Woodbine grabs the spotlight this weekend as the Ontario track hosts two Grade 1 contests over its renowned turf course in the E.P. Taylor and the Northern Dancer Turf Stakes on Sunday. Belmont Park also has a pair of graded stakes on tap for Sunday that will be televised on “America's Day at the Races” on FS2.
“American's Day at the Races” will also have a special Saturday morning broadcast on FS2 that will showcase British Champions Day from Ascot Racecourse in England. Saturday's broadcast will air on FS2 from 8:30-11a.m. ET and feature four classic Group 1 turf races, headlined by the £750,000 QIPCO Champion Stakes and the £650,000 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, sponsored by QIPCO. Post time for the Group 1 QIPCO Champion Stakes for 3-year-olds and up at 10 furlongs will be 10:40 a.m. with the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes set for 10:05 a.m.
Racing at Keeneland, Santa Anita, and other tracks will be featured on TVG as part of its coast-to-coast coverage. International racing will also continue on Saturday on TVG with the prestigious Champions Day with coverage beginning at 8:30 a.m. ET. The star-studded day of racing will include six events including the Long Distance Gold Cup, which will feature Stradivarius (IRE) making his fourth appearance in the race.
Friday, Oct. 16
5:30 p.m.—$150,000 Grade 3 Valley View Stakes Keeneland on TVG
Godolphin's Antoinette, winner of the Saratoga Oaks Invitational and recently runner-up in the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks Invitational, tops the field for the 30th running of Valley View, run at 1 1/16 miles on the Keeneland turf course. Trained by Bill Mott, the homebred daughter of Hard Spun will be ridden Friday by Manny Franco and break from post position 12. Headlining the competition to Antoinette is Walk In Marrakesh (IRE), who came within a nostril of winning the Grade 2 Appalachian Stakes in July.
Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/KEE101620USA9-EQB.html
Saturday, Oct. 17
5:30 p.m.—$200,000 Grade 2 Raven Run Stakes at Keeneland on TVG
Grade 2 winner Venetian Harbor headlines a deep field of 10 3-year-old fillies for the 22nd running of the Raven Run, contested at seven furlongs. Trained by Richard Baltas, Venetian Harbor will be making her first start since finishing second to Gamine in the Grade 1 Test Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 8. Prior to that, she had finished second to Speech in the Grade 1 Ashland Stakes here and to Swiss Skydiver in the Grade 3 Fantasy Stakes at Oaklawn Park with both those races being two-turn tests going 1 1/16 miles.
Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/KEE101720USA9-EQB.html
8:15 p.m.—$100,000 Grade 3 Autumn Miss Stakes at Santa Anita Park on TVG
A four-time stakes winner in search of her first graded victory, California-bred Warren's Showtime heads a field of seven sophomore fillies going one mile on turf in the Autumn Miss Stakes. Owned by Ben and Sally Warren and bred by Ben Warren, Warren's Showtime was most recently a close third in the Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks and is the leading money earner in the field with $460,251.
Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/SA101720USA9-EQB.html
Sunday, Oct. 18
1:28 p.m.—$150,000 Grade 2 Knickerbocker Stakes at Belmont Park on FS2
After running second in last year's edition, the Chad Brown-trained Olympico (FR) will get another chance to earn a trip to the winner's circle when he competes as part of a five-horse field in the Knickerbocker for 3-year-olds and up going 1 1/8 miles on the inner turf. The Knickerbocker was originally scheduled for the Oct. 12 holiday card but was moved to due to inclement weather. That provided Olympico with a few days of extra rest as he makes his first appearance since running fifth in the 1 1/16-mile Lure on September 7 at Saratoga Race Course.
Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/BEL101820USA3-EQB.html
3:29 p.m.—$300,000 Grade 1 Northern Dancer Turf Stakes at Woodbine on TVG
Trainer Gail Cox will look to net the stakes double with Count Again in the Northern Dancer Turf Stakes. The lightly raced five-year-old son of Awesome Again has been impressive over his six lifetime outings. On Sept. 19, the bay gelding, despite being heavily steadied into the far turn, drove to the front outside of the eighth-pole and secured a 1 ¼ length win in the Grade 3 Singspiel Stakes. It was the first stakes engagement for Count Again, who Cox is counting on once again to come up big on the Woodbine grass.
Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/WO101820CAN5-EQB.html
4:37 p.m.—$300,000 Grade 1 E.P. Taylor Stakes at Woodbine on TVG
Trainer Gail Cox has a trio of talented turfers taking up the Sam-Son Farm charge, namely, Rideforthecause in the E.P. Taylor, as well as Count Again and Say the Word in the Northern Dancer. A four-year-old daughter of Candy Ride (ARG), Rideforthecause rolls into the E.P. Taylor off two straight scores, both of them contested at Woodbine. After an allowance victory at 1 1/16 miles on the Toronto oval Inner Turf on Aug. 1, the bay was back in the winner's circle on Sept. 12, winning the Canadian Stakes presented by the Japan Racing Association (G2) at the distance of about 1 1/8 miles on the E.P. Taylor Turf Course.
Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/WO101820CAN7-EQB.html
4:47 p.m.—$150,000 Grade 2 Hill Prince Stakes at Belmont Park on FS2
West Point Thoroughbreds, William Sandbrook, William Freeman and Cheryl Manning's Decorated Invader will see a cutback in distance when competing against fellow sophomores in the 46th running of the Hill Prince going one mile over the Widener turf. Trained by Christophe Clement, Decorated Invader arrives off a fifth-place finish in the Saratoga Derby on Aug. 15. The Saratoga Derby was the first loss of the year for Decorated Invader, who captured the Cutler Bay on March 28 at Gulfstream Park in his 2020 bow before winning the Grade 2 Pennine Ridge on June 20 at Belmont Park and the Grade 2 National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame on July 18 at Saratoga.
Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/BEL101820USA9-EQB.html
4:57 p.m.—$125,000 Grade 3 Dowager Stakes at Keeneland on TVG
Calumet Farm's Siberian Iris (IRE), second against the boys this summer in the Grade 3 San Juan Capistrano at Santa Anita, tops a field of six fillies and mares in the 1 ½-miles Dowager. Trained by Richard Mandella, Siberian Iris stayed at Keeneland following a fifth-place finish in the TVG Stakes at Kentucky Downs on Sept. 15.
Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/KEE101820USA8-EQB.html
5:45 p.m.—$250,000 Grade 2 Nearctic Stakes at Woodbine on TVG
A field of nine headed up by multiple graded stakes winner Silent Poet are set to contest the Nearctic going six furlongs on the turf. Silent Poet has won three of his last four starts and enters off of an allowance win at Woodbine on Sept. 27. Among the top challengers are defending Nearctic winner City Boy.
Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/WO101820CAN9-EQB.html
8 p.m.—$200,000 Grade 2 Twilight Derby at Santa Anita Park on TVG
Cannon Thoroughbreds homebred Smooth Like Strait returns to Southern California and will try to stretch his speed to 1 1/8-miles on turf as he heads a field of nine sophomores in the Twilight Derby. A resounding 2 ½ length winner of the Grade 2 La Jolla Handicap two starts back, Smooth Like Strait, who is trained by Michael McCarthy, finished fourth as the 6-5 favorite in the Grade 2 American Turf at Churchill Downs on Sept. 5 and will likely vie for favoritism with midwestern invader Field Pass.
Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/SA101820USA9-EQB.html
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