Jax and Jill, unbeaten and untested in four starts in three states, and Power Lady, a dominant winner in each of her two starts in Pennsylvania, will clash in Saturday’s $125,000 Smart Halo Stakes for 2-year-old fillies at Laurel Park.
ARCADIA, Calif. – The Breeders’ Cup may have become a victim of its own success. Because it has expanded to more than twice its original size, now with 15 races spread over two days, oftentimes some of the clutter gets in the way of the essence of the event. But get past the background noise, and there is no question that the card presented Saturday at Santa Anita will be one of the finest in the Breeders’ Cup’s 29 editions.
Hyperbole? Hardly.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Joyful Victory performed well in defeat in the Grade 1 Zenyatta Stakes at Santa Anita on Sept. 29, finishing second behind loose-on-the-lead Love and Pride. Yet it wasn’t enough to convince her connections to test her in the Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic. Trainer Larry Jones and Rick Porter’s Fox Hill Farms settled on Saturday’s Grade 2, $150,000 Chilukki Stakes at Churchill Downs instead.
Ima Jersey Girl and Winiliscious, a pair of fillies who soared to career-best Beyer Speed Figures last time out, will try to avoid bouncing when they meet in the $50,000 Crowned, the closing-day feature at Delaware Park.
The 1 1/16-mile race drew a field of seven fillies and mares.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Worth Repeating was scratched early Friday morning from the Breeders’ Cup Marathon because of a minor suspensory issue, according to his trainer, Michael Machowsky.
“We trained him early yesterday [Thursday] morning in the first set, and he trained well, but when we took him out of the stall a little later he was off in his left front,” Machowsky said. “He’s had a little bit of a high suspensory problem. I had my vet look at him at that time, and when we came back and checked him last night he was still off, still not 100 percent.”
Deshawn Parker, the perennial leading rider at Mountaineer Racetrack, was named on two horses who look like serious contenders in Saturday night’s $130,000 Mountaineer Mile. He has chosen to ride Kentucky shipper It Happened Again rather than the locally based Crimson Comic.
Sustained has been scratched from Friday's Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Santa Anita.
Trainer Dale Romans said that Sustained was scratched after she was found to be off in her right foreleg.
"It's better to be safe than sorry," he said.
As a result, Infanta Branca has drawn into the race from the also-eligible list.
ARCADIA, Calif. – The Breeders’ Cup calling its races “World Championships” often strains belief. But when it comes to the Breeders’ Cup Mile, the nomenclature feels just about right.
With Frankel retired, Excelebration, Wise Dan, and Moonlight Cloud probably are the three best turf milers in the world, and they square off Saturday at Santa Anita in a blockbuster edition of the $2,125,000 BC Mile.
ARCADIA, Calif. – At this time last year, St Nicholas Abbey won the richest race of his career, the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Churchill Downs. Point of Entry was racing rather anonymously in optional claimers.
A year later, they are equals. Point of Entry has bloomed into a turf star in New York, winning three consecutive Grade 1 races at Saratoga and Belmont. St Nicholas Abbey has won a Group 1 race this year – the Coronation Stakes at Epsom, England, in June – but has lost his last four starts.
