Four Weeks to the Breeders' Cup, and the Auditions Start Now
The Breeders' Cup World Championships come to Keeneland on October 30 and 31, and this weekend the Lexington track throws open its doors for its 90th anniversary season with a Fall Stars Weekend loaded with "Win and You're In" berths. Add a stacked juvenile card at the reimagined Belmont Park, a Baffert battalion at Santa Anita, and the Canadian International at Woodbine, and you have one of the richest weekends on the calendar. Let's get to it.
Saturday's showpiece is the $1.25 million Coolmore Turf Mile (G1), going at 5:48 p.m. ET with a Breeders' Cup Mile berth on the line. Defending champ Rhetorical is the 2-1 morning line favorite for trainer Will Walden, and the big story is who's riding him: Irad Ortiz Jr., back in the saddle this weekend after more than a month on the sidelines with an ankle injury. Rhetorical has six wins from 11 starts but comes in off a fourth in Saratoga's Fourstardave, so he has something to prove. Chad Brown's Zulu Kingdom, the Maker's Mark Mile (G1) winner in April, is the 3-1 second choice under Jose Ortiz, and British invader Lake Forest at 4-1 for William Haggas gives the race a transatlantic flavor. Brother versus brother in a Grade 1 on Keeneland's grass? Yes, please.
Thirty-two minutes earlier, the Claiborne Breeders' Futurity (G1) sends six two-year-olds 1 1/16 miles, the exact trip they'll face in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile on this same track. Kenny McPeek's Coach Pope is a heavy 4-5 favorite after demolishing a Churchill Downs maiden field by 12 1/2 lengths, but he'll have to handle Q B Rocket, the $1.9 million Gun Runner colt for Brad Cox at 2-1, plus Todd Pletcher's impressive Saratoga winner American History. The card also features the First Lady (G1), where Mark Casse's Classic Q, winner of the Just a Game (G1), heads a field of 11 turf mares, and the Thoroughbred Club of America (G2), headlined by defending winner Praying.
Over at Belmont Park, the Champagne (G1) returns home at 3:53 p.m. ET and serves up a delicious rematch. Back on August 8 at Saratoga, Chad Brown's Gaudreau won his debut over a loaded field that included Coach Pope in second and U. S. S. Valor in third. Since then, Shug McGaughey's U. S. S. Valor came back to win his maiden by a staggering 13 1/4 lengths and is now the 3-5 favorite, with Gaudreau at 8-5 under Flavien Prat. Brown already owns five Champagne trophies. Want a fun side story? Club Reign, partly owned by Russell Wilson and Ciara, goes at 8-1. Brown also holds a strong hand in the Frizette (G1) at 4:31 p.m. ET with 8-5 choice Libby Lloyd.
Out West, Bob Baffert saddles four of the six in the American Pharoah (G1) at 4:04 p.m. PT, led by unbeaten Del Mar Futurity hero Hughes at 4-5. The question is simple: can his blazing speed carry around two turns for the first time? And north of the border, the Canadian International (G1) drew seven turf routers at 1 1/2 miles, with Ancient Egypt, Group 1 placed in France earlier this year, the morning line favorite for Charlie Johnston.
Sunday belongs to the ladies. The Juddmonte Spinster (G1) at 5:45 p.m. ET is run at the same track and trip as the Breeders' Cup Distaff, and Chad Brown's Fully Subscribed arrives at 4-5 off a jaw-dropping 9 3/4 length romp in the Personal Ensign (G1) that earned an impressive speed figure. She faces Mark Casse's three-year-old star Counting Stars, a winner of the Acorn and Coaching Club American Oaks who meets older mares for the first time with Irad back aboard, plus 2024 champion juvenile filly Immersive for Brad Cox. Only five go, but every one of them can run.
That's a weekend of champions in the making, with Derby points for the babies and Breeders' Cup tickets up for grabs. Grab your form, pick your favorites, and enjoy the ride.
