Fri, 10/24/2025 - 14:08

Breeders' Cup Clocker: Four horses work but Sovereignty's gallop steals show

Barbara D. Livingston

Sovereignty had his first gallop over the Del Mar track on Friday and seemed to be getting stronger the farther he went, according to DRF's Mike Welsch.

Del Mar
Friday, Oct. 24
Weather: Cloudy
Temp.: 54°
Track: Fast

DEL MAR, Calif. – With the majority of this year’s Breeders’ Cup contenders sticking close to home for their final works, there has been very little to report at Del Mar since the racetrack opened for business Monday. The action did pick up to some degree Friday with four potential Breeders’ Cup starters turning in their final major preps over a fast track on an overcast and somewhat dank morning.

Fri, 10/24/2025 - 13:48

Breeders' Cup: O'Brien ships over eight of nine; Beautify out

By David Grening

Barbara D. Livingston

Aidan O'Brien, who's tied for the most Breeders' Cup wins with 20, will have eight runners in this year's races.

Trainer Aidan O’Brien on Friday was scheduled to ship eight of his nine Breeders’ Cup pre-entrants to Del Mar from Ireland.

Beautify, one of three he pre-entered in the Juvenile Fillies Turf, did not ship because she did not come out of her last work well, O’Brien told Daily Racing Form.

O’Brien is expected to run only Precise in the Juvenile Fillies Turf. True Love, who was pre-entered in this race, has first preference and will run in the Juvenile Turf Sprint, O’Brien said.

Fri, 10/24/2025 - 09:05

Breeders’ Cup Classic: Locked withdrawn from race, retired

By David Grening

Barbara D. Livingston

Locked will stand at Gainesway Farm in Kentucky beginning in 2026. He retires with six wins from 11 starts and over $1.9 million in earnings.

DEL MAR, Calif. – Todd Pletcher’s Breeders’ Cup Classic quartet is now a trio.

Locked, a multiple Grade 1 winner who is coming off a victory in the Grade 2 Woodward Stakes, was withdrawn from consideration from the $7 million Breeders’ Cup Classic on Friday. Since the Classic was scheduled to be his last race, Locked has officially been retired from racing. In March, it was announced he was going to stand stud at Gainesway Farm in Kentucky beginning in 2026.

Pletcher said myriad things led to Locked being withdrawn from the Breeders’ Cup.

Thu, 10/23/2025 - 15:16

Schmitt to pitch California Horse Racing Board on five-stop NoCal fair circuit for 2026

By Steve Andersen

Owner-breeder George Schmitt is finalizing details of a proposal to have fair meets at Pleasanton, Ferndale, Fresno, Santa Rosa, and Red Bluff in 2026.

George Schmitt, a prominent Thoroughbred owner and breeder, said last week that he plans to approach the California Horse Racing Board in November with a request to conduct fair meetings at as many as five venues in 2026, including a track in Red Bluff, north of Sacramento, used in past years for unsanctioned races.

Thu, 10/23/2025 - 14:50

Breeders' Cup: After a slow start to the year, Pletcher set up for a big finish

By David Grening

Barbara D. Livingston

Todd Pletcher’s 3-year-olds didn’t perform up to expectations this year, but he brings four strong older horses to the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

In a year where he was a rare non-factor in the 3-year-old division, trainer Todd Pletcher surprisingly finds himself in contention for a record-extending ninth Eclipse Award as champion trainer on the strength of an older male division and a 2-year-old class that brings him to the Breeders’ Cup with several live chances.

It’s a position he couldn’t fathom after the first six months of the year, when he won just six graded stakes, three of which were Grade 1s.

Thu, 10/23/2025 - 13:26

Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf: Smith hoping See The Fire is due

By Steve Andersen

The 14th and final race Breeders’ Cup race at Del Mar next weekend is the $2 million Filly and Mare Turf with a post time of 5:25 p.m. Pacific on Saturday, Nov. 1.

In Britain, the race will start at 1:25 a.m. on Sunday, very late but as good of an excuse as any for owner and breeder Jeff Smith to be awake.

Smith races See The Fire, a two-time group stakes winner who has been second or third in five Group 1 races in Britain and France in the last two years.

“I’ll be up,” Smith said in a phone interview on Thursday.

Thu, 10/23/2025 - 09:06

Stallion rosters clear up before Breeders' Cup

By Nicole Russo

Barbara D. Livingston

Likely Classic runner Mindframe will retire to Claiborne Farm in 2026 to enter stud.

As the picture for the Breeders’ Cup began to come into focus with Wednesday’s release of pre-entries, the stallion rosters for 2026 are also becoming clearer.

Coolmore’s Ashford Stud in Kentucky released its roster of stallions and stud fees for 2026 on Wednesday, and it has an argument for the strongest list of newcomers in the country. Taking up residence in the stud barn following their respective Breeders’ Cup races will be Sierra Leone, Fierceness, and Citizen Bull – all already Breeders’ Cup winners and Eclipse Award champions.

Wed, 10/22/2025 - 17:28

Churchill plans $300 million renovation project; third quarter income drops

By Matt Hegarty

Churchill Downs Inc.

The Victory Run renovation project includes a four-story structure, covered box seats, suites, and indoor and outdoor eating options.

Churchill Downs will renovate an existing grandstand-seating area around the track’s first turn in a project with an estimated cost of $300 million, the track’s parent company announced on Wednesday.

The project is the first Churchill has announced since the company abruptly scuttled three previously announced projects with an estimated total cost of $920 million, citing “increasing uncertainty surrounding construction costs related to tariffs and trade disputes, as well as current macro-economic conditions.”

Wed, 10/22/2025 - 13:46

Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint: Haulin Ice supplemented as Joseph eyes repeat

By Patrick Moquin

Ryan Thompson/Coglianese Photos

Haulin Ice earned a spot in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint with a victory in the Princess Rooney but still needed to be supplemented for $100,000.

In a bid to win the race for a second consecutive year, trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. considered a trio of 4-year-old fillies for this year’s Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint before landing on a single runner. Getting the Florida-based filly Haulin Ice into the race should have been straightforward for the trainer, but he and the owners only decided to take the trip after a month of intense organizing.

Wed, 10/22/2025 - 13:06

2025 Breeders' Cup: Wagering options aplenty

By Matt Hegarty

Barbara D. Livingston

The Breeders' Cup Friday card at Del Mar begins with a 11:35 a.m. Pacific first post time. Saturday's races will begin at 10:05 a.m. Pacific.

Bettors targeting the Breeders’ Cup cards at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Southern California on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 will once again have a surfeit of wagering options over the two days, with rolling doubles, pick threes, pick fours, pick fives, and pick sixes offered throughout the cards.

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