Tag: Breeders Cup

Del Mar's Bing Crosby Season once again goes heavy on turf stakes. Track officials wrote 11 of its 12 graded-stakes races for  the grass. (Image: Del Mar Thoroughbred Club)

Del Mar’s Bing Crosby Season Sings a Grassy Stakes Tune

Del Mar renewed its emphasis on turf racing for its Bing Crosby Season, announcing a stakes schedule going deep on the seaside track’s Jimmy Durante Turf Course. Aside from the Nov. 5-6 Breeders’ Cup returning to Del Mar for the first time since 2017, the track features 18 stakes races. […]

Just like the last time Del Mar played host to the Breeders' Cup in 2017, the seaside track will open to 100% of capacity. (Image: Sean M. Haffey/Getty)

Saratoga, Breeders’ Cup Opening Gates to 100% of Capacity

Officials from both Saratoga Race Course and the Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar announced Wednesday that their facilities will open to 100% capacity this year. The NYRA also announced the full reopening of Belmont Park, beginning June 24. The NYRA’s announcements came on the heels of New York Gov. Andrew […]

Improbable's romp to the Awesome AGain Stakes title last fall came in a Breeders' Cup Challenge Series race. This year, the Awesome Again and its other 'Win and You're In' Breeders' Cup races will run Lasix-free. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Breeders’ Cup Bans Lasix for ‘Win and You’re In’ Challenge Races

Following in the footsteps of the Triple Crown races, Breeders’ Cup World Championships officials announced Wednesday their Challenge Series races will run Lasix free. The Challenge Series races are the “Win and You’re In” races spread out over the world. Those events give all-expense-paid spots in the various Breeders’ Cup […]

Saudi Prince Khalid bin Abdullah created a breeding powerhouse on both sides of the Atlantic. One of the most respected owners and breeders in the world, Prince Khalid died Tuesday at 83. (Image: Trevor Meeks)

Powerhouse Owner, Breeder Prince Khalid bin Abdullah Dies at 83

Tributes from all over the racing world poured in Tuesday, remembering Prince Khalid bin Abdullah, who died Tuesday of undisclosed causes. The Saudi prince and nine-time Eclipse Award winner as owner and breeder was 83. A member of the Saudi Royal Family, Prince Khalid owned Juddmonte Farms, which announced the […]

While many of the country's biggest tracks fell short of their 2019 handles, Remington Park in Oklahoma watched its handle hit nine figures for the first time in the track's 32-year history. (Image: Remington Park)

Despite Topsy-Turvy Year, Horseracing’s 2020 Handle Falls Only 1.3%

Tracks closed, spectators were absent, and schedules were changed beyond recognition. Yet, amid a year unlike any other in Thoroughbred racing, the total 2020 US handle dipped only 1.3% from its 2019 totals. What was remarkable about that modest dip — from $10.871 billion in 2019 to $10.727 billion in […]

Knicks Go's record-setting win in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile marked one of November's racing highlights. Handle dipped slightly during the month year over year. (Image: Eclipse Sportswire)

Despite Breeders’ Cup, Betting Handles Down During November

Despite the betting bonanza that is the Breeders’ Cup, November’s Thoroughbred betting handle dipped more than 6% from its 2019 numbers according to Equibase’s monthly report on Economic Indicators in Thoroughbred Racing. The drop can be attributed to an 8% dip in Breeders’ Cup handle from its record numbers in […]

Authentic went gate-to-wire to win the Breeders' Cup Classic over an all-star field of Grade 1 stakes winners. (Image: AP Photo)

On Record-Setting Day, Breeders’ Cup Handle Takes Mild Dip

With Kentucky Derby champion Authentic, standout filly Gamine, and Knicks Go all winning Breeders’ Cup races in record time – and without general public tickets available – the Breeders’ Cup World Championships managed its sixth-highest all-sources handle since 2007. That was the year the Breeders’ Cup expanded to two days. […]

Improbable was nothing short of awesome in the Grade 1 Awesome Again Stakes. The 5/2 favorite rides into the Breeders' Cup Classic on a three-race win streak. (Image: Alex Evers)

Breeders’ Cup Classic: Picking a Winner in this All-Star Field is a Puzzle

If you’re grasping to understand how good the field is for this year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic truly is, it’s easiest to picture what an All-Star horse race would look like. The Mid-fall Classic, as it were. If the Mid-fall Classic offered a $6 million purse, two Triple Crown race winners, […]

Improbable stands out as a 5/2 favorite in what is one of the deepest Breeders' Cup Classic fields in the history of the event. (Image: AP)

