Weekend Lineup: Enable, Maximum Security Return To Racing

TVG will be live on site at Del Mar covering a loaded weekend of racing featuring seven stakes races from Friday through Sunday including the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap, which will feature 2019 Eclipse Award winner Maximum Security in his first start since joining the barn of Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert.

On Saturday morning, international racing fans can also tune into TVG to watch champion Enable (GB) make a bid for a historic third win in the Group 1 King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes from Ascot. The race is scheduled for 10:35 a.m. ET. The King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes is part of the “Win and You're In” Breeders' Cup Challenge Series and the winner will earn an automatic berth in the Breeders' Cup Turf.

TVG will also be broadcasting racing from Gulfstream Park, Laurel Park, Monmouth Park and more all weekend.

Saratoga Live, the critically-acclaimed and award-winning television program, will feature more than 210 hours of live programming from Saratoga, which runs through September 7. Saratoga Live will appear each racing day beginning at 1 p.m. ET on FOX Sports and MSG Networks and offer full-card coverage of a Saratoga meet offering. The daily schedule can be found at https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/tv-schedule.

Friday July 24

5:46 p.m.—$100,000 Grade 3 Quick Call Stakes at Saratoga Race Course on FS2

A field of eight sophomore colts will assemble for the 11th running of the Quick Call going 5 ½ furlongs over the Mellon turf. Trainer Doug O'Neill will send out three-time stakes winner Fore Left for as he searches for his first triumph on grass. The bay son of Twirling Candy last raced when finishing a distant ninth in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes to Tiz the Law, which came after a victory in the Group 3 UAE 2000 Guineas at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai. Fore Left has recorded one start over grass, which came in the Grade 3 Cecil DeMille on December 1 at Del Mar at the distance of one mile.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/SAR072420USA9-EQB.html

Saturday July 25

2:03 p.m.—$125,000 Grade 3 Marine Stakes at Woodbine on TVG

A key prep on the road to this year's Queen's Plate, the 1 1/16-mile main track Marine has attracted some noteworthy Canadian-breds hoping for a spot in the Plate starting gate. John Oxley's homebred Lucky Curlin chases his second straight win, this time in the Marine, after a sharp score on June 14 at Woodbine. The Mark Casse trainee, in his ninth career start and first test on the Toronto oval Tapeta, rallied from fifth at the stretch call of the seven-furlong race to win by a length under Kazushi Kimura.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/WO072520CAN3-EQB.html

2:18 p.m.—$200,000 Grade 2 Ballston Spa Stakes at Saratoga Race Course on FS2

Champion Sistercharlie (IRE) will kick off her 2020 campaign in the 32nd running of the Ballston Spa for older fillies and mares going 1 1/16 miles over the Mellon turf course. Trained by Chad Brown and owned by Peter Brant, Sistercharlie has put together a sensational record that includes seven Grade 1 triumphs while boasting $3,662,003 in lifetime earnings. In 2018, the daughter of Myboycharlie (IRE) earned the Eclipse Award for Champion Turf Female after winning all four of her Grade 1 efforts that year. She has not raced since November, finishing third to Iridessa (IRE) in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Santa Anita.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/SAR072520USA3-EQB.html

4:53 p.m.—$125,000 Grade 3 Selene Stakes at Woodbine on TVG

Ten Broeck Farm's Owlette, a bay daughter of Frac Daddy, goes after her fourth Woodbine stakes crown in the Selene. The Wesley Ward trainee took last year's Shady Well and Victorian Queen, and then added another stakes title to her record with a win in this year's Star Shoot on June 13. Owlette will be tested by six other rivals, including the Casse trio of American Tap, Diamond Sparkles, and Two Sixty.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/WO072520CAN8-EQB.html

6:16 p.m.—$250,000 Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap at Saratoga Race Course on FS1

Six-time graded stakes-winner Whitmore will return to historic Saratoga Race Course for the first time since winning the 2018 Grade 1 Forego when the veteran son of Pleasantly Perfect looks to notch his third consecutive victory in the Alfred G. Vanderbilt on Saturday. Whitmore enters the Vanderbilt off back-to-back wins in the Hot Springs – which he captured for the fourth consecutive time – and a three-quarter length score last out in the Grade 3 Count Fleet Sprint in April at Oaklawn Park. Among those he will face is Mr. Amore Stable's Firenze Fire, who has four wins in his last five starts dating to November.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/SAR072520USA10-EQB.html

