Breeders' Cup Win and You're In | Horse Racing Free Tips

Seven Breeders’ Cup Win And You’re In Stakes Highlight Santa Anita Autumn Meet

Santa Anita's 2021 Autumn Meet, which opens on Friday, Oct. 1, will offer fans and horsemen a comprehensive stakes schedule comprised of 21 stakes through Oct. 31, and will be highlighted by seven Breeders' Cup 'Win And You're In' Challenge Series stakes on Oct. 1, 2, and 3.

Three Grade 1 stakes, the $300,000 American Pharoah for 2-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles, the $300,000 Awesome Again for 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/8 miles, and the $300,000 Rodeo Drive for fillies and mares 3 and up at a mile and one quarter on turf, all figure prominently over the first two days as horsemen prepare for the two-day Breeders' Cup World Championships at Del Mar on Nov. 5 and 6.

On opening day, Oct. 1, four stakes will be offered, three of them Breeders' Cup “Win & You're In' stakes – the American Pharoah, the Grade 2, $200,000 Chandelier Stakes for 2-year-old fillies at 1 1/16 miles, and the $100,000 Speakeasy Stakes for 2-year-olds at five furlongs on turf.

The Grade 2, $200,000 Eddie D Stakes for 3-year-olds and up at 6 ½ furlongs on turf will also be run on Oct. 1.

On Saturday, Oct. 2, the Awesome Again and the Rodeo Drive will be complemented by the Grade 2, $200,000 Santa Anita Sprint, which is also a Breeders' Cup 'Win & You're In' qualifier, for 3-year-olds and up at six furlongs.

Additionally, the Grade 2, $200,000 City of Hope Mile (turf) will be run on Oct. 2.

On Sunday, Oct. 3, one additional 'Win & You're In' qualifier, the Grade 2 Zenyatta Stakes for fillies and mares three and up at 1 1/16 miles will be offered, as well as a pair of $200,000 stakes for 2-year-olds at one mile on turf, the Surfer Girl and the Zuma Beach.

The Grade 3, $100,000 Chillingworth Stakes for fillies and mares 3 and up at 6 ½ furlongs and the $75,000 Unzip Me Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at 6 ½ furlongs on turf round out a total of five stakes on Oct. 3.

A pair of graded stakes, the Grade 3, $100,000 Autumn Miss for 3-year-old fillies at one mile on turf and the Grade 2, $200,000 Twilight Derby for 3-year-olds at 1 1/8 miles on turf will be offered on closing weekend, Oct. 30 and 31.

Santa Anita's complete Autumn 2021 Stakes Schedule will be available later in the week at santaanita.com/horsemen. For additional information, please call the Santa Anita Racing Office at (626) 574-6352.

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30% Increase To Del Mar Summer Stakes Purses Led By $250,000 Boost To Pacific Classic

Building on the positive news it announced last week concerning a 30% increase to overnight purses and major enhancements to its popular “Ship & Win” program, the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif., released this year's summer stakes schedule showing a similar healthy increase of 30% to its major stakes compared to the 2020 racing season.

In 2020, the track presented 32 major stakes worth $5,175,000. For this year there will be two additional stakes and total purses will be $6,750,000, a value increase of 30%.

Twenty-one of this season's major stakes show increases from 2020 beginning at $25,000 and rising to $250,000. Notable in those escalations are an additional quarter-million dollars added to the Grade 1 TVG Pacific Classic, raising it to $750,000; $150,000 to the Grade 2 Del Mar Mile making it worth $300,000, and $100,000 each to the Grade 2 Del Mar Handicap (up to $300,000) and the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap (now worth $250,000).

“This is one of the strongest stakes schedules in Del Mar's history,” said David Jerkens, Del Mar's racing secretary. “We have increased purses virtually across the board. I am really excited to see the level of quality our stakes program will attract, especially being the home of the Breeders' Cup this year.”

Del Mar again will host the Breeders' Cup this fall, presenting the World Championships on Friday and Saturday, November 5 and 6. Del Mar hosted the Breeders' Cup previously in 2017.

Two stakes that took a hiatus in 2020 will return in 2021, the Grade 3 Cougar II Stakes and the Del Mar Juvenile Fillies Turf, both carrying $100,000 purses.

Del Mar once again will present a power-packed program around its signature event, the TVG Pacific Classic, scheduled for Saturday, August 21. As it has done for the past several years, the track will offer four additional stakes that afternoon: the Grade 1, $300,000 Del Mar Oaks; the Grade 2 Del Mar Handicap; the Grade 2 Del Mar Mile, and the Grade 3, $100,000 Torrey Pines Stakes.

It also will feature a stakes tripleheader on its opening day, Saturday, July 17. The traditional opening day headliner – the $100,000 Runhappy Oceanside Stakes – will be on the bill, joined by the Grade 2, $250,000 San Diego Handicap and the Osunitas Stakes, an overnight offering that carries an $80,000 purse.

