Tag: Weekend Lineup

Weekend Lineup: Breeders’ Cup Berths Up For Grabs In Stephen Foster, Fleur De Lis

The Grade 2 Stephen Foster is the headliner of a stakes quartet on Saturday's 11-race program at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., while the Grade 1 Just a Game, featuring the seasonal bow of champion Uni (GB), is one of four graded stakes on the Belmont Park lineup in Elmont, N.Y.

The Stephen Foster will be broadcast on NBC as part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series. The one-hour broadcast, which will begin at 5 p.m. ET, also will include the Grade 2 Fleur de Lis. The winner of the Stephen Foster will get an automatic berth to the Breeders' Cup Classic while the winner of the Fleur de Lis will receive a berth to the Distaff.

America's Day at the Races, produced by the New York Racing Association (NYRA) in partnership with FOX Sports, will air through Sunday on FS1, FS2 and MSG+. Also featured on Saturday's broadcast is the Grade 3 Ohio Derby at Thistledown Racecourse for 3-year-olds going 1 1/8 miles, which has been added to the Road to the Kentucky Derby series. The top-four finishers will receive points worth 20-8-4-2 for entry to the field for the Kentucky Derby, rescheduled for September 5 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Saturday June 27 (all times Eastern)

4:22 p.m.—$500,000 Grade 3 Ohio Derby at Thistledown on FS1

Reigning 2-year-old champion male Storm the Court seeks his first victory since taking the 2019 Breeders' Cup Juvenile when he starts in the Ohio Derby against 14 challengers. Trained by Peter Eurton, Storm the Court is winless in three starts this season including his most recent run, a sixth-place effort in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby. The son of Court Vision captured the Breeders' Cup Juvenile last November at Santa Anita Park en route to earning the Eclipse Award for divisional honors.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/TDN062720USA8-EQB.html

4:32 p.m.—$100,000 Grade 3 Vagrancy Handicap at Belmont Park on FS1

Blue Devil Racing Stable's Grade 1-winner Come Dancing will look to rebound after a rare off-the-board performance last out when she headlines Saturday's Grade 3 Vagrancy Handicap. Trained by Carlos Martin, Come Dancing finished 12th in the Grade 1 Apple Blossom going 1 1/16-miles at Oaklawn Park.The daughter of Malibu Moon now returns to sprinting, where she excelled in 2019, highlighted by a dramatic come-from-behind win in the Grade 1 Ballerina in August at Saratoga Race Course.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/BEL062720USA7-EQB.html

4:42 p.m.—$175,000 Grade 2 Nassau Stakes at Woodbine on TVG

Malakeh, a 5-year-old daughter of Harbour Watch (IRE), goes after her third straight score in Saturday's Nassau Stakes. Bred by Gestut Gorlsdorf, the bay mare will make her first start in Canada when she goes postward in the one-mile E.P. Taylor Turf Course engagement that has drawn seven hopefuls. After a polished performance to close the curtain on her 2019 campaign last August at Saratoga, Malakeh opened up her current season with another win, a gutsy neck score over firm going at Churchill Downs on May 22.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/WO062720CAN8-EQB.html

4:43 p.m.—$100,000 Grade 3 Bashford Manor Stakes at Churchill Downs on FS1

Stonestreet Stables' eye-popping 8 ¾-length maiden winner Cazadero leads a field of seven promising 2-year-olds in search of graded stakes glory in Saturday's 119th running of the Bashford Manor. Cazadero, trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, dazzled in his debut on May 29 at Churchill Downs under Ricardo Santana Jr. Cazadero, a homebred son of Street Sense, sported an impressive work tab entering his maiden race which included a swift half-mile move in :46.40 from the gate at Keeneland. Since his debut, Cazadero has been stabled with Asmussen's string at Churchill Downs.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/CD062720USA8-EQB.html

5:04 p.m.—$250,000 Grade 2 New York Stakes at Belmont Park on FS1

Trainer Graham Motion will saddle a pair of graded stakes winners as part of a seven-horse field of older fillies and mares in the New York Stakes going 1 ¼ miles on Belmont Park's inner turf. Among Motion's trainees is Alex G. Campbell Jr.'s Mean Mary, who has started her 4-year-old campaign with consecutive graded stakes wins in front-running fashion. The Kentucky homebred went gate-to-wire to win the 1 ½-mile Grade 3 La Prevoyante in January over the Gulfstream Park turf and followed with another winning effort on the course by leading a 12-horse field through every point of call in the Grade 3 Orchid on March 28.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/BEL062720USA8-EQB.html