9 p.m.—$150,000 Grade 2 San Clemente Stakes at Del Mar on TVG

The likely favorite in the $150,000 San Clemente is Gary Barber's Laura's Light, a bay daughter of Constitution who has won four of her six lifetime starts and comes into the turf test off a tally in the Grade 3 Honeymoon Stakes at Santa Anita on May 30. Laura's Light's chief rivals appear to be a pair of stakes winners in Benjamin and Sally Warren's Warren's Showtime, who'll be handled by regular rider Jorge Velez, and the Florida shipper Cheermeister, who is owned by Teresa and David Palmer and gets the saddle services of Victor Espinoza.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/DMR072520USA9-EQB.html

9:30 p.m.—$150,000 Grade 2 San Diego Handicap at Del Mar on TVG

The presence of champion Maximum Security didn't deter the connections of six other horses from entering for the 79th running of the 1 1/16-mile main track event that has often served as a stepping stone to the Grade 1 Pacific Classic. Maximum Security, a 4-year-old son of New Year's Day, enters the race with eight wins in 10 starts and earnings of $11.8 million dollars. Last year the bay colt was first under the wire before becoming the first disqualification in Kentucky Derby history, but posted three subsequent wins to secure the Eclipse Award as 3-year-old champion. In his only 2020 start, Maximum Security won the inaugural $20 million Saudi Cup on February 29 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/DMR072520USA10-EQB.html

Sunday July 26

4:23 p.m.—$125,000 Grade 3 Seagram Cup Stakes at Woodbine on TVG

Grade 2 Eclipse Stakes winner Skywire, runner-up Avie's Flatter, and third-place finisher Mr Ritz will reunite when they square off in Sunday's Seagram Cup Stakes. Trainer Josie Carroll will look to win her second straight Seagram crown when she sends out a pair of multiple stakes winners in Avie's Flatter and Mr Ritz, who took last year's running of the 1 1/16-mile main track race for three-year-olds and upward. The graded stakes victors meet up again with four-year-old Skywire, the Mark Casse trainee who pulled off a 17-1 upset in the Eclipse on July 4 at Woodbine.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/WO072620CAN7-EQB.html

5:46 p.m.—$150,000 Grade 2 Bernard Baruch Handicap at Saratoga Race Course on FS2

Harrell Ventures' two-time stakes winner Halladay has done nothing but improve in his last two starts and will attempt to maintain his good form when taking on five others, including four stakes winners, in Sunday's 61st running of the Bernard Baruch for 3-year-olds and upward over the inner turf. Trained by Todd Pletcher, who saddled Dominus to a Bernard Baruch score in 2012, Halladay arrives at Sunday's test off a gate-to-wire triumph in the Sunshine Forever over a firm turf at Gulfstream Park, where he registered a career-best 103 Beyer Speed Figure over eventual Grade 1-winner Aquaphobia and stablemate Social Paranoia, who won the Grade 3 Poker at Belmont Park two starts later.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/SAR072620USA9-EQB.html

8:30 p.m.—$200,000 Grade 2 Eddie Read Stakes at Del Mar on TVG

Multiple graded stakes winner United aims to keep his recent hot streak going when he heads up a field of seven entered in the Eddie Read Stakes going 1 1/8-miles on the turf. Trained by Hall of Famer Richard Mandella, United is 2-for-2 thus far in 2020 having earned victories in the Grade 2 San Marcos Stakes and the Grade 2 Charlie Whittingham Stakes. The Giant's Causeway gelding has not been worse than third in his last seven starts and fell just a head short of eventual Horse of the Year Bricks and Mortar in the 2019 Breeders' Cup Turf.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/DMR072620USA8-EQB.html

The post Weekend Lineup: Enable, Maximum Security Return To Racing appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Weekend Lineup Presented By Monmouth Park: Derby, Oaks Points On The Line In Haskell, CCA Oaks

This first Grade 1 race of the 2020 Saratoga Race Course meeting takes place on July 18 when the Coaching Club American Oaks, which offers 100-40-20-10 Kentucky Oaks qualifying points to the top-four finishers, is contested over nine furlongs at the historic oval. Down the interstate, the 53rd running of the Grade 1 Haskell Stakes on Saturday headlines a stacked Monmouth Park card featuring four additional graded stakes.