There will be six Grade 1 events over the course of the summer – the $300,000 Bing Crosby Stakes on Saturday, July 31; the $300,000 Clement L. Hirsch Stakes on Sunday, August 1; the Del Mar Oaks and the TVG Pacific Classic, both on Saturday, August 21; the $300,000 Del Mar Debutante on Sunday, September 5, and the $300,000 Runhappy Del Mar Futurity on Monday, September 6, which is closing day.

As it has in all recent seasons, Del Mar will present five Breeders' Cup “Win and You're In” races all of which give their winners automatic admittance and entry fees to parallel Breeders' Cup races. They are:

Bing Crosby Stakes (guaranteeing admission and entry fees to the $2 million BC Sprint); Clement L. Hirsch Stakes ($2 million BC Distaff); the Del Mar Handicap ($4 million BC Turf); TVG Pacific Classic ($6 million BC Classic), and the $200,000, Grade 2 Pat O'Brien Stakes ($2 million BC Dirt Mile).

Further, the track once more will tender its usual complement of eight California-bred stakes, part of the Golden State Stakes Series that consists of 36 stakes worth more than $4.4 million. Those stakes are the $175,000 Fleet Treat Stakes, the $150,000 California Dreamin' Stakes, the $175,000 Real Good Deal Stakes, the $100,000 CTBA Stakes, the $100,000 Graduation Stakes, the $150,000 Solana Beach Stakes, the $100,000 Generous Portion Stakes and the $100,000 I'm Smokin Stakes.

Del Mar will open with Saturday and Sunday (July 17, 18) cards, then go into a Thursday through Sunday format for the balance of the meet leading up to the closing card on Labor Day Monday, September 6. First post daily will be 2 p.m.

The list of stakes follows:

