Breeders' Cup announced May 10 its 2023 Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In schedule of 80 races in 11 countries. Each winner will receive automatic qualifying positions, with fees paid, into a corresponding race in the 2023 Breeders' Cup.
Tag: Racing
Palisades Winner Gaslight Dancer Headlines Saturday’s William Walker Turf Sprint
Paradise Farms Corp (Peter Proscia), David Staudacher, Skychai Racing (Harvey Diamond) and Angelo Carlesimo's Gaslight Dancer, the winner of the April 16 Palisades Turf Sprint at Keeneland, tops a field of eight 3-year-olds that were entered in Saturday's eighth running of the $225,000 William Walker Stakes (Listed) at Churchill Downs.
The 5 ½-furlong William Walker Stakes is scheduled to be contested in Lane 2 on the Matt Winn Turf Course, 12 feet off the inside. The featured event on the 11-race card will go as Race 10 at 5:26 p.m. (all times Eastern). First post is 12:45 p.m.
Trained by Mike Maker, Gaslight Dancer recorded his second-lifetime score in the Palisades Turf Sprint where he rallied from just off the pace to defeat 11 rivals by 1 ½ lengths. The William Walker will be Gaslight Dancer's second start of his 3-year-old campaign and he'll be ridden by Tyler Gaffalione out of post No. 2.
Among Gaslight Dancer's rivals is the Palisades Turf Sprint runner-up Two of a Kind. Owned by K and R Racing Stable (Phil Deguire) and Town Branch Racing (Stewart A. Smith), Two of a Kind finished second in his first turf effort in the Palisades Turf Sprint at odds of 51-1. The Brian Lynch-trained son of Overanalyze will be ridden from post 3 under Julien Leparoux.
Mike McCarty's Private Creed was the 8-5 post-time favorite in the Palisades but finished fifth. He'll return in the William Walker in search of his fourth-lifetime score. Previously, the Steve Asmussen trainee recorded victories in the Juvenile Sprint at Kentucky Downs and the Indian Summer at Keeneland. The speedy son of Jimmy Creed will be piloted by Brian Hernandez Jr. from post 7.
The complete field from the rail out (with jockey and trainer):
- Gilcrease (Corey Lanerie, Al Stall Jr.);
- Gaslight Dancer (Gaffalione, Maker);
- Two of a Kind (Leparoux, Lynch);
- Chiringo (Luis Saez, George Weaver);
- No Nay Hudson (IRE) (James Graham, Wesley Ward);
- Crispy Cat (GB) (Ricardo Santana Jr., Jorge Delgado);
- Private Creed (Hernandez, Asmussen); and
- Ah Jeez (Rey Gutierrez, Doug O'Neill).
Following four days off after the Kentucky Derby, racing at Churchill Downs will resume Thursday for the first Twilight Thursday of the 44-day Spring Meet that will feature $2 domestic beer, local food trucks and live music. The first of eight races will get underway at 5 p.m.
Friday is the first Senior Day of the Spring Meet where guests 60 and older can enjoy lunch in Millionaires' Row for only $34. Tickets can be purchased by calling (502) 636-4450.
Limited premium dining tickets are available for Sunday's popular Mother's Day card at www.churchilldowns.com. First post will be 12:45 p.m.
For more information about racing from Churchill Downs, visit www.churchilldowns.com.
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Butch Reid Sees Long Branch As ‘Stepping Stone’ For Talented 3-Year-Olds Didinger, Ninetyprcentmaddie
Butch Reid isn't sure what the coming year has in store for a couple of under-the-radar 3-year-olds he has but the veteran trainer knows it's time to start finding out exactly where they fit in.
To that end, he will send out Didinger and Ninetyprcentmaddie in Saturday's $100,000 Long Branch Stakes, which serves as the opening day feature race as Monmouth Park's 51-day meet gets underway. The 87th edition of the Long Branch Stakes, at a mile and 70 yards, is restricted to 3-year-olds.
“I'm pretty sure we're going to run both. I hate doing that, but it's the right spot for both of them,” said the Parx-based Reid. “We need to find out what direction to go with them. It's all part of the stepping stone process. I think they're two quality horses that we're going to have a lot of fun with the rest of the year,”
Didinger, a $230,000 yearling purchase owned by Cash is King and LC Racing, comes in off a 5½-length romp in an optional claimer at Parx on March 27 in his 3-year-old debut. He showed hints of his potential at 2, with a win, three seconds and a third from five starts.
“He's a horse that we always knew had a ton of talent but it took him a while to put it all together,” Reid said. “He had a nice little break after his 2-year-old campaign and it seems to have paid off with the way he came back. He's coming up to this race really well.”
A Kentucky-bred son of Bold d'Oro-Gwithian by Street Sense, Didinger seems to be relishing the longer distances. If the colt lives up to his potential, Reid sees the TVG.com Haskell and the Pennsylvania Derby on Didinger's radar.
“I don't think there are any limits to what this horse can do,” Reid said.
Ninetyprcentmaddie, an LC Racing homebred, comes in off two sharp efforts, winning the City of Brotherly Love Stakes at Parx by 9¾ lengths and then finishing second, beaten a head, in the Federico Tesio Stakes at Laurel on April 15. The Shug McGaughey Perform, who won the Tesia with a late rush, is under consideration as a supplemental entry to the Preakness Stakes.
Ninetyprcentmaddie, a Pennsylvania-bred son of Weigelia-Amblin Easy by Private Interview, has four wins and two seconds from eight career starts. The only poor performance of his career came in the Grade 3 Withers on Feb. 11 when he was distanced.
