at Keeneland racetrack in Lexington, KY. The October meet opened Friday, October 5th and served up some hot temperatures and hotter stakes races. Fall Stars Weekend delivered 10 stakes races. Since then they have held another stakes as well. What has sire power meant to Keeneland’s racetrack so far and who may we expect to win this weekend’s stakes?
Share This: Training becomes very serious in the days leading up to the start of Keeneland’s Fall Meet.
Hooves are up and ready to race at Keeneland’s Fall Meet! I checked in on the action at Keeneland’s main track yesterday morning. There was an enormous feeling of anticipation as fans, staff, and connections gathered to watch Keeneland’s next contenders as they got in some prep work for the upcoming Fall Meet. There is a large amount of talent, purse money, stakes races and Breeders’ Cup berth races at Keeneland, over the next month. Racing begins Friday as Keeneland presents, Fall Stars Weekend.
Share This: Uncle Mo has sired many stakes winners and his yearlings are in high demand.
The site of a Thoroughbred always leaves me wanting More! As the 13 session long, Keeneland September Yearling Sale has 3 more days to go we have one Mo weekend to see Mo yearlings, spend or make Mo money and meanwhile enjoy some Mo racing. Uncle Mo was well represented at Keeneland’s sale and he has a couple more hips in the final 3 sessions. Additionally, he has sired several horses racing word-wide over these next 3 days. If you are looking for something Mo, please, read on.
Share This: Breeders’ Cup World Championships is enjoyed by many countries.
With just 60 days to go before the 2018 Breeders’ Cup World Championships the entries for the contenders of each race are filing up fast. While the BC races take place in America and Canada, we have entries from all over the world. 85 Challenge Series races held in 12 countries help to define the field of each race. The 35th year of BC races will be hosted by Churchill Downs in Louisville, KY on November 2nd and 3rd. Several of the entries in the 14 BC races are contenders that were bred or live abroad. BC18 welcomes the world!
Saratoga is happy to tie in Runhappy with the Travers and H. Allen Jerkens Stakes!
Saturday at Saratoga serves up several stakes! The Midsummer Derby is only one of seven graded stakes on the day’s card of a lucky 13 races. Five of the stakes offer an automatic berth in the Breeders’ Cup! Three stakes will be covered by NBC. Who will win the Forego, the Sword Dancer or the Travers Stakes?
Share This: California Chrome’s saddlecloth from his 2016 Pacific Classic win!
The Breeders’ Cup Classic field is filling up fast! Who will earn the next berth? We will find out this coming Saturday following the great Pacific Classic Stakes. After the 2016 edition, when California Chrome won, the Pacific Classic will always be a favorite stakes race of mine. Does this stakes hold a special memory for you or will you have a new found interest after this 2018 running?
This week brought the disappointing news that no one wanted but many had already suspected. Our 13th Triple Crown winner, Justify, retired from racing. Justify achieved more than I ever would have expected but his 111 day racing career ended sooner than I anticipated. There are several more races I would have enjoyed seeing him participate in but tragically that won’t happen now. This got me to thinking, what are our assumptions about a triple crown winner? Thus, I set out to examine the triple crown trends.
Share This: New Money Honey enters the track for the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup at Keeneland.
Hello Friday! Another weekend is upon us and many racing fans will be enjoying the freshly open Summer racing at Del Mar and Saratoga. If you’re looking for a nice purse this Saturday, look no further than the Diana Stakes.
Share This: Bound for Nowhere races regularly at Keeneland. He finished third in the Group 1 Diamond Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot.
All good things must come to an end. The 5 days of racing at Royal Ascot concluded today. There were several contenders representing America and with a scattering of races that provide a berth into the Breeders’ Cup we will see many of these Thoroughbreds compete in champion races again. Now that the races are over, let’s see the results in the aftermath of the Ascot.
Chelsea Cloisters, pictured at Keeneland, was a contender in the Queen Mary Stakes.
Ascot Racecourse in Ascot, Berkshire, England opened for live racing in 1711. The racecourse was founded by Queen Anne of the British Royal Family. The Royals still attend and enter contenders annually. In the same year of the racecourse’s inauguration, Queen Anne also initiated Royal Ascot, the 5 day highlight of British racing’s calendar year. In 2018, the races were held Tuesday, June 18th thru Saturday 6/23. 18 Grouped (the British version of Graded) Stakes took place. 8 races were Group One. The purse was over 7.3 million pounds (more than 9.6 million in U.S dollars). The event is very ritzy, with the classiest of fashion. 4 races offered automatic berths into the 2018 Breeders’ Cup.
Lady Aurelia won the Giant’s Causeway at Keeneland, she raced at Royal Ascot for a third time.
Here is a listing of the 8 Group One stakes with the distance and the winner as well as another BC berth race:
The Queen Anne Stakes- 1 mile – Accidental Agent -berth into the BC Mile
The King’s Stand Stakes – 5 furlongs – Blue Point
The St. James’s Palace Stakes – 1 mile – Without Parole
The Prince of Wales’s Stakes -1 mile and 2 furlongs – Poet’s Word -berth into the BC Turf
The Norfolk Stakes (this is the only Group 2 on this list)-5 furlongs – Shang Shang Shang -berth into the BC Juvenile Turf Sprint
The Gold Cup -2 miles and 4 furlongs –Stradivarius
The Commonwealth Cup – 6 furlongs –Eqtidaar
The Coronation Stakes – 1 mile –Alpha Centauri
The Diamond Jubilee Stakes – 6 furlongs – Merchant Navy -berth into the BC Turf Sprint
Lady Aurelia at Keeneland this past Spring raced at Royal Ascot for a third time.
Congratulations to all of the Royal Ascot winners and for the talented American racehorses that were worthy to attend. Royal Ascot is on my bucket list. I would love to experience the glamor and royalty of this 5 day racing event. I hope you were pleased with the aftermath of the Ascot. Keep following for more information on this summer’s top races and all things Thoroughbred.