The Haskell will be broadcast live Saturday on NBC from 5-6 p.m. ET as part of their Breeders' Cup “Win and You're In” series. The hour-long show will also broadcast the Grade 1 United Nations Stakes.
TVG will be live on site at Monmouth Park this weekend to feature the Haskell. In addition to Monmouth Park, TVG will be broadcasting racing from Gulfstream Park, Laurel Park, Woodbine and more all weekend.

Saratoga Live, the critically-acclaimed and award-winning television program, kicks off its fifth season broadcasting the 40-day summer meet at iconic Saratoga Race Course. Saratoga Live will feature more than 210 hours of live programming from Saratoga, which runs through September 7. Saratoga Live will appear each racing day beginning at 1 p.m. ET on FOX Sports and MSG Networks and offer full-card coverage of the Saratoga meet. In addition to daily national coverage on FS2, Saratoga Live will air on FS1 for a total of 31 hours.

Saturday July 18

2:18 p.m.—$150,000 Grade 2 National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame Stakes at Saratoga Race Course on FS1

Trainer Christophe Clement will saddle a formidable pair of graded stakes winners in Decorated Invader and Gufo, both of who will carry winning streaks into the 36th running of the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame over the inner turf. Owned by West Point Thoroughbreds, William Freeman, William Sandbrook and Cheryl Manning, Decorated Invader arrives at the 1 1/8-mile event for 3-year-olds off a victory in the Grade 2 Pennine Ridge on June 20 at Belmont Park, where the son of Declaration of War tracked the pace while saving ground along the rail, made his move at the quarter pole and drew off to a 4 ¾-length triumph.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/SAR071820USA3-EQB.html

4:06 p.m.—$150,000 Grade 3 Matchmaker Stakes at Monmouth Park on TVG

Trainer Chad Brown is well represented with three entries in the Matchmaker, including morning-line choice Beautiful Lover. The daughter or Arch won the 2019 Boiling Springs at Monmouth last May but has failed to find the winner's circle in four starts since. Beautiful Lover will be joined in the starting gate by stablemates Nay Lady Nay (IRE) and Tapit Today.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/MTH071820USA9-EQB.html

4:40 p.m.—$300,000 Grade 3 Monmouth Cup Stakes at Monmouth Park on TVG

Grade 1 winner-Math Wizard seeks his first victory since taking the Pennsylvania Derby last September when he faces nine challengers in the 1 1/8-miles Monmouth Cup. Math Wizard has been off the board in his two starts this season after ending his 2019 campaign with a fifth-place run in the Breeders' Cup Classic. Among those Math Wizard will face is multiple graded stakes-placed Bal Harbour, unraced since finishing sixth in the 2019 Grade 1 Cigar Mile, and Grade 3 winner Global Campaign.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/MTH071820USA10-EQB.html

4:55 p.m.—$125,000 Grade 3 Trillium Stakes at Woodbine on TVG

The Trillium Stakes has attracted eight starters, including 2019 multiple Sovereign Award finalist Amalfi Coast, graded stakes-placed Painting, who rallied impressively to finish second to Jean Elizabeth in the Grade 3 Whimsical, and Live Oak Plantation's multiple stakes winner Souper Escape.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/WO071820CAN8-EQB.html

5:10 p.m.—$300,000 Grade 1 United Nations Stakes at Monmouth Park on NBC

Less than a week after finishing sixth in the Grade 2 Elkhorn Stakes at Keeneland, Grade 1-winner Arklow will wheel back against eight rivals in the United Nations Stakes. Arklow captured the Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic last October but is winless in four starts since. Breaking next to Arklow out of post No. 2 will be Standard Deviation, winner of the Jersey Derby at Monmouth last August.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/MTH071820USA11-EQB.html

5:28 p.m.—$175,000 Grade 2 Royal North Stakes at Woodbine on TVG

Summer Sunday, one of two Stuart Simon trainees in the field, seeks to defend her crown in Saturday's Royal North Stakes. Bred in Ontario by Trinity West Stables and owned by Anne and William Scott, five-year-old Summer Sunday will look to make a return to the winner's circle for the first time since her victory in the Royal North last July. A daughter of Silent Name (JPN) out of the Millennium Allstar mare Dancing Allstar, Summer Sunday heads into the Royal North off a third-place effort in the Grade 3 Whimsical on June 21 at Woodbine.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/WO071820CAN9-EQB.html

