NTRA Thoroughbred Notebook - Thursday, September 25

Sep 25, 2008 - 10:22 PM www.ntra.com

CURLIN SHOOTING TO BECOME NORTH AMERICA'S FIRST $10 MILLION EARNER IN SATURDAY'S JOCKEY CLUB GOLD CUP

Through history, the Thoroughbreds who became North America's leading money-earner rank amongst the greatest racehorses of all time, from Man o'War to Seabiscuit, Citation to Kelso, Alysheba to Cigar. Saturday at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y., reigning Horse of the Year Curlin seeks to put his name atop that exclusive list and become North America's first $10 million horse in the 90th running of the Grade 1, $750,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup Invitational.

The Jockey Club Gold Cup will be televised live by ESPNEWS and can also be seen live on TVG and HRTV with a scheduled post time of 5:52 p.m. (ET). Also Saturday are the $600,000 Beldame for fillies and mares (3:40 p.m.), the $600,000 Flower Bowl Invitational for fillies and mares on the turf (4:13 p.m.), the $400,000 Vosburgh at six furlongs (4:46 p.m.), and the $600,000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational (5:19 p.m.).

The winner's purse in the Jockey Club Gold Cup is worth $450,000, and should Curlin, who won the Gold Cup last year, score a repeat victory, he would add to his current earnings total of $9,796,800 and surpass the great Cigar ($9,999,815) as the richest North American-based racehorse ever. Cigar's record has stood for 12 years, second only to Kelso's ($1,977,896), which endured for 15 years before being broken by Affirmed ($2,393,818).

"It's so exciting to think he might break the record," said owner Jess Jackson of Curlin, who has won four of five starts this year including Grade I wins in the Dubai World Cup, the Stephen Foster, and the Woodward. "But first, he's got to win."

Curlin, who will break from post five, will go off as a heavy favorite against the eight others who were entered in the 1-mile race.

"It's not about the money, it's about his place in history," said Jackson, noting that Skip Away (1996-97) was the last horse to repeat in the Jockey Club Gold Cup. "I think Curlin has already proven he's one of the best, and I think one of the best in the last half-century, if not the century. That's just an owner's selfish view of the horse he loves, but that's the way I feel. It's an honor just to be included with horses like Cigar."

The complete Jockey Club Gold Cup Invitational field, in post position order, is: Ravel (jockey: Rafael Bejarano, morning line odds: 30-1); Merchant Marine (Cornelio Velasquez, 12-1); Timber Reserve (Kent Desormeaux, 12-1); Wanderin Boy (Alan Garcia 10-1); Curlin (Robby Albarado, 3-5); Angliana (Rajiv Maragh, 30-1); A.P. Arrow (Ramon Dominguez, 20-1); Stones River (Gabriel Saez, 20-1); and Mambo in Seattle (Edgar Prado, 7-2).

ZENYATTA BIDS TO REMAIN PERFECT AS OAK TREE PRESENTS SIX GRADE I STAKES

Zenyatta, racing's paragon of perfection, and stablemate Tiago, defending champion in the $500,000 Goodwood Stakes, will be major players at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif., on Saturday when the Oak Tree Racing Association presents an unprecedented six Grade I stakes races, each with Breeders' Cup World Championship implications.

Unbeaten Zenyatta, the 4-year-old filly who has towered over her opposition in seven starts, will be a solid choice in the $250,000 Lady's Secret Stakes at 1 1/16 miles, but could get her sternest test yet when facing Hystericalady, winner of three consecutive Grade II stakes by a combined 19 lengths.

Tiago will defend his title against 10 rivals in a wide-open Goodwood with the mile-and-one-eighth event to serve as a final prep for the $5-million Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita on Oct. 25, climaxing an expanded Breeders' Cup program featuring 14 championship races over two days.

A top-notch field of 10 entered the $400,000 Yellow Ribbon Stakes for fillies and mares at 1 miles on turf with trainer Todd Pletcher's Wait a While the one to beat. The 5-year-old gray mare won the Yellow Ribbon by 4 lengths two years ago and is two-for-two over the Santa Anita turf.

The $250,000 Clement L. Hirsch Turf Championship at 1 miles features Spring House, also two-for-two over the local grass, and an odds-on winner of the Del Mar Handicap in his last start.

The $250,000 Ancient Title Stakes at six furlongs, a prep for the Breeders' Cup Sprint, has attracted such crack sprinters as Idiot Proof, who took the 2007 Ancient Title, and Street Boss. The latter has won his last five starts including Hollywood Park's Triple Bend Handicap and Del Mar's Bing Crosby Handicap, both Grade I races, in his last two.

Stardom Bound, a dazzling 4 -length winner of the Grade I Del Mar Debutante in her last start, will be the center of attention in the $250,000 Oak Leaf Stakes for 2-year-old fillies at 1 1/16 miles.

First post for the unique 11-race program billed as Breeders' Cup Challenge Day is at 12:30 p.m. (PT) Excepting the Clement L. Hirsch Turf Championship, winners of the Grade I stakes will be assured a starting spot in their respective Breeders' Cup events under the event's "Win and You're In" program. The Breeders' Cup will take place at Oak Tree at Santa Anita this year on October 24-25.

TURFWAY PARK TO HONOR PERFECT DRIFT AT SATURDAY'S KENTUCKY CUP

Multimillionaire Perfect Drift will return to Turfway Park one more time for congratulations and honors as he begins his retirement. A special celebration and ceremony is planned for Saturday, September 27, as part of festivities surrounding the Florence, Ky., track's Kentucky Cup Day of Champions.

