Fall has set in in Kentucky, and it’s time to say some farewells, with horse vans driving along the color-splashed roads taking future stallions and broodmares off into their next careers. But lest the melancholy grip one too hard, fall also is a time to look toward the future. The Kentucky circuit moves to Churchill Downs on Sunday for the start of a 26-day fall stand. Sunday’s opening card, which will be the final stop on the farewell weekend for reigning Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna, is the first of two Stars of Tomorrow programs featuring exclusively 2-year-old racing during this meet. The 11-race card has drawn an average field size of 11.4 entrants. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. The co-featured races Sunday are the Grade 3, $200,000 Street Sense and the sister race, the $200,000 Rags to Riches. The races offer their top finishers points toward the 2026 Kentucky Derby and Oaks, respectively, on a 10-5-3-2-1 scale. The Stars of Tomorrow programs have provided an opportunity to see a number of future stars at the dawn of their careers. Last year, Godolphin swept these two stakes with Sovereignty and Good Cheer, who went on to win this year’s Derby and Oaks. Thorpedo Anna appeared throughout the 2023 November meet at Churchill, winning an allowance race on Nov. 10 before finishing second in the Grade 2 Golden Rod, her graded stakes debut, about two weeks later on a Stars of Tomorrow card. She went on to win 10 graded stakes over the next two seasons, including the 2024 Oaks in her championship season. Thorpedo Anna’s retirement was announced earlier this month, and she will spend her broodmare career at Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm in Kentucky. First, however, she was to appear between races on Saturday’s closing-day card at Keeneland, then van down the highway for a farewell at Churchill Downs. The filly will walk over with the field for the sixth race and will remain in the paddock during the race. “I’ve used this analogy a lot in my career,” trainer Kenny McPeek said recently. “Horses are like surfing and you’re trying to catch a big wave. This filly has been the most amazing wave I’ve ever been on.” The quest for the next wave never stops, and McPeek has multiple entrants in both Sunday stakes. Perhaps most prominent among those is The Grumpy Rabbit in the Rags to Riches. The filly was a six-length maiden winner going a 1 1/2-turn mile in her first start on dirt at Ellis Park. Going a true two turns for the first time, she was third in the Grade 1 Alcibiades at 1 1/16 miles at Keeneland, behind Breeders’ Cup-bound Tommy Jo and Percy’s Bar. McPeek also trains Go to Girl, a mile maiden winner at Ellis and fourth in the Alcibiades behind her stablemate. The class these two have faced while going two turns – the others in this field with stakes experience have done so in sprints – makes them standouts. One filly in here who has run creditably in sprints but who figures to relish two turns and develop with added experience is Americathegreat, a well-regarded filly who won her maiden going a one-turn mile in her fourth career start at Churchill Downs for Mark Casse. The Curlin filly, a $1.2 million yearling, is out of the graded stakes-winning A.P. Indy mare America, making this filly a full sister to First Captain, a graded stakes winner around two turns. Life of Joy and Josie Joe are both giving up experience but have turned in strong efforts. Life of Joy was a 14 3/4-length debut winner going a mile at Indiana for Brad Cox. Her 73 Beyer Speed Figure is narrowly best in this field; The Grumpy Rabbit earned a 72 last out. Josie Joe is a maiden for Riley Mott but was second to Americathegreat on debut. Two races later, in the Street Sense, the McPeek barn is alive with Universe and Very Connected. Universe, off a seven-furlong debut win, was third in the Grade 1 Champagne going a one-turn mile after being bumped at the start. He is from a stamina-providing sireline, by the Curlin stallion Global Campaign. Very Connected also is by a son of Curlin, Connect, the sire of McPeek’s stalwart Rattle N Roll. Very Connected is coming off a maiden win at this distance at Churchill Downs on a sloppy track in an off-the-turf maiden. Vost, trained by Will Walden, is coming off a third in the one-mile, Grade 3 Iroquois at Churchill behind Spice Runner and Comport. The Street Sense and Rags to Riches are the first of 16 stakes worth a cumulative $5 million at this November meet. The richest of those is the Grade 2, $600,000 Clark on Nov. 28. Last year’s winner was the aforementioned Rattle N Roll. Racing’s blue-collar horses are recognized at the Claiming Crown on Nov. 15, featuring races with starter-allowance conditions totaling $1.1 million in purses. Virtually bookending the meet is the second Stars of Tomorrow program on Nov. 29, the penultimate card. The Kentucky Jockey Club and Golden Rod, both Grade 2, $400,000 races offering Derby and Oaks points, highlight four 2-year-old stakes. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.