5:46 p.m.—$1,000,000 Grade 1 Haskell Stakes at Monmouth Park on NBC

Multiple graded stakes-winner Authentic was installed as the 4-5 morning line favorite to extend Bob Baffert's record for victories in the Haskell Stakes, Monmouth Park's showcase race. Unbeaten in his first three career starts, Authentic was second to Honor A.P. in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby in his last start on June 6. Baffert has won the Haskell a record eight times. Dr Post, trained by Todd Pletcher, was made the 5-2 second choice. In his most recent start, Dr Post finished second in the Belmont Stakes on July 20.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/MTH071820USA12-EQB.html

6:16 p.m.—$350,000 Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga Race Course on FS1

Multiple graded-stakes winner Tonalist's Shape, who boasts six wins from seven starts, returns to action in Saturday's Coaching Club American Oaks, a nine-furlong test for sophomore fillies. Trained by Saffie Joseph, Jr., Tonalist's Shape reeled off four consecutive wins including victories in the Hut Hut, Grade 3 Forward Gal and Grade 2 Davona Dale at Gulfstream Park. Following an off-the-board effort in the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Oaks, she returned to winning form last out with a commanding 3 3/4-length score in the Hollywood Wildcat at 1 1/16-miles on May 15 at Gulfstream.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/SAR071820USA10-EQB.html

6:51 p.m.—$250,000 Grade 3 Molly Pitcher Stakes at Monmouth Park on TVG

She's a Julie, winner of the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps Stakes on June 13, looms the one to beat when she breaks from the rail in the 1 1/16-miles Molly Pitcher Stakes. Trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, She's a Julie snapped a five-race losing skid when she prevailed in the Ogden Phipps. The daughter of Elusive Quality previously won the 2019 edition of the Grade 1 La Troienne Stakes.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/MTH071820USA14-EQB.html

Sunday July 19

5:46 p.m.—$150,000 Grade 2 Lake Placid Stakes at Saratoga Race Course on FS1

Stakes-winner Speaktomeofsummer will look to stretch out in distance in taking another crack against graded stakes company as part of a six-horse field of sophomore fillies in the Lake Placid. Off a seven-month layoff, the Summer Front filly made her 3-year-old bow on June 20, running fourth in the Grade 3 Wonder Again at Belmont Park. Owned by Waterford Stable, Speaktomeofsummer broke her maiden at second asking, posting a three-length score in a one-mile contest in her turf debut in September at Monmouth Park, and capped her juvenile campaign with a two-length triumph in her stakes debut in the one-mile Chelsey Flower over good turf in November at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/SAR071920USA9-EQB.html

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Weekend Lineup: Keeneland In July, Opening Weekend At Del Mar

This weekend features a unique edition of the Keeneland meet as the Lexington track runs spectator-free through July 12. The track's marquee Kentucky Derby prep race, the Grade 2 Blue Grass Stakes, is one of six graded stakes on Saturday's card and offers 170 points toward qualification to this year's Derby with 100 points going to the winner, 40 to the runner-up, 20 to third place and 10 points to fourth.

TVG will be live on site at Keeneland for each day of the track's Summer Meet and will feature exclusive coverage of the Blue Grass Stakes on July 11. The network will also be live from Del Mar this weekend as the track kicks off its summer meet on July 10. TVG will again partner with NBC Sports on Sunday as “Trackside Live” will be simulcast from 5 p.m. ET to 7 p.m. ET featuring the Grade 2 Elkhorn Stakes from Keeneland.

Racing for the closing weekend at Belmont Park will be featured on the Fox Sports show “America's Day at the Races,” running through July 12 on either FS1 or FS2.

Friday July 10

4:24 p.m.—$100,000 Grade 3 Beaumont Stakes at Keeneland on TVG

JoAnn and Alex Lieblong's Wicked Whisper, winner of last fall's Grade 1 Frizette Stakes at Belmont Park, will make her 2020 debut Friday when she headlines the Beaumont Stakes, which will be run over 7 furlongs, 184 feet and offers 34 points toward the Kentucky Oaks on a 20-8-4-2 scale to the top four finishers. Trained by Steve Asmussen and to be ridden by Joel Rosario, Wicked Whisper has not raced since finishing fifth in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies at Santa Anita. She will break from post position four.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/KEE071020USA7-EQB.html