“He didn't ship good that day and we learned from that,” said Reid. “He was kind of sulking. Mentally, he was just lost that day. He's a young colt and sometimes the biggest hurdle to overcome with them is the mental part.
“But he shipped well to Pimlico in his last start and ran a great race. I know Shug McGaughey thinks a lot of the winner that day. One of the reasons I like this spot for him is because it's an easy ship to Monmouth Park. He shouldn't be put off of his game.”
A field of eight has entered the Long Branch Stakes, including the Ken McPeek trained Hayes Strike, who was off the board in the Grade 1 Blue Grass Stakes in his most recent start. He won the Private Terms at Laurel prior to that.
First race post time Saturday is 12:40 p.m. That will be the post time for Saturdays, Sundays and holiday Mondays throughout the meet that runs until Sept. 10. When Friday racing is added in June first race post time for those days will be 2 p.m.
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Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series Features 80 Qualifying Races For 2023 World Championships
Breeders' Cup Limited has announced the 2023 Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In schedule of 80 races in 11 countries. Each winner will receive automatic qualifying positions, with fees paid, into a corresponding race in the 2023 Breeders' Cup World Championships.
Horses from around the globe will qualify through the Win and You're In program, now in its 16th year, for the 40th running of the World Championships. Consisting of 14 Grade 1 races and purses and awards totaling $31 million, this year's Championships will be held Nov. 3-4 at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. The first Breeders' Cup Challenge Series race of the year in the United States will be the May 29 Shoemaker Mile (G1) at Santa Anita Park, a qualifying race for the FanDuel Breeders' Cup Mile Presented by PDJF (G1). The complete 2023 schedule is available at BreedersCup.com/races/challenge-series.
Thirty-nine international races will complement the North American season as the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series is hosted at premier racetracks in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, England, France, Ireland, Japan, Peru, and South Africa.
After a successful restructuring in 2022, the 2023 series in the U.S. will again feature a regional qualifying program to balance divisional competition across the country. In 10 of the 14 race divisions, there will be one Breeders' Cup Challenge Series race per region, identified as East, Midwest, and West. Breeders' Cup will promote these regional rivalries on the road to the World Championships. The exception to the regional format will be the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic division, which will have six domestic qualifying races. New this year, all North American Challenge races must be graded to be included in the series.
“We are very proud that horsemen around the world continue to take advantage of the benefits offered by the Challenge Series, including automatic entry and fees paid, as the best way to gain a starting position in the World Championships,” said Dora Delgado, Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Officer of Breeders' Cup Limited. “We also thank the various racing jurisdictions on five continents who support and administer the races that comprise this year's series, and we look forward to a culmination of the series at Santa Anita Park in November.”
Last year, 38 Breeders' Cup Challenge winners competed in the World Championships at Keeneland and seven won their respective divisional races: Flightline, $6 million Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1); Malathaat, $2 million Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1); Elite Power, $2 million Qatar Racing Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1); Modern Games, $2 million FanDuel Breeders' Cup Mile Presented by PDJF (G1); Goodnight Olive, $1 million Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1); Forte, $2 million FanDuel Breeders' Cup Juvenile Presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (G1); and Wonder Wheel, $2 million NetJets Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1).
As part of the benefits to horsemen, Breeders' Cup has allocated $5,120,000 in free entry fees for this year's Challenge Series and will pay the entry fees and guarantee a starting position in a corresponding Championships race for all Challenge Series race winners. The Challenge winner must be nominated to the Breeders' Cup program by the pre-entry deadline of Oct. 23 to receive the rewards.
In addition, Breeders' Cup will provide a $10,000 travel allowance for all starters within North America that are stabled outside of California, and a $40,000 travel allowance to the connections of all Championship starters based outside of North America.
NBC, CNBC, and FOX will televise the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In, featuring six live programs in the U.S. this summer and fall. Many of the Breeders' Cup Challenge races will also be televised on FanDuel TV, which will continue to provide extensive special programming in the run-up to the World Championships. The full 2023 television schedule will be announced May 11.
There will be eight automatic berths awarded for the $6 million Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1). The 5-year-old Lemon Pop became the first horse to qualify for this year's Longines Breeders' Cup Classic when he won the Feb. 19 February Stakes (G1) at Tokyo Racecourse in Japan. The next automatic qualifier in the division will be the July 1 Stephen Foster Stakes (G1) at Churchill Downs. The Stephen Foster will be followed by the July 22 Haskell Stakes (G1) at Monmouth Park and the Aug. 5 Whitney Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course. The Aug. 23 Juddmonte International Stakes (G1) at York in England will be the only European Win and You're In for the Classic. There will be two Classic Division automatic qualifying races Sept. 2 when Saratoga hosts The Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) and Del Mar runs the FanDuel Racing Pacific Classic (G1). The Sept. 30 Awesome Again Stakes (G1) at Santa Anita Park will be the final Classic qualifier this year.
The international portion of the series began Dec. 17 when the 3-year-old The Punisher (ARG) captured the Gran Premio International Carlos Pellegrini (G1) at Hipodromo de San Isidro in Argentina to gain the first automatic starting berth into the Longines Breeders' Cup Turf. Highlighted by four races during the prestigious Royal Ascot meeting in June and five on the Oct. 1 Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (G1) card at ParisLongchamp, the series concludes Oct. 21 with the QIPCO Champion Stakes (G1) and Queen Elizabeth II Stakes Sponsored by QIPCO (G1) at Ascot Racecourse.
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