DATE	RACE / CONDITIONS	PURSE / DISTANCE
Sat. Jul 17	RUNHAPPY OCEANSIDE STAKES Three-year-olds, N/W S/S of $50,000 at 1 M o/o in 2021	$100,000 Guaranteed 1 Mile (T)
Sat. Jul 17	SAN DIEGO HANDICAP (Gr. II) Three-year-olds & up	$250,000 Guaranteed 1 1/16 Miles
Sat. Jul 17	Osunitas Stakes* Fillies & Mares, Three-year-olds & up, N/W S/S $50,000 at 1 M o/o since September 1	$80,000 Added 1 Mile (T)
Sun. Jul 18	COUGAR II STAKES (Gr. III) Three-year-olds & up	$100,000 Guaranteed 1 1/2 Miles
Sun. Jul 18	Wickerr Stakes* Three-year-olds & up, N/W S/S of $50,000 at 1 M o/o in 2021	$80,000 Added 1 Mile (T)
Thu. Jul 22	Daisycutter Handicap* Fillies & Mares, Three-year-olds & up	$80,000 Added 5 Furlongs (T)
Fri. Jul 23	FLEET TREAT STAKES Fillies, Three-year-olds, Cal-Bred	$175,000 Guaranteed 7 Furlongs
Sat. Jul 24	EDDIE READ STAKES (Gr. II) Three-year-olds & up	$250,000 Guaranteed 1 1/8 Miles (T)
Sat. Jul 24	SAN CLEMENTE STAKES (Gr. II) Fillies, Three-year-olds	$200,000 Guaranteed 1 Mile (T)
Sun. Jul 25	CALIFORNIA DREAMIN' STAKES Three-year-olds & up, Cal-Bred	$150,000 Guaranteed 1 1/16 Miles (T)
Fri. Jul 30	REAL GOOD DEAL STAKES Three-year-olds, Cal-Bred	$175,000 Guaranteed 7 Furlongs
Sat. Jul 31	BING CROSBY STAKES (Gr. I) Three-year-olds & up	$300,000 Guaranteed 6 Furlongs
Sun. Aug 01	CLEMENT L. HIRSCH STAKES (Gr. I) Fillies & Mares, Three-year-olds & up	$300,000 Guaranteed 1 1/16 Miles
Thu. Aug 05	CTBA STAKES Fillies, Two-year-olds, Cal-Bred	$100,000 Guaranteed 5 1/2 Furlongs
Fri. Aug 06	SORRENTO STAKES (Gr. II) Fillies, Two-year-olds	$200,000 Guaranteed 6 Furlongs
Sat. Aug 07	YELLOW RIBBON HANDICAP (Gr. II) Fillies & Mares, Three-year-olds & up	$200,000 Guaranteed 1 1/16 Miles (T)
Sat. Aug 07	BEST PAL STAKES (Gr. II) Two-year-olds	$200,000 Guaranteed 6 Furlongs
Sun. Aug 08	LA JOLLA STAKES (Gr. III) Three-year-olds	$150,000 Guaranteed 1 1/16 Miles (T)
Sun. Aug 08	GRADUATION STAKES Two-year-olds, Cal-Bred	$100,000 Guaranteed 5 1/2 Furlongs
Sat. Aug 14	CTT & TOC Stakes* Fillies & Mares, Three-year-olds & up	$80,000 Added 1 3/8 Miles (T)
Sun. Aug 15	SOLANA BEACH STAKES Fillies & Mares, Three-year-olds & up, Cal-Bred	$150,000 Guaranteed 1 Mile (T)
Fri. Aug 20	RANCHO BERNARDO HANDICAP (Gr. III) Fillies & Mares, Three-year-olds & up	$100,000 Added 6 1/2 Furlongs
Sat. Aug 21	TVG PACIFIC CLASSIC (Gr. I) Three-year-olds & up	$750,000 Guaranteed 1 1/4 Miles
Sat. Aug 21	DEL MAR OAKS (Gr. I) Fillies, Three-year-olds	$300,000 Guaranteed 1 1/8 Miles (T)
Sat. Aug 21	DEL MAR MILE (Gr. II) Three-year-olds & up	$300,000 Guaranteed 1 Mile (T)
Sat. Aug 21	DEL MAR HANDICAP (Gr. II) Three-year-olds & up	$300,000 Guaranteed 1 3/8 Miles (T)
Sat. Aug 21	TORREY PINES STAKES (Gr. III) Fillies, Three-year-olds	$100,000 Guaranteed 1 Mile
Sun. Aug 22	GREEN FLASH HANDICAP (Gr. III) Three-year-olds & up	$100,000 Guaranteed 5 Furlongs (T)
Fri. Aug 27	Tranquility Lake Stakes* Fillies & Mares, Three-year-olds & up, N/W S/S $50,000 at 1 M o/o since February 1	$80,000 Added 1 Mile
Sat. Aug 28	PAT O'BRIEN STAKES (Gr. II) Three-year-olds & up	$200,000 Guaranteed 7 Furlongs
Sun. Aug 29	SHARED BELIEF STAKES Three-year-olds	$100,000 Guaranteed 1 Mile
Fri. Sep 03	GENEROUS PORTION STAKES Fillies, Two-year-olds, Cal-Bred	$100,000 Guaranteed 6 Furlongs
Sat. Sep 04	DEL MAR DERBY (Gr. II) Three-year-olds	$200,000 Guaranteed 1 1/8 Miles (T)
Sat. Sep 04	JOHN C. MABEE STAKES (Gr. II) Fillies & Mares, Three-year-olds & up	$200,000 Guaranteed 1 1/8 Miles (T)
Sat. Sep 04	I'M SMOKIN' STAKES Two-year-olds, Cal-Bred	$100,000 Guaranteed 6 Furlongs
Sun. Sep 05	DEL MAR DEBUTANTE (Gr. I) Fillies, Two-year-olds	$300,000 Guaranteed 7 Furlongs
Sun. Sep 05	DEL MAR JUVENILE FILLIES TURF Fillies, Two-year-olds	$100,000 Guaranteed 1 Mile (T)
Mon. Sep 06	DEL MAR JUVENILE TURF Two-year-olds	$100,000 Guaranteed 1 Mile (T)
Mon. Sep 06	RUNHAPPY DEL MAR FUTURITY (Gr. I) Two-year-olds	$300,000 Guaranteed 7 Furlongs

* Indicates Overnight Stakes

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Cafe Pharoah Takes ‘Win And You’re In’ February Stakes In Japan

In 2015, American Pharoah took the racing world by storm when he captured the Triple Crown and Breeders' Cup Classic (G1). On Sunday at Tokyo Racecourse in Japan, Koichi Nishikawa's Cafe Pharoah, a Kentucky-bred son of American Pharoah, earned the first automatic berth into this year's $6 million Longines Breeders' Cup Classic through the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series with a three-quarter length victory over Air Spinel (JPN) in the one-mile $1.84 million February Stakes (G1) on dirt.

The Breeders' Cup Challenge is an international series of stakes races whose winners receive automatic starting positions and fees paid into a corresponding race of the 2021 Breeders' Cup World Championships, which is scheduled to be held on Nov. 5-6 at Del Mar racetrack in Del Mar, California.

As a part of the benefits of the Challenge Series, the Breeders' Cup will pay the entry fees for Cafe Pharoah to start in the 1 ¼-mile Longines Breeders' Cup Classic. Breeders' Cup also will provide a $40,000 travel allowance for all starters based outside of North America to compete in the World Championships.