4:57 p.m.—$300,000 Grade 1 Maker's Mark Mile Stakes at Keeneland on TVG

Peter Brant's Raging Bull (FR), winner of the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile in his most recent start, headlines a field of 10 entered for the Maker's Mark Mile, the first of four Grade 1 races during the five-day Summer Meet. Trained by Chad Brown, Raging Bull returns to Keeneland, where he finished fourth in last year's Maker's Mark Mile. A two-time Grade 1 winner, Raging Bull will be ridden by Joel Rosario and break from post position four. Brown also trains Without Parole (GB), who finished third in the Shoemaker Mile. Owned by John Gunther and his daughter Tanya Gunther, Without Parole finished third in last year's Breeders' Cup Mile in his U.S. debut. In 2018, Without Parole won the Group 1 St. James's Palace at Royal Ascot in England.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/KEE071020USA8-EQB.html

Saturday July 11

2:45 p.m.—$150,000 Grade 2 Appalachian Stakes at Keeneland on TVG

Godolphin's Alms, a two-time Grade 3 winner, heads an evenly matched field of six 3-year-old fillies entered for the Appalachian, to be run at a mile on the Keeneland turf course. Trained by two-time Appalachian winner Mike Stidham, Alms has won four of five career starts, including Grade 3 victories in the Matron at Belmont and the Jimmy Durante at Del Mar. Fifth as the favorite in the Tepin Stakes at Churchill Downs in her most recent start, Alms will be ridden by Joel Rosario.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/KEE071120USA4-EQB.html

2:55 p.m.—$150,000 Grade 2 Ruffian Stakes at Belmont Park on FS2

Eclipse Award-winner Monomoy Girl will attempt to bolster her bid for another championship season in headlining a five-horse field for the Ruffian Stakes over Belmont Park's main track. Trained by Brad Cox, Monomoy Girl arrives at the event off an allowance victory on May 16 at Churchill Downs contested at the Ruffian distance of a one-turn mile. Her 2 ¾-length score off a nearly 18-month layoff marked the 5-year-old debut for the chestnut daughter of Tapizar, whose previous start was a one-length victory in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Distaff in November 2018 at Churchill Downs.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/BEL071120USA4-EQB.html

3:18 p.m.—$250,000 Grade 1 Madison Stakes at Keeneland on TVG

Grade 1 winners Guarana and Mia Mischief head a field of nine fillies and mares for the Madison that will be run over seven furlongs on the main track. Three Chimneys Farm and Hill 'n' Dale Equine Holdings Guarana debuted at Keeneland during the 2019 Spring Meet with a 14¾-length victory that was a springboard to Grade 1 victories in the Acorn and Coaching Club of America Oaks. A dominating winner in her 2020 debut last month at Churchill Downs, Guarana is trained by Chad Brown. Stonestreet Stables' Mia Mischief, who broke her maiden in her second start by 16¼ lengths during Keeneland's 2017 Fall Meet, won the Grade 1 Humana Distaff in 2019 at Churchill Downs. A winner of two of three starts in 2020, Mia Mischief is trained by Steve Asmussen.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/KEE071120USA5-EQB.html

3:51 p.m.—$150,000 Grade 2 Shakertown Stakes at Keeneland on TVG

Wesley Ward's Bound for Nowhere, winner of the 2018 Shakertown and runner-up in 2019, headlines an overflow field of 14 in the 24th running of the Grade 2 event. Trained by Ward, Bound for Nowhere was second in the Grade 3 San Simeon at Santa Anita in March in his lone start of 2020. A victory Saturday would put Bound for Nowhere in the same class as Soaring Free (2004, 2005) as the only two-time winners of the Shakertown.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/KEE071120USA6-EQB.html

4:15 p.m.—$125,000 Grade 3 Robert G. Dick Memorial Stakes at Delaware Park on TVG

Morsches Stable Gentle Ruler will be seeking a repeat victory in the Robert G. Dick Memorial at Delaware Park this Saturday. Last year, Gentle Ruler posted 2 ¾-length in the Robert G. Dick Memorial. The Kentucky-bred followed with a fourth in the Grade 3 Waya Stakes at Saratoga on August 4 and completed her season with a half-length score in the $500,000 Ramsey Farm Stakes at Kentucky Downs on September 12 and a 2 ½-length victory in the Grade 3 Dowager Stakes at Keeneland on October 20.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/DEL071120USA7-EQB.html

4:15 p.m.—$175,000 Grade 2 Connaught Cup Stakes at Woodbine on TVG

City Boy, who pulled off a 24-1 upset in last year's Grade 2 Nearctic Stakes, faces seven rivals on the E.P. Taylor Turf Course in Saturday's Connaught Cup Stakes. Trained by 2020 Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame inductee Mike Keogh, the six-year-old gelding brings a record of 3-6-2 from 17 starts into the seven-furlong Connaught Cup. A son of City Zip, City Boy debuted on April 21, 2017, finishing second in a five-furlong main track race at Woodbine.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/WO071120CAN7-EQB.html