5:15 p.m.—$200,000 Grade 2 Fleur de Lis Stakes at Churchill Downs on NBC

Serengeti Empress, winner of the 2019 Kentucky Oaks, is ready for her showdown versus champion Midnight Bisou, the No. 1-ranked horse in the latest NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll, in the Fleur de Lis – a Breeders' Cup “Win and You're In Distaff Division” race. The speedy Serengeti Empress led every step of the way in last year's Kentucky Oaks and was a convincing 6 ¼-length winner of the Grade 2 Azeri Stakes at Oaklawn Park March 14. Midnight Bisou, trained by Hall of Fame conditioner Steve Asmussen, has been nothing short of spectacular throughout her 20-race career. The now 5-year-old mare won seven straight graded stakes last year en route to earning the Eclipse Award for champion older dirt female and began her 2020 campaign by running second against males in the $20 million Saudi Cup on February 29.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/CD062720USA9-EQB.html

5:36 p.m.—$150,000 Grade 2 True North Stakes at Belmont Park on FS1

Robert Baron and WinStar Farm's Grade 1-winner Promises Fulfilled returns off a more than eight month layoff to headline the True North Stakes going 6 ½-furlongs. Promises Fulfilled, who will ship up to New York from Kentucky, has trained forwardly at Churchill Downs, including a bullet five-eighths breeze in 59 seconds flat on June 13 and a similarly speedy effort in 59.20 Saturday on the Churchill Downs main track. He sizzled to a front-running score in the 2018 Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens at Saratoga Race Course and boasts a record of 17-7-0-3 with purse earnings of $1,455,530.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/BEL062720USA9-EQB.html

5:47 p.m.—$500,000 Grade 2 Stephen Foster Stakes at Churchill Downs on NBC

G M B Racing's Grade 1-winner Tom's d'Etat will take on Allied Racing Stable's multiple-graded stakes winner By My Standards and recent Blame Stakes hero Owendale in Saturday's 39th running of the $500,000 Stephen Foster – the centerpiece of the penultimate day of Churchill Downs' 27-day Spring Meet. Tom's d'Etat has won four of his last five starts including a 3 ¼-length score in last year's Grade 1 Clark Handicap. The now 7-year-old son of Smart Strike enters Saturday's Stephen Foster following a hard-fought victory in the April 11 Oaklawn Mile. Another top older horse that entered the Stephen Foster is last year's Grade 2 Louisiana Derby hero By My Standards. Trained by Bret Calhoun, By My Standards returned as a 4-year-old in February at Fair Grounds with a convincing three-length victory in the Grade 3 New Orleans and he enters the Stephen Foster following a 1 ¾-length win in last month's Grade 2 Oaklawn Stakes.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/CD062720USA10-EQB.html

6:08 p.m.—$250,000 Grade 1 Just a Game Stakes at Belmont Park on FS1

Trainer Chad Brown will bring a strong hand of cards to the table when he saddles turf champion Uni, Grade 1-winner Newspaperofrecord (IRE), and two-time graded stakes winner Regal Glory in pursuit of a fourth consecutive win in the 27th running of Saturday's Grade 1 Just a Game over the Widener turf course. Uni, the reigning champion turf female, will make her 2020 debut in the Just a Game, having not raced since taking last year's Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Mile at Santa Anita Park, where she became the sixth female to score a win in the race. Newspaperofrecord arrives at the Just a Game off a wire-to-wire victory in the Grade 3 Intercontinental on June 6 over the Widener turf, where she recorded swift fractions but still had enough left in the tank to draw off to a four-length victory.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/BEL062720USA10-EQB.html

6:20 p.m.—$100,000 Grade 3 Regret Stakes at Churchill Downs on FS1

Godolphin's two-time stakes-winning filly Micheline will be in search of her first graded stakes victory in Saturday's 51st running of the Regret Stakes, a 1 1/8-mile turf event for 3-year-old fillies. Micheline, trained by Mike Stidham and ridden by Joe Bravo, scored a 2 ¼-length victory in last month's $75,000 Honey Ryder Stakes at Gulfstream Park. The 3-year-old filly by Bernardini broke her maiden in her second-career start last year in the $106,000 Sorority Stakes at Monmouth.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/CD062720USA11-EQB.html

The post Weekend Lineup: Breeders’ Cup Berths Up For Grabs In Stephen Foster, Fleur De Lis appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Weekend Lineup: Belmont Stakes Kicks Off American Triple Crown

For the first time in history, the Grade 1, $1 million Belmont Stakes will serve as the first leg of the American Triple Crown when the classic takes place on June 20. The Belmont Stakes, which will be contested at 1 1/8-miles instead of its typical 12 furlongs, is one of six graded stakes and four Grade 1s on Belmont Park's Saturday card and will offer 150-60-30-15 Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the top-four finishers.

