Plenty of racing history will be made this weekend at the Breeders’ Cup. But a few thousand miles away, beneath the twin spires of Churchill Downs, Bango is looking to race into history as well. Bango heads a field of nine sprinters in the $300,000 Bet On Sunshine Stakes on Saturday as he looks to become the winningest horse in recorded track history. According to Churchill Downs records, Ready’s Rocket holds the documented modern-day record as the winningest horse at this racetrack with 11 victories, a mark Bango matched in September. Ready’s Rocket’s wins all came at the claiming or starter-allowance level during a career spanning 2005-12. In all, the gelding won 20 of 74 lifetime starts. Bango, a homebred for Fred and Debbie Schwartz’s Tamaroak Stable, has earned more than $1.4 million, winning 14 times from 34 career starts. While he has performed well elsewhere – he is a multiple stakes winner at Ellis Park, a stakes winner at Turfway Park, graded stakes-placed at Keeneland, and stakes-placed at Fair Grounds – he has been exemplary at the Churchill base of trainer Greg Foley, a native of nearby Oldham County. The 6-year-old Bango began his march to history winning a maiden special weight and an allowance/optional-claiming race in 2019, then two more at the allowance/optional level in 2020. The following season, he won the Aristides Stakes and Kelly’s Landing Stakes. In 2022, he again took the Kelly’s Landing, added another allowance-level win, and won last fall’s edition of the Bet On Sunshine. :: Breeders' Cup Shop: DRF Past Performances available now Bango finished second in the Duncan F. Kenner Stakes this January at Fair Grounds, then was freshened before the stable moved back to Louisville. He won the St. Matthews overnight stakes Kentucky Derby week; then was second in the Aristides in June to multiple Grade 1 winner Gunite, who is entered in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint. Bango won the Kelly’s Landing in July, but this time at Ellis, as the latter part of Churchill’s spring meet was shifted there after a spate of equine fatalities. When racing returned to Churchill, Bango won the Louisville Thoroughbred Society on Sept. 16. Most recently, Bango finished third in the Grade 2 Phoenix Stakes opening weekend at Keeneland. He was beaten less than a length by another pair of Sprint entrants, Hoist the Gold and Nakatomi. The Bet On Sunshine has drawn a solid field that includes several horses Bango has already vanquished this season, such as Chris Hartman’s pair of Tejano Twist and Necker Island. Tejano Twist, second choice to Bango on the morning line, won the Grade 3 Whitmore Stakes earlier this year at Oaklawn Park and was Grade 1-placed in the Churchill Downs behind Cody’s Wish and Hoist the Gold. More recently, he was third in the Aristides and fourth in the Kelly’s Landing. Graded stakes-placed Necker Island was third in the Louisville Thoroughbred Society and fourth in the Phoenix. Graded stakes winner Miles Ahead has spent this season finishing second in the Whitmore, second in the St. Matthews, and third in the Kelly’s Landing. Manny Wah has not won since taking the 2022 Phoenix and was seventh this year. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.