Trained by Noriyuki Hori and ridden by Christophe Lemaire, the 4-year-old Cafe Pharoah, the 3-1 favorite, completed the mile in 1:34.40. In defeating 15 rivals for his first career Group 1 victory, Cafe Pharoah improved his overall mark to five wins in seven starts. Out of the More Than Ready mare, Mary's Follies, Cafe Pharoah was bred by the late Paul Pompa Jr.

Absent of fans and cheers, the 38th running of the February Stakes, the first Group 1 event of the Japanese racing season, was on its way on the backstretch with Air Almas (JPN), Helios (JPN) and Wide Pharaoh (JPN) fighting for the lead. As Helios slipped back in the early stages, Cafe Pharoah, breaking from stall three, stalked the two frontrunners while saving ground before smoothly angling out right beside them to enter the lane in third. From there on, Cafe Pharoah unleashed a powerful stretch drive, securing the lead by the furlong marker and held off the fast-closing 35-1 Air Spinel.

“His condition was super, and I had confidence already at the paddock,” said Lemaire, who also won last year's February Stakes on Mozu Ascot (JPN). “We decided to use cheek pieces [headgear strips similar to blinkers] hoping for a more aggressive performance. His start was good, we were positioned well and he responded beautifully. The colt has such high potential. I had no doubt that he could land a G1 win if he gave his best. I'm happy that it all worked out today.”

Air Spinel was settled on the rail in mid-division and struggled to find room in early stretch. Once he angled out, finding a clear path 300 meters out, he finished fast, overtaking the tiring pacesetter in the final sixteenth and threatening the winner. Wonder Lider (JPN), sent off at 19-1, took an economic route behind the winner up to the last turn and displayed a powerful stretch drive furiously chasing the runner-up to the line while holding off a strong challenge by 6-1 third choice Red le Zele (JPN) for third. Air Almas finished fifth, followed by Inti (JPN), the 2019 February Stakes winner, in sixth.

In 2020, Cafe Pharoah won twice at the race distance over the Tokyo track, taking the two Kentucky Derby (G1) qualifying races, the listed Hyacinth Stakes and the Unicorn Stakes (G3). He suffered his first defeat as the favorite in the Japan Dirt Derby on July 8 at Ohi, finishing seventh. He rebounded on Oct. 3 to win the 1 3/16-mile Sirius Stakes (G3) at Chukyo. In his final start last year, Cafe Pharoah stepped into Group 1 company for the first time, in the 1 1/8-mile Champions Cup at Chukyo on Dec. 6, finishing sixth.

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February S. Kicks off Japanese Group 1 Season

Group 1 racing action returns to Japan with Tokyo's G1 February S., a 'Win and You're In' event for the Breeders' Cup Classic, which will be held at Del Mar this fall. Heading the 16-horse field is Café Pharoah (Jpn) (American Pharoah), who aired by 10 lengths in an 1800-meter maiden race at Nakayama in December 2019 before reeling off three consecutive wins, including Tokyo's G3 Unicorn S. (1600m) last June. Favored in the 2000-meter G1 Japan Dirt Derby at NAR-Oi in July, he finished an even seventh over the muddy track before returning from a three-month layoff to win the G3 Sirius S. at Chukyo in October. Jumping up in class for his latest, he came home sixth in the 1800-meter G1 Champions Cup at Chukyo Dec. 6.

Red le Zele (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}), who has registered seven wins between 1200-1400 meters, rounded off last term with a runner-up finish in the 1200 meter-G3 Capella S. at Nakayama in December. Stepped up to 1400 meters for his latest, the 5-year-old took the Jan. 31 G3 Negishi S. at Tokyo.

The February S. will be the bay's first appearance at the 1600-meter distance, but trainer Takayuki Yasuda is unconcerned.

“The stretch-out in distance is not a worry,” he said. “I am very exciting to see his performance over the distance.”

Auvergne (Jpn) (Smart Falcon {Jpn}) comes into this event off a three-race win skein, including the 1800-meter G2 Tokai TV Hai Tokai S. at Chukyo Jan. 24.

“Last time out, he was able to run 1,000 meters in :59.3, and asserted well at the end to go on and win,” said assistant trainer Eiko Umeuchi. “He's quite easy to control and has good racing sense, as can be seen by him getting into good positions early in a race without too much effort.”

Sunrise Nova (Jpn) (Gold Allure {Jpn}) makes his fourth attempt on the February S., a race in which he finished third last year. Winner of the G3 Procyon S. at Hanshin last July, he was fourth in Morioka's Listed Mile Championship in October before returning to score in the 1600-meter G3 Tokyo Chunichi Sports Hai Musashino S. Nov. 14. In his final start of the seaon, the chestnut finished 12th in Chukyo's G1 Champions Cup.

Trainer Hidetaka Otonashi said, “He doesn't seem suited by Chukyo for some reason, but the mile at Tokyo is good for him. On returning from a short break at the farm, he's been working with stablemate Danburite, and he's been moving well.”

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