4:24 p.m.—$400,000 Grade 1 Ashland Stakes at Keeneland on TVG

Grade 2 stakes winners Bonny South, Tonalist's Shape and Venetian Harbor headline the 1 1/16-miles Ashland Stakes, which offers 170 points on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks on a 100-40-20-10 scale to the first four finishers. Juddmonte Farms' Bonny South, winner of the Fair Grounds Oaks on March 21, has been working consistently at Keeneland since late April. Trained by Brad Cox, who won the 2018 Central Bank Ashland with champion Monomoy Girl, Bonny South is second on the Kentucky Oaks leaderboard with 100 points.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/KEE071120USA7-EQB.html

4:45 p.m.—$400,000 Grade 2 Delaware Handicap at Delaware Park on TVG

Peter M. Brant's Dunbar Road tops the 83rd renewal of the Delaware Handicap, which has attracted a field of eight and will be contested at 1 1/8-miles for the first time. In her only outing this year, Dunbar Road posted a 1 ¾-length victory in the $100,000 Shawnee Stakes at Churchill Downs on May 23. Last year, the 4-year-old trained by Chad Brown won the Grade 2 Mother Goose at Belmont Park and the Grade 1 Alabama at Saratoga before running third in the Grade 1 Spinster at Keeneland. The daughter of Quality Road closed her 2019 campaign by finishing fifth in the Breeders' Cup Distaff.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/DEL071120USA8-EQB.html

4:57 p.m.—$350,000 Grade 1 Jenny Wiley Stakes at Keeneland on TVG

E Five Racing Thoroughbreds' Rushing Fall will chase history Saturday when she headlines a field of eight in the Jenny Wiley going 1 1/16 miles on the turf. Trained by three-time race winner Chad Brown, Rushing Fall will be trying to join Intercontinental (GB) (2004-2005) as the only repeat winner of the race. With a victory Saturday, Rushing Fall would join Lady Eli and Beholder as the only horses since 1976 to win Grade 1 races at ages 2, 3, 4 and 5.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/KEE071120USA8-EQB.html

5:30 p.m.—$600,000 Grade 2 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland on TVG

Peter Callahan's Swiss Skydiver will try to put herself on the Kentucky Derby trail Saturday when she takes on males in a field of 13 horses entered for the 96th running of the Blue Grass Stakes for 3-year-olds going 1 1/8 miles. Swiss Skydiver will be seeking her initial Kentucky Derby points in her first test against males. Winner of the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Oaks, Grade 3 Fantasy and Grade 2 Santa Anita Oaks in her past three starts, Swiss Skydiver will get a 5-pound weight allowance Saturday and carry 118 pounds in the Blue Grass. No filly has won the Blue Grass and only one filly has run in the race since it debuted at Keeneland during the track's inaugural Spring Meet in April 1937.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/KEE071120USA9-EQB.html

Sunday July 12

4:24 p.m.—$100,000 Grade 3 Transylvania Stakes at Keeneland on TVG

Three Diamonds Farm's Field Pass will face 10 foes as he goes for his fourth stakes victory of 2020 in the 32nd running of the Transylvania Stakes for 3-year-olds going 1 1/16 miles on the turf. Fourth in last fall's Grade 3 Bourbon Stakes in his lone Keeneland start, Field Pass has posted stakes victories on the grass this year in the Dania Beach and Gulfstream and last month in the Audubon at Churchill Downs. Field Pass also won the Grade 3 Jeff Ruby Steaks on Turfway Park's all-weather surface in March.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/KEE071220USA7-EQB.html

5:30 p.m.—$175,000 Grade 2 Elkhorn Stakes at Keeneland on NBCSN

Michael Hui's six-time graded stakes winner Zulu Alpha will shoot for his third victory of 2020 when he headlines a field of 13 grass marathoners in the Elkhorn, contested over 1½ miles over the Keeneland turf course. Winner of the 2018 Grade 3 Sycamore and third as the favorite in the 2019 Dixiana Elkhorn, Zulu Alpha started his 2020 campaign with a victory in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational and followed that with a triumph in the Grade 2 Mac Diarmida. In his most recent start, Zulu Alpha was second in the Grade 2 Pan American going 1½ miles.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/KEE071220USA9-EQB.html

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Weekend Lineup: Met Mile Again Brings Marquee Names Together

Throughout the year, the NTRA will provide a guide to the best stakes races in North America and beyond. Races are listed in chronological order (all times Eastern). Full previews when available can be found through the link for each race.

The Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap, which offers a berth in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile in November at Keeneland, headlines a stellar card offering five graded stakes on Saturday at Belmont Park. Slated as Race 9 on Saturday's 11-race card, the Met Mile will be featured live on NBC from 5 – 6 p.m ET. Saturday's one-hour program will also include the G3 Poker Stakes, featuring Eclipse Award finalist Got Stormy.

America's Day at the Races, produced by the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) in partnership with FOX Sports, returns on FOX Sports and MSG+ for holiday coverage and analysis of the best in Thoroughbred racing from Belmont Park. The national telecast will air through Sunday on FS1, FS2 and MSG+, highlighted by the blockbuster Met Mile card.

TVG will be live on site for opening weekend at Monmouth Park and will feature holiday racing from across the country including the Grade 3, $150,000 Los Alamitos Derby on Saturday. On both Saturday and Sunday morning, fans of international racing can tune in for world class racing from England featuring the return of champion Enable (GB) who will try to defend her title in the Group 1 Coral-Eclipse Stakes. Post time is 10:35 a.m. ET.

Saturday July 4

2:24 p.m.—$100,000 Grade 3 Victory Ride Stakes at Belmont Park on FS1

Two-time winner Reagan's Edge will make her stakes debut against four other sophomore fillies in the 18th running of the Victory Ride going 6 ½ furlongs. Trained by Cherie DeVaux, Reagan's Edge was a runaway nine-length debut winner going six furlongs on September 24 at Indiana Grand Race Course defeating next-out winners Competitive Fire and Pranked. Following a six-month layoff, the chestnut daughter of second crop-sire Competitive Edge was third beaten 5 ½ lengths in her seasonal bow before defeating winners with a last-to-first rally in a first-level Churchill Downs allowance race on May 16.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/BEL070420USA3-EQB.html

4:45 p.m.—$300,000 Grade 3 Delaware Oaks at Delaware Park on TVG

Graded stakes winner Comical seeks to end a seven-race losing skid when she breaks from the rail in a field of eight for the 1 1/16-mile Delaware Oaks. Trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, Comical last visited the winner's circle when she captured the G3 Schuylerville Stakes at Saratoga last July. The daughter of Into Mischief most recently finished second in the Gardenia Stakes at Oaklawn Park May 1.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/DEL070420USA-EQB.html#RACE8

4:46 p.m.—$175,000 Grade 2 Eclipse Stakes at Woodbine on TVG

The Eclipse, run at 1 1/16 miles on the Toronto oval Tapeta, has attracted seven hopefuls for the 65th running of the stakes for 4-year-olds and up. Three-time stakes winner Cooler Mike, a 5-year-old son of Giant Gizmo, goes after his first graded stakes title. Bred and owned by father and son duo Mike and Nick Nosowenko, the gelding is one of the most consistent competitors on the Woodbine grounds, having assembled a 6-4-5 record from 21 career starts.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/WO070420CAN8-EQB.html

5:13 p.m.—$150,000 Grade 3 Poker Stakes at Belmont Park on NBC

Gary Barber's Got Stormy will once again take on the boys as she looks for the first win of her 2020 campaign in Saturday's Poker Stakes, a one-mile turf test for older horses. In August, Got Stormy became the first filly to win the G1 Fourstardave, in its 35th running, besting the boys at one mile over a firm inner turf in a track record 1:32 flat at Saratoga Race Course. Trained by Hall of Famer Mark Casse, Got Stormy would face males in her next two starts finishing second in both the G1 Woodbine Mile, over soft going, and G1 Breeders' Cup Mile at Santa Anita.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/BEL070420USA8-EQB.html

5:15 p.m.—$125,000 Grade 3 Kent Stakes at Delaware Park on TVG

Otter Bend's Gufo tops the G3 Kent Stakes at Delaware Park, a 1 1/8-mile grass affair which has attracted a field of eight 3-year-olds. Gufo will try to extend his current winning streak to four. The Kentucky-bred trained by Christophe Clement, started his career with a third in an Aqueduct turf maiden on Nov. 17 and followed with three successive turf victories all at Gulfstream Park. In his most recent, he won the $75,000 English Channel Stakes on May 2.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/DEL070420USA9-EQB.html