NBC will broadcast the 152nd Belmont Stakes with coverage of it stakes-laden card beginning at 2:45 p.m. ET. NBC will also broadcast the Royal Ascot meet on Saturday beginning at 9 a.m. ET.

For the first time since it began in 2016, America's Day at the Races will air Saturday's Belmont Stakes Day coverage, with several major races preceding the Belmont Stakes to be shown on the networks of FOX Sports starting at 11:30 a.m. ET. FOX Sports will offer 4 ½-hours of live coverage, which will sandwich NBC's live broadcast of Belmont Stakes Day from 2:45 p.m. to 6 p.m. ET.

HRRN's Belmont Stakes broadcast will air from 4:30-6 p.m. ET, and will be preceded by a 30-minute broadcast of the Acorn on the Belmont undercard beginning at 4 p.m. ET.

Saturday June 20

12:25 p.m.—$250,000 Grade 1 Woody Stephens Stakes at Belmont Park on FS1

Cash is King and LC Racing's Mischevious Alex, who captured the Grade 3 Gotham last out on March 7 for trainer John Servis, headlines the seven-furlong Woody Stephens. The Into Mischief bay, bred in Kentucky by WinStar Farm, arrives at Saturday's test for sophomores on a three-race streak that includes scores in the Parx Juvenile in November and the Grade 3 Swale in February at Gulfstream Park ahead of his Gotham glory. Undefeated since the addition of blinkers for his Parx Juvenile score, Mischevious Alex boasts a record of 7-4-1-1 with purse earnings of $344,230.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/BEL062020USA2-EQB.html

1:42 p.m.—$150,000 Grade 2 Pennine Ridge Stakes at Belmont Park on FS1

Grade 1-winner Decorated Invader headlines the Pennine Ridge over the Widener turf. Owned by Terry Finley's West Point Thoroughbreds in partnership with William T. Freeman, William Sandbrook and Cheryl Manning, Decorated Invader took Gulfstream Park's Cutler Bay on March 28 in his most recent start. The son of Declaration of War hit the gate at the break and was 15 lengths off the pace before making a five-wide move at the top of the stretch to garner a career-best 88 Beyer Speed Figure for the victory for trainer Christophe Clement.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/BEL062020USA4-EQB.html

3:01 p.m.—$150,000 Grade 3 Wonder Again Stakes at Belmont Park on NBC

Robert and Lawana Low's graded stakes winner Sweet Melania will attempt to keep her consistent record intact when she returns off a seven-and-a-half month layoff in Saturday's Wonder Again at Belmont Park. Trained by Todd Pletcher, Sweet Melania, a chestnut daughter of American Pharoah, graduated in July at third asking in a 1 1/16-mile turf tilt at Saratoga Race Course. She followed up a month later at the Spa with a strong effort in the P.G. Johnson when second, by a neck, to Crystalle ahead of a front-running 5 1/2-length score in the Grade 2 Jessamine on October 9 at Keeneland. She completed a lengthy 2-year-old campaign in November with a prominent third in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Santa Anita.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/BEL062020USA6-EQB.html

4:02 p.m.—$100,000 Grade 3 Wilshire Stakes at Santa Anita Park on TVG

A recent winner of two consecutive graded stakes, trainer Jonathan Wong's rapidly improving Keeper Ofthe Stars will square off with Neil Drysdale's classy comebacker Toinette as they head a field of seven fillies and mares in Saturday's Wilshire Stakes at one mile over the Santa Anita turf. A half length winner of the Grade 2 Buena Vista Stakes at one mile on turf February 22, this 4-year-old daughter of Midnight Lute came back to score the biggest win of her career on May 25, taking the Grade 1 Gamely Stakes by 1 ¼ lengths.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/SA062020USA2-EQB.html

4:15 p.m.—$300,000 Grade 1 Acorn Stakes at Belmont Park on NBC

Tracy Farmer's Grade 1-winner Perfect Alibi has been ready to debut her 3-year-old form for the better part of the last few months. On Saturday, Belmont Stakes Day, the daughter of Sky Mesa will finally get the chance to take some tangible steps forward in her progress when she headlines a field of seven sophomore fillies in the Acorn Stakes. When Perfect Alibi heads to post in the Acorn – which has produced such divisional champions as Abel Tasman (2017) and Monomoy Girl (2018) in recent seasons – it will mark the first competitive outing for the dark bay filly since her fourth-place finish in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies at Santa Anita Park on November 1.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/BEL062020USA8-EQB.html

