Fri, 10/24/2025 - 09:05

Breeders’ Cup Classic: Locked withdrawn from race, retired

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Locked, a multiple Grade 1 winner who is coming off a victory in the Grade 2 Woodward Stakes, was withdrawn from consideration from the $7 million Breeders’ Cup Classic on Friday.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Pletcher said myriad things led to Locked being withdrawn from the Breeders’ Cup.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.

Wed, 10/22/2025 - 13:01

Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile: White Abarrio hopes to burnish résumé with win at new distance

By Mary Rampellini

Barbara D. Livingston

White Abarrio, who won the Classic at 1 1/4 miles in 2023, will make his first start at Del Mar in the Dirt Mile.

White Abarrio will be moving to a new distance when he seeks to win a second career Breeders’ Cup race in the Grade 1, $1 million Dirt Mile on Nov. 1 at Del Mar.

“He’s already won the Classic,” said trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. “If he could add the Dirt Mile to his résumé, it would be a pretty impressive résumé that puts him in elite company.”

Wed, 10/22/2025 - 12:54

Breeders' Cup Mile: Johannes, Notable Speech meet again

By Marcus Hersh

Julie Wright

Notable Speech won the Woodbine Mile in his last start. He finished a rallying third in last year's Breeders' Cup Mile.

A year ago, for the first time since 2019, an American horse won the Breeders’ Cup Mile, and while More Than Looks was retired without racing again, the two behind him last November, Johannes and Notable Speech, are among 15 horses pre-entered in this year’s Breeders’ Cup Mile.

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