Improbable Takes Favorite Status, Outer Post in Breeders’ Cup Classic

The last time Bob Baffert turned loose a Breeders’ Cup Classic favorite at Keeneland, that horse – American Pharoah – won him his second of three consecutive Classics. Now, Baffert has more than an outside chance of winning his fourth. He has three outside chances. That’s because his three mainstays, […]

Come Dancing owns the best speed figures in a deep, Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint field. But her recent form puts her behind her competitors. (Image: RMP/Spendthrift Farm)

Breeders’ Cup Speed Figures: Solving the Filly & Mare Sprint Puzzle

Even beyond speed figures, the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint offers horseplayers and racing fans one of the best races on the 14-race Breeders’ Cup card. And it offers more balance and deeper speed than you think – even with the likes of Gamine and Serengeti Empress topping the […]

Even without spectators, Keeneland managed more than $148.2 million in handle during its just-concluded Fall Meet. It plays host to the Breeders' Cup in two weeks. (Image: David Coyle/Team Coyle)

Keeneland Wraps Fall Meet with Modest Handle Decline

With the Breeders’ Cup looming in two weeks as Keeneland’s worldwide close-up, the Lexington, KY, track ended its Fall Meet Saturday with a modest 7.5% drop in all-sources handle from 2019. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Keeneland ran its 17-day Fall Meet without spectators. Yet the track recorded $148,229,708 in […]

Keeneland played host to the Breeders' Cup World Championships for the first time in 2015. It gets the 2022 Breeders' Cup along with this year's event Oct. 6-7. (Image: John Snell/Team Coyle)

Keeneland Gets 2022 Consolation After Breeders’ Cup Goes Fan-Free

The Breeders’ Cup became the latest major racing event going spectator-free, announcing it will go without fans for its upcoming event, Nov. 6-7 at Keeneland in Lexington, KY. At the same time, the Breeders’ Cup announced Keeneland will play host to the 2022 event. This means that all four major […]

Midnight Bisou's stellar career is dotted with victories, such as this one in the 2019 Grade 1 Ogden Phipps. She is one of four champion mares headed for Fasig-Tipton's November Sale. (Image: Joe Labozzetta/NYRA)

Midnight Bisou, Monomoy Girl Headline Fasig-Tipton’s November Sale

Four of the greatest distaff horses of the last five years go on the auction block this November when the owners of Monomoy Girl, Midnight Bisou, Uni, and Rushing Fall put their prize mares up for sale at the Fasig-Tipton November Sale. Held at Keeneland on Nov. 8, Fasig-Tipton’s November […]

The start to the Breeders' Cup Classic is like watching an all-star race. This year's Preakness Stakes sends its winner to the $7 million Breeders' Cup Classic at Keeneland. (Image: Breeders' Cup World Championships)

For the First Time, Preakness Joins Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series

For the first time in the Breeders’ Cup’s nearly 40-year history, a Triple Crown race will be part of its “Win and You’re In” Challenge Series of races. The 145th Preakness Stakes became one of 44 Challenge Series races offering spots in the Breeders’ Cup field over the next two […]

The Belmont Park turf will provide the scene for some of Big Sandy's best fall races. (Image: NYRA/Coglianese Photo)

Fall Into Belmont Park’s Autumn Meet: 27 Days, 22 Graded Stakes

Even as the New York Racing Association cuts racing days in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, organization officials announced its 27-day Belmont Park fall meet. That schedule features 38 stakes races worth $5.58 million in purse money. NYRA officials announced Wednesday that they are cutting days from both the Belmont […]

A.P. Indy won eight races in 11 starts, including the 1992 Belmont Stakes. But his stallion career was one of the most impressive in the annals of thoroughbred racing.
(Image: WKYT)

Legendary Sire, 1992 Horse of the Year AP Indy Dies at 31

AP Indy, the 1992 Horse of the Year and one of the most decorated stallions of the 1990s, died Friday at the Kentucky farm where he spent most of his life and sired horses responsible for winning hundreds of races. He was 31. The son of 1977 Triple Crown winner […]

Will she or won't she? Can Vaslika the outstanding turf mare get into the Breeders' Cup if her trainer is banned at Santa Anita. Many question about the event still remaining. (Image: Melanie Martines)

Breeders’ Cup Officials Decide Santa Anita is Safe Enough for Now

The 2019 Breeders’ Cup World Championships is remaining at Santa Anita Park. That’s the decision Thursday from Breeders’ Cup officials. But, they are expecting to continue grappling with the extensive fall-out from the Los Angeles-area race track’s outbreak of training and racing mishaps. Thirty horses have succumbed from racing or […]