A pair of lightly raced 3-year-olds face the prospect of heavy going in the Champion Stakes on Saturday at Ascot Racecourse.
Calandagan, a French 3-year-old, couldn’t race two weekends ago in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe because he’s a gelding and instead squares off against England-based 3-year-old Economics in the Group 1, $1.69 million Champion, the last of four Group 1 races Saturday at Ascot and the last Group 1 of the European flat-racing season outside a couple of 2-year-old contests.
Perhaps you’ve lost track of trainer Brad Cox’s recent performance in high-level dirt races. A refresher.
Starting with the 2-year-old filly Immersive’s appearance in the Grade 1 Spinaway on Aug. 31 at Saratoga, which she won, Cox has gone 6-0-2 from eight starters in Grade 1 and Grade 2 stakes on dirt. That’s right: 6 for 8. Only seven trainers have won more than six graded stakes on dirt this entire year.
And at Keeneland this month? Cox has run three horses in graded dirt stakes: Immersive, Federal Judge, and Idiomatic all won.
The Golden State Racing meeting begins on the Alameda County fairgrounds in Pleasanton on Saturday, with the intent of providing Northern California racing with something absent on the circuit for more than a year.
Stability.
Coming off a respectable third-place finish in the Grade 3 Ladies Marathon at Kentucky Downs in her United States debut last month, Three Priests may have found a little bit easier spot to make her second stateside start when she run in Saturday’s $150,000 Athenia Stakes at Aqueduct.
Three Priests, who will be making her first start for trainer Graham Motion, was cross-entered in Sunday’s Grade 3, $300,000 Dowager at Keeneland but Motion, who took over the training from Roger Varian, thought the Athenia might be a better spot though it means a turnback to 1 1/8 miles.
Firm turf may be the key to a long sought-after win by Snap Decision in Saturday’s Grade 1 American Grand National at Far Hills Racecourse in New Jersey.
Snap Decision has been a fixture in the $250,000 race since 2021, with mixed results.
He was a close second on firm turf in 2021, but sixth of nine a year later on yielding turf. Last year, again on a yielding course, Snap Decision was pulled up.
Snap Decision’s chances, along with the weather, are brighter this weekend. Temperatures are expected to be in the low 70s with clear skies forecast.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – All eyes will be on Rated by Merit on Saturday at Gulfstream Park when the exciting 2-year-old prospect puts his unblemished record on the line as the overwhelming favorite against five seemingly overmatched rivals in the $200,000 Affirmed Stakes.
The seven-furlong Affirmed is the second leg of the open division of the Florida Sire Series and highlights an excellent 12-race program that includes the Affirmed’s filly counterpart, the $200,000 Susan’s Girl, along with the $100,000 Gil Campbell Memorial Handicap.
Talk about a class drop.
In Magic Michael’s recent start, the Grade 3 Greenwood Cup traveling 1 1/2 miles on Sept. 21 at Parx Racing, the 7-year-old gelding faced Next, the country’s best dirt marathoner. Magic Michael, who captured the Greenwood Cup in 2021, did his best to finish a non-threatening second.
There are no Next’s for Magic Michael to contend with Saturday in Parx’s $75,000 M.P. Ballezzi Appreciation Mile for 3-year-olds and up, but the one-mile Ballezzi drew a competitive field of classy campaigners.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – There are 3-year-olds who got a break following the classics chase this spring for whom a race such as the Grade 3, $300,000 Perryville Stakes at seven furlongs is a jumping-off point for a new campaign, perhaps heading back to two-turn events. There are horses such as standout sprinter Book’em Danno for whom this race is a solid goal, in and of itself. And then there are lightly raced runners who are still finding their place among the divisions. Their paths converge to make up a compelling field for the Perryville, the co-feature on Saturday’s card at Keeneland.
ARCADIA, Calif. – A sharp gelding on his way up meets a well-bred graded winner on his way back in the $80,000 Lure Stakes on Saturday at Santa Anita. The grass mile might be a two-horse race, or it might be a trap.
Recent runaway route stakes winner Man O Rose and Grade 2-winning comebacker Seal Team enter with clear attributes, yet both face challenges. Man O Rose, a California-bred stakes winner, has never run long on turf. Seal Team has not started in nearly a year.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Swift Delivery makes his second start with football star Travis Kelce a part owner in Saturday’s Grade 3 Ontario Derby at Woodbine. Kelce’s superstar girlfriend, Taylor Swift, will be in Toronto next month to perform six concerts, and Swift Delivery will be well backed in the 1 1/8-mile Tapeta route, due in part to the publicity he’s garnered from his famous connections.
