Not This Time was already having a career season when he put together a Keeneland fall meet that vaulted him into the history books. A solid second on North America’s general leading sires list, he will look to close the gap on six-time reigning leader Into Mischief at the Breeders’ Cup, where several of his Keeneland stars are among his eight entrants over the event’s two days.

DEL MAR, Calif. – You might have forgotten a filly named Hard to Justify. After all, her last start came in May 2024. Why bring her up? Hard to Justify’s victory in the 2023 Juvenile Fillies Turf marks the only North American-based 2-year-old turf win at the last two Breeders’ Cups.

European horses landed the other five Friday turf races, and they almost certainly will win more this Friday.

Juvenile Turf

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Grade 1-winning multimillionaire Gunite made his name with several hard-knocking seasons on the racetrack. It’s been nearly two years since that career concluded, but his name has come up a number of times this fall due to the commercial success of his sireline and how well his full brother has performed on the racetrack. Now, Gunite gets a chance to put his name forward as his first-crop weanlings come to sales rings in Kentucky.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Daylight Savings Time ends on Nov. 2, meaning the sun will set fairly early in Kentucky on the evening of Monday, Nov. 3.

No matter, the stars will light up the night.

The single-session Fasig-Tipton Kentucky fall selected mixed sale, colloquially known as the “Night of the Stars,” begins at 4 p.m. at the company’s Newtown Paddocks in Lexington. The elite catalog is designed to feature “the sport’s finest bloodstock,” in the words of Fasig-Tipton president Boyd Browning Jr.

DEL MAR, Calif. – Aidan O’Brien sounded legitimately surprised talking about Gstaad, the colt favored to become his eighth winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – There’s a bit of something for everyone at the week-plus of the Keeneland November breeding stock sale.

The auction runs over eight sessions from Tuesday, Nov. 4, through Nov. 11. Including supplemental entries through Oct. 25, there were 3,085 lots cataloged. The stand-alone Keeneland November horses of racing age sale follows on Wednesday, Nov. 12, and had 184 horses cataloged through Oct. 25.

DEL MAR, Calif. – As if a $2 million purse and the honor of becoming a Breeders’ Cup winner were not enough, a division championship is also certain to be at stake when nine 2-year-old fillies square off at 1 1/16 miles Friday at Del Mar in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Crumlin Trouble deserves the nickname “Miss October” as she tries to win her third race this month in Friday’s Woodbine headliner for fillies and mares. The 5 1/2-furlong sprint for non-winners of three combines Ontario-sired allowance types with $40,000 claimers and goes as the seventh on an eight-race card.

DEL MAR, Calif. – A filly who surprised almost everyone and a colt who surprised no one are key entrants in a pair of $175,000 stakes for California-bred 2-year-olds on the Breeders’ Cup undercard Friday at Del Mar.

Too Sassy paid $52.20 winning a Cal-bred stakes last out, but she will not sneak up on bettors Friday. Nearly two months after a decisive victory in the Generous Portion Stakes, Too Sassy returns to Del Mar as a leading contender in the Golden State Juvenile Fillies, race 3.

There is racing elsewhere on Breeders’ Cup weekend – including Friday at Churchill Downs, which has played host to the big weekend nine times and which provides some hints to this year’s “Future Stars Friday” card at Del Mar.