5:47 p.m.—$500,000 Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park on NBC

An eight-horse field boasting a combined 20 graded stakes victories, led by Grade 1-winning multimillionaires Code of Honor and McKinzie, make up a talented group assembled for Saturday's 127th running of the Grade 1 Met Mile. Code of Honor, a $2.4-million earner and winner of last year's Grade 1 Travers Stakes and Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup, continued to build on his graded stakes winning form in his 2020 bow when scoring a victory in the Grade 3 Westchester Stakes on June 6. Owned by Mike Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman, McKinzie was a troubled second beaten three-quarters of a length to eventual champion Mitole in last year's running of the Met Mile, where he lacked racing room down the stretch, found a hole to the inside of runners and made a late move to complete the exacta.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/BEL070420USA9-EQB.html

6:20 p.m.—$400,000 Grade 1 Manhattan Stakes at Belmont Park on FS1

Sadler's Joy has twice finished in the money in the Grade 1 Manhattan and will look to earn a trip to the winner's circle in the race's 119th edition on Saturday. Sadler's Joy has come tantalizing close to a Manhattan win for trainer Tom Albertrani, finishing a neck behind Spring Quality as part of a blanket finish in 2018. The year prior, the son of Kitten's Joy ran third, 1 ½-lengths back to winner Ascend. Off a three-month layoff, Sadler's Joy returned to New York to run third in the 1 3/8-mile Tiller Stakes on June 4 at Belmont.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/BEL070420USA10-EQB.html

6:28 p.m.—$150,000 Grade 3 Los Alamitos Derby at Los Alamitos on TVG

Hall of Famer Bob Baffert has two of the five entrants in the 1 1/8-mile Los Alamitos Derby including graded stakes winner Thousand Words. Thousand Words won his first three starts and earned his first graded victory when he prevailed in the G2 Los Alamitos Futurity last December. The bay colt is winless in three starts this year.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/LRC070420USA6-EQB.html

6:51 p.m.—$200,000 Grade 2 Suburban Stakes at Belmont Park on FS1

Saturday's Suburban Stakes, a 1 1/4-mile test, will feature the one-two-three finishers of last year's G1 Belmont Stakes as Sir Winston, Tacitus and Joevia renew their rivalry. Tracy Farmer's Sir Winston, trained by Hall of Famer Mark Casse, was a 10-1 upset winner of the 2019 Belmont Stakes, outkicking Tacitus for a one-length win. Sir Winston made a successful seasonal debut with a 2 ¼-length score in an optional-claiming mile at Aqueduct Racetrack on Jan. 31. After traveling for the Dubai World Cup, which was cancelled amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Sir Winston made his belated return on June 11 on a sloppy Belmont strip in the 1 3/8-mile Flat Out, running second by 5 ¼-lengths to Suburban rival Moretti.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/BEL070420USA11-EQB.html

7:28 p.m.—$200,000 Grade 2 Great Lady M. Stakes at Los Alamitos on TVG

Multiple Grade 1-winner Bellafina headlines a field of seven entered for the 6 ½-furlong Great Lady M. Stakes. Trained by Simon Callaghan, Bellafina enters off a victory in the Grade 3 Desert Stormer Stakes at Santa Anita Park on May 17. That win was the first for the daughter of Quality Road since her triumph in the 2019 G1 Santa Anita Oaks.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/LRC070420USA8-EQB.html

Sunday July 5

8:35 p.m.—$100,000 Grade 3 Iowa Oaks at Prairie Meadows on TVG

The Steve Asmussen-trained Strong Flag and stakes winner Dynasty of Her Own head up a field of seven entered for the 1 1/16-mile Iowa Oaks. Dynasty of Her Own, trained by Jonathan Wong, won the California Oaks in her most recent start on May 31 while Strong Flag seeks her first victory since breaking her maiden at Oaklawn Park on March 15.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/PRM070520USA9-EQB.html

9:02 p.m.—$100,000 Grade 3 Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Handicap at Prairie Meadows on TVG

Night Ops, the 5-2 morning-line favorite, aims to get back on track following a ninth-place run in Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap on May 2. Trained by Brad Cox, Night Ops won the Essex Handicap at Oaklawn Park on March 14 after scoring an allowance victory earlier in the meet. Sir Anthony won last year's Cornhusker Handicap but is winless in four starts since.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/PRM070520USA10-EQB.html

 

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