Now nine years old, Perfect Drift was retired earlier this year after racing at the sport's highest levels during his eight-year career. From 50 career starts he posted 11 wins, 14 seconds, and seven thirds and collected $4,714,213 in earnings. He won seven graded stakes and was graded stakes-placed in 14 others. He also competed in five consecutive renewals of the Breeders' Cup Classic, finishing third in 2005.

Perfect Drift was bred and campaigned throughout his career by Stonecrest Farm, the Kansas City, Mo., breeding and racing operation of Dr. William A. Reed, a cardiovascular surgeon who now chairs the Department of Cardiovascular Diseases at Kansas University Hospital in Kansas City, Ks.

"The whole family has enjoyed a wonderful experience with Perfect Drift for the past nine years," said Dr. Reed, who will be on hand for the ceremony. "'Drift' was foaled in Kentucky but grew up here on our farm. This is just a new time in his life."

Saturday will be a homecoming of sorts for the bay gelding, who broke his maiden at Turfway and also won the Lane's End Spiral and Kentucky Cup Classic there. "He established his reputation and fan base at Turfway Park," said Reed, "so it seemed appropriate that he would return to his racing home for his retirement."

Perfect Drift will be led to the paddock by his longtime groom, Richard Anderson, and exercise rider, Mike Bowlds. After a brief presentation, Murray Johnson, who trained Perfect Drift for all but his last four races, will saddle Perfect Drift to lead this year's Kentucky Cup Classic field onto the track.

Among those Perfect Drift will escort prior to Grade II, $350,000 race is possible favorite Honest Man, who was an impressive winner of the Iselin Handicap at Monmouth Park last time out. The main question for the Larry Jones trainee surrounds Turfway's Polytrack racing strip, because Honest Man has never raced over a synthetic surface.

"Honest Man has done very well training on the Tapeta [synthetic surface at Fair Hill], and when I galloped on this track today, it's very similar, so I expect him to run well," said Jones.

The Kentucky Cup Classic is the last of five stakes races that make up this year's 15th annual Kentucky Cup Day of Champions. The Saturday Turfway card also features the Grade III Kentucky Cup Distaff at 1 1/16 miles, the Grade III Kentucky Cup Juvenile at 1 1/16 miles, the Grade III Kentucky Cup Sprint at 6 furlongs, and the Kentucky Cup Juvenile Fillies at one mile. This year marks the 15th renewal of the Kentucky Cup Day of Champions. The stakes series begins with Race 6 on the 12-race card.

BREEDERS' CUP TO LAUNCH LEGENDS TOUR

The Breeders' Cup announced this week that it will launch a multi-city tour featuring legendary Hall of Fame jockeys, Pat Day, Angel Cordero, Jr., and Laffit Pincay Jr. beginning October 1 in celebration of the upcoming 25th running of the Breeders' Cup World Championships at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif., on October 24-25. The three riders were first, second and third, respectively, in the inaugural Breeders' Cup Classic at Hollywood Park in 1984, with Day and Wild Again winning in a tight three-horse photo finish over Pincay's mount, Gate Dancer, and Cordero on Slew of Gold. The Breeders' Cup Legends Tour will bring these three jockeys to racetracks and other locations across the country to sign autographs and meet with fans and media. Accompanying the Legends will be a 20-foot photographic exhibit highlighting memorable moments in Breeders' Cup history. The Tour will kick-off in Boston on October 1 and conclude in Los Angeles on October 18 when Day and Cordero will ride at Oak Tree at Santa Anita in the Living Legends Race, a race featuring eight retired Hall of Fame jockeys. Also competing are Jerry Bailey, Sandy Hawley, Julie Krone, Chris McCarron, Gary Stevens and Jacinto Vasquez. The tour schedule is as follows: Oct 1: Suffolk Downs, Massachusetts; Oct 2: Belmont Park & Sports Museum of America, New York; Oct 3: Meadowlands, New Jersey; Oct 4: Laurel Park, Maryland; Oct 5: Philadelphia Park, Pennsylvania; Oct 9: Keeneland, Kentucky; Oct 10: Arlington Park, Illinois; Oct 14: Lone Star Park, Texas; Oct 15: Sam Houston Race Park, Texas; Oct 16: Wynn Las Vegas, Nevada; and Oct. 18: Living Legends Race, Santa Anita, California.

OAK TREE, NTRA INITIATE AMBASSADOR PROGRAM TO ATTRACT NEW FANS,OWNERS

Oak Tree at Santa Anita, in conjunction with the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), has announced it will initiate a race track Ambassador Program designed to attract and cultivate new fans and owners beginning Thursday, October 2.

The program, which was piloted this past summer at Del Mar, is the brainchild of Orange County-based dentist Troy Racki, who is also a licensed horse owner. Under his direction, the program's goal is to offer participants a unique and interactive experience in the stable area and on the front-side of the race track.

"Over the years, every time I've brought friends with me to the races they've loved it," said Racki. "The goal of this program is to offer people a unique experience as if they owned their own race horse. There's nothing better than a smile and a warm welcome to get people to come out and enjoy the races."

Racki will oversee a tour group of 20 people, who will spend time before the races on the Oak Tree backstretch. Participants will have the opportunity to visit the barn of trainer Sanford Shulman, who will be available to answer questions and provide insight