In their infinite wisdom, race schedulers in New York and Kentucky carded identical conditions for graded stakes on Saturday, with Keeneland's Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup and Aqueduct's Grade 2 Sands Points both restricted to 3-year-old fillies going 1 1/8 miles.
Crazy, isn't it? Here we are in the final 10 weeks of the year when 3-year-olds are competing against and beating older runners and the American Graded Stakes Committee blesses these late season, age-restricted stakes, something no other major racing nation does. It may have been fine in the 1980s when the foal crop approached 50,000, but now that fewer than 20,000 Thoroughbred are foaled annually in North America, it just doesn't make sense to restrict graded stakes to 3-year-olds this late in the year.
You might think the entry box for the Queen Elizabeth II and Sands Points would be tough to fill, but have no fear, Chad Brown is here. He's got the two favorites in the QE II and a close second choice in the Sands Point as, shockingly, his only entry. He's won the former three of the last four years and the latter four of the last five.
Graded stakes action understandably is very limited this weekend and will be just as quiet in the next two weeks leading up to the Nov. 4-5 Breeders' Cup championships at Keeneland. The Breeders' Cup several years ago quashed a misguided push from some board members to add 3-year-old restricted stakes to its program. The Breeders' Cup shouldn't be like Little League, where everyone gets a trophy.
I've had my rant. Here's a quick look at some of this weekend's graded stakes:
Friday
5:16 p.m., Grade 3 Sycamore Stakes at Keeneland
Since no one wants to breed to mile and a half turf horses, this is a really fun, competitive division that can have rivalries that last for years. Witness just a few of the accomplished horses in the lineup: 8-year-old Arklow; 8-year-old Red Knight; 8-year-old Channel Maker; and 6-year-old Temple. Between them they've won 35 races and more than $8.5 million. Watch out for the youngster, 5-year-old Highland Chief, trained by Graham Motion, who's won this marathon three times.
Saturday
4:58 – Grade 2 Sands Point at Aqueduct (Belmont at the Big A meet)
Forecast is for no more rain in the area but there's likely going to be some give in the ground. Pizza Bianca, last year's G1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf winner for Christophe Clement, is the only graded stakes winner in the lineup but she has not been out since her trip to Royal Ascot did not fare well.
5:16 p.m. – Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup at Keeneland
Trainer Jessica Harrington sends Paris Peacock from Europe to take on the Chad Brown duo and four others in this running of what was originally hoped to be more of an international race to honor the recently departed beloved British monarch. However, it's been 11 years since a foreign-based runner has won it. Brown has the top two favorites, morning line even-money pick McKulick and 7-2 chance Gina Romantica, but there's more to the lineup than his non-coupled entry. From out west comes Phil D'Amato-trained Bellabel, the Irish-bred who ran second to the very talented Spendarella in the G1 Del Mar Oaks. And perhaps George Leonard-trained California Angel can work up the magic that saw her rally to a 17-1 upset of last year's G2 Jessamine over the Keeneland green.
Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup entries
5:39 p.m. – Grade 3 Ontario Fashion Stakes at Woodbine
Hazelbrook carries a 5-for-8 record into this six-furlong dash on the synthetic for traine Lorne Richards, whose small stable has won at a 30 percent rate (7-for-23) thus far this season. The rail may not be ideal for this late runner. Marie MacKay, who drew the outside post in this compact field of six, may be the speed, but she's had relatively easy leads in her three 2022 outings and unable to carry it to the goal line.
Ontario Fashion Stakes entries
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Equibase® Speed Figure, improving to a new career-best 107 figure the next month. She's trained by Jessica Harrington. Many American racing fans may not be aware of who the trainer is, so I will share her record. In the last five seasons in Europe, Harrington's horses have won millions each season, including multiple Group 1 wins. In her career of over 13,000 starts she's saddled the winner or runner up in nearly one-third (4,100) of those races. Paris Peacock (IRE) gets the services of Florent Geroux, who is seventh among all jockeys in North America in 2022 with more than $13 million in earnings, so I expect Paris Peacock (IRE) to continue to improve enough and win this race.