4:53 p.m.—$250,000 Grade 1 Jaipur Stakes at Belmont Park on NBC

An eclectic field of eight turf sprinters has lined up for Jaipur Stakes, which features a pair from the barn of Christophe Clement, a quartet of West Coast invaders and the star-crossed Hidden Scroll. Chief among the motley crew assembled for the Jaipur is the elder statesman Pure Sensation, who goes out for Clement and owner Patricia Generazio as he makes his 9-year-old debut off a fifth-place finish in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint to close out 2019. No stranger to this race, the gray Zensational gelding won the Jaipur in 2016, finished fourth in 2017 and third in 2018. Though he missed the Jaipur last year, he still put together a productive campaign which included wins in a pair of Grade 3 events at Parx Racing and an ungraded stake at Penn National.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/BEL062020USA9-EQB.html

5:01 p.m.—$200,000 Grade 2 Wise Dan Stakes at Churchill Downs on FS2

Gaining Ground Racing's three-time stakes winner Factor This will lead a field of 11 older horses that entered Saturday's 31st running of the Wise Dan Stakes on the turf. Factor This, a previous $62,500 claim in 2018, has won five races with trainer Brad Cox, including back-to-back stakes victories in the Grade 3 Fair Grounds and Grade 2 Muniz Memorial. The 5-year-old son of The Factor has been working consistently over the turf course at Churchill Downs with his pilot Shaun Bridgmohan aboard.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/CD062020USA9-EQB.html

5:42 p.m.—$1,000,000 Grade 1 Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park on NBC

A history-making Saturday will see the 152nd running of the Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park serve as the Triple Crown's first leg for the first time in history. Sackatoga Stable's Tiz the Law headlines the 10-horse field, and will look to become the first NY-bred in 138 years to win the American Classic. The Barclay Tagg trainee is the race's only multiple graded stakes winner and has already registered a pair of Grade 1 triumphs, starting with his only previous Belmont Park appearance when he followed a debut win by posting a four-length victory in the Champagne in October. Tiz the Law, the No. 1-ranked horse on the NTRA Top Three-Year-Old Poll, has continued to train forwardly at Belmont, including a half-mile breeze in :50.42 seconds over Big Sandy on Sunday in his last work before the start of Triple Crown season.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/BEL062020USA10-EQB.html

7:32 p.m.—$100,000 Grade 3 Lazaro Barrera Stakes at Santa Anita Park on NBCSN

Fresh off a huge allowance score going six furlongs, trainer Mark Glatt's talented Collusion Illusion will stretch out a half-furlong and make his second start off an extended vacation as he heads Saturday's Lazaro Barrera Stakes at Santa Anita. The Barrera, named for the late Hall of Fame trainer, has attracted a field of five sophomores going 6 ½ furlongs. Bob Baffert's speedy Ragtime Blues, a winner of his last two starts, will get the first time services of Mike Smith and also figures prominently in what will be his fourth career start.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/SA062020USA9-EQB.html

Sunday June 21

4:09 p.m.—$125,000 Grade 3 Whimsical Stakes at Woodbine on TVG

Sovereign Award-winning Summer Sunday, owned by Anne and William Scott, makes her five-year-old debut in the Whimsical Stakes. A seven-time winner from 11 starts, Summer Sunday takes on nine rivals, including graded stakes champion Jean Elizabeth, in the six-furlong Whimsical. Trained by Stuart Simon, Summer Sunday won three of six 2019 starts, including the Grade 2 Royal North Stakes, en route to Sovereign honors as Canada's champion female sprinter.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/WO062120CAN7-EQB.html

6 p.m.—$100,000 Grade 3 San Juan Capistrano Stakes at Santa Anita Park on NBCSN

A pair of long fused veterans, California-bred Ward 'n Jerry and Kentucky-bred Red King, third in last year's running, head a field of eight 3-year-olds and up on the turf in the San Juan Capistrano. The 81st renewal of the San Juan, Santa Anita's traditional closing day feature, will again include a hillside start at the top the Camino Real Turf Course. A homebred 7-year-old gelding by the late Lucky Pulpit, Ward 'n Jerry rates top billing in a wide open affair in which just one of the runners have ever run this far. Although he was most recently a non-threatening fifth in the Crystal Water Stakes at one mile on turf June 6, he took the Grade 3 San Luis Rey Stakes by an impressive 1 ¼ lengths two starts back on March 21.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/SA062120USA6-EQB.html

