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Breeders’ Cup Presents The News Minute: Future Stars Friday Seals Juvenile Championships

Vequist and Essential Quality locked up Eclipse Awards in their respective divisions with victories in the Juvenile Fillies and Juvenile on the Breeders' Cup Future Stars Friday program at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky., Paulick Report publisher Ray Paulick says in the latest Breeders' Cup News Minute.

Star of the day was trainer Brad Cox, who won his first Breeders' Cup race in 2018 and now has five championship victories after sending out Aunt Pearl to win the Juvenile Fillies Turf and Essential Quality to his Juvenile triumph.

The main track was very fast on Friday, but horses did win from off the lead if the pace scenario set things up for them. Horses won both on the lead and from off the pace on a turf course rated “good.”

Saturday's big day of nine championship races gets under way at 10:15 a.m. Eastern, with the first Breeders' Cup race scheduled for 12:02 p.m. Of note is the $260,779 Pick 6 carryover that spices up a wagering extravaganza for horseplayers.

Watch the Breeders' Cup News Minute below.

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The Friday Show Presented By Breeders’ Cup: Hoping To ‘Raise The Bar’ With Our Handicapping

If trainer Bob Baffert can do it, so can we. Days after the Hall of Famer pledged to “raise the bar” in hopes that his high-powered stable can avoid any more failed drug tests (Baffert has had four of them them in three states this year), the Paulick Report gang is inspired to up our game, too. Full disclosure: publisher Ray Paulick is the only known Paulick Report staffer to have flunked a drug test, and the statute of limitations on that transgression have long passed.

We haven't hired any spinmeisters, lawyers or veterinarians, but we've consulted with some of the smartest people we know to help us unravel the daunting handicapping challenges that lie ahead in the five Future Stars Friday races and nine championship events on Saturday that comprise this year's Breeders' Cup at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky.

The aforementioned Paulick, along with editor in chief Natalie Voss, bloodstock editor Joe Nevills and news editor and pony rider to the European stars Chelsea Hackbarth share their astute observations about this year's Breeders' Cup. We think they're astute, but it just might be the scopolamine talking.

If that's not enough, track announcer Larry Collmus, who will call the Breeders' Cup for NBC Sports, offers some insights into how he prepares for this big event and recounts a past race call that caused him to age several years in a matter of minutes.

You don't want to miss this week's Friday Show.

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Breeders’ Cup Presents The News Minute: Can O’Brien Regain Magical Touch?

Two horses have been withdrawn from Saturday's Breeders' Cup world championship races at Keeneland race course in Lexington, Ky.: Inthemidstofbiz from the Filly & Mare Sprint and One Master from the Mile. That follows the news on Wednesday that morning line favorite Vekoma is out of Saturday's Breeders' Cup Sprint.

The scratch of One Master opens the gate for Order of Australia to draw into the Mile from the also-eligible list. The colt by the Galileo stallion Australia is one of six runners expected to run in Breeders' Cup races on Saturday for trainer Aidan O'Brien, who has three entered in the Future Stars Friday races.

In today's edition of the News Minute, Ray Paulick reviews O'Brien's impressive Breeders' Cup statistics: he's second all-time in starts and money won and fourth in wins. But he points out that O'Brien's Breeders' Cup record since 2016 has been anything but “magical.”

Paulick also reveals who he thinks might be the speed of the speed in Saturday's Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint.

Watch the Breeders' Cup News Minute below.

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Breeders’ Cup Presents The News Minute: Vekoma’s Out, But The Devil’s All In On Pirate’s Punch

Saturday's $2-million, Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Sprint lost Vekoma, the morning-line favorite, after trainer George Weaver reported the son of Candy Ride spiked a fever on Tuesday night and was treated with antibiotics. Vekoma won the G2 Blue Grass Stakes as a 3-year-old in 2019 and is unbeaten in three starts in 2020, with wins in the G1 Carter and G1 Met Mile Handicaps, but he'll be forced to miss the big show on Saturday at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky.

Grant Forster appears to be having fun with the 666 saddle towel number assigned to his first Breeders' Cup starter, $1-million, G1 Dirt Mile contender Pirate's Punch, suggesting the son of Shanghai Bobby is “the devil's choice” in the race.

And can Chad Brown add to his record of 15 Breeders' Cup world championship race wins (second only to D. Wayne Lukas) in the Juvenile Turf on the Future Stars Friday program? Ray Paulick seems to think so.

Watch the Breeders' Cup News Minute to find out why.

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