The Grade 1, $750,000 E.P. Taylor Stakes has been added to the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series as a “Win and You’re In” event. It becomes the fourth such Woodbine race to earn that distinction, along with the Woodbine Mile, Summer, and Natalma Stakes.
The new designation offers the E.P. Taylor winner a fees-paid berth into the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf on Nov. 1 at Del Mar, a race won by Taylor runner-up Moira last year.
Breeders’ Cup Ltd. and NBC Sports have reached an extension of their broadcast agreement that will keep the event on the network’s channels through 2030, the two companies announced on Wednesday.
The existing contract was set to expire at the end of 2025. It was last extended for 10 years in 2014, under a deal that guaranteed at least eight hours of live coverage over the two days of the event.
Rarely does a big race truly live up to its hype. The Saudi Cup did, with Forever Young wearing down Romantic Warrior in an epic battle of world-class racehorses.
Romantic Warrior might have lost the $20 million Saudi Cup by a neck, but he cemented his stature as an all-time great, transferring his incredible turf form to dirt in his first try over the surface, bested by a rising 4-year-old who might, by year’s end, be considered the best dirt horse in the world.
Volponi, the upset winner of the 2002 Breeders' Cup Classic, has died in Korea at age 27.
Volponi, by Cryptoclearance, resided in Korea since moving there to continue his stallion career in the 2006 season. Korea Racing Authority records show that he died last Friday. A cause of death was not listed.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Much was expected from the contingent of 19 horses sent here from Japan for the Breeders’ Cup, but those expectations fell short as the Japanese failed to win a race.
With the Saturday morning scratch of Awesome Result from the BC Distaff, only 18 horses ran. Rousham Park’s neck loss to Rebel’s Romance in the $5 million Turf was Japan’s best finish. Shahryar finished third in the Turf.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Charlie Appleby describes Rebel’s Romance as “a yard favorite,” which makes sense considering the gelding has been part of the stable’s team for more than four years.
Racing fans on three continents can agree with the sentiment. They have witnessed the Rebel’s Romance brilliance, most recently a victory for the second time in Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Turf at Del Mar. Rebel’s Romance, owned by Godolphin Racing, won the 2022 BC Turf at Keeneland. With Saturday’s win, he is the first two-time winner in non-consecutive years.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Let’s run it back in 2025.
While the Breeders’ Cup definitely is returning to Del Mar next year - Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 - there is the real possibility that the one-two-three finishers from Saturday’s $7 million Breeders’ Cup Classic will attempt to make it back here as well.
Add in Breeders’ Cup Distaff winner Thorpedo Anna and Dirt Mile victor Full Serrano returning to run in 2025 with the Classic as a potential goal, and the possibilities are endless for next year’s Classic.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Starlust was racing in his fourth country this year when he won Saturday’s Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Del Mar in a 33-1 upset.
There are possible plans for a start in a fifth country before the end of the year.
Trainer Ralph Beckett said on Sunday that Starlust will be considered for the Group 1 Hong Kong Sprint, a $3.34 million race at six furlongs at Sha Tin Racecourse in Hong Kong on Dec. 8.
Total betting on the nine Breeders’ Cup races held on Saturday at Del Mar in Southern California was up 4.0 percent compared to total betting on the Saturday Breeders’ Cup slate last year at Santa Anita Park, according to charts of the races.
The Saturday total, $106.76 million, validated a decision by Breeders’ Cup to significantly alter the Saturday race order to fit the day’s most prestigious races into an early-afternoon broadcast window on the flagship station of NBC, the Breeders’ Cup’s broadcast partner.