8 p.m.—$100,000 Grade 3 American Stakes at Santa Anita Park on TVG

In a field replete with classy veterans returning off extended vacations, Richard Mandella's fast-improving Border Town seeks his third consecutive win in Sunday's American Stakes. Trainer Mark Glatt will be well represented by multiple graded stakes winner Sharp Samurai, who has been idle since August 18, and Phil D'Amato will send out a pair of classy comebackers, multiple Grade 1-winner Bowies Hero, idle since November 2, and graded stakes winning Cleopatra's Strike, who's been idle 4 ½ months.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/SA062120USA10-EQB.html

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Weekend Lineup: Charles Town Classic

This weekend is part of the calm before the storm of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve on May 4. Highlighting the relatively light lineup of graded stakes is the $1 million, Grade 2 Charles Town Classic Stakes.

Horse Racing Radio Network (HRRN) will broadcast live from Hollywood Casino at Charles Town on Saturday from 4-6pm on Sirius/XM 156 with live streaming accessible on computers, tablets and mobile devices on the HRRN website, www.horseracingradio.net.

Friday April 19

5:30 p.m.—$100,000 Grade 3 Hilliard Lyons-Baird Doubledogdare Stakes at Keeneland on TVG

St. George Stable's Jala Jala (MEX), a star at Mexico City's Hipodromo de las Americas, will shoot for her first graded stakes victory in the United States when she goes postward in the Doubledogdare going 1 1/16 miles. Named Mexico's Horse of the Year for 2017, Jala Jala dominated horses from the Caribbean by winning Caribbean Cup races at Gulfstream by nine lengths in December 2017 and by 4½ lengths last December. Trainer Ignacio Correas IV said Grade 1 winner Blue Prize (ARG) would scratch from the Doubledogdare in favor of the Grade 1 La Troienne on May 3 at Churchill Downs.

Entries: http://www.equibase.com/static/entry/KEE041919USA9-EQB.html

Saturday April 20

4:51 p.m.—$125,000 Grade 3 Whimsical Stakes at Woodbine on TVG

Shakopee Town, a homebred for Bill and Al Ulwelling, makes her Canadian debut in the Whimsical Stakes on the opening day of the 2019 Woodbine Thoroughbred meet. A four-time winner from 10 starts, Shakopee Town, trained by Kevin Attard, will be contesting her fifth race of the year, a campaign that's already yielded two wins and a second.

Entries: http://www.equibase.com/static/entry/WO042019CAN8-EQB.html

5:30 p.m.—$250,000 Grade 2 Dixiana Elkhorn Stakes at Keeneland on TVG

Michael Hui's Zulu Alpha, winner of his past two starts in graded stakes company, headlines a field of 10 going 1½ miles on the turf. The winner of the Grade 3 Sycamore Stakes here last fall when trained by John Ortiz, Zulu Alpha is now conditioned by Mike Maker and comes into Saturday's race off victories in the 1 ½-mile Grade 3 W.L. McKnight Handicap (G3) and the Grade 2 Mac Diarmida at Gulfstream Park.

Entries: http://www.equibase.com/static/entry/KEE042019USA9-EQB.html

5:37 p.m.—$1,000,000 Grade 2 Charles Town Classic Stakes at Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races on TVG

Grade 1 winner Discreet Lover is set to make his first start since finishing eighth in the Breeders' Cup Classic last November. Owned and trained by Uriah St. Lewis, Discreet Lover – a $10,000 purchase at public auction – became one of racing's great Cinderella stories when he captured the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup last September. Among those attempting to derail him Saturday will be veteran Imperative, winner of the Charles Town Classic in 2014 and 2017, and graded stakes winner War Story.

Entries: http://www.equibase.com/static/entry/CT042019USA11-EQB.html
Equibase featured race: http://www.equibase.com/free/index.cfm?SAP=TN

6:12 p.m.—$200,000 Grade 2 Kona Gold Stakes at Santa Anita Park on TVG

Dr. Dorr and Kanthaka head a field of five older sprinters in Saturday's Kona Gold Stakes going 6 ½-furlongs. Supplemented at a cost of $4,000, 6-year-old Dr. Dorr will be making his second start off of a 7 ½ month layoff while 4-year-old Kanthaka will be making his fourth graded stakes start of the current meet.

Entries: http://www.equibase.com/static/entry/SA042019USA5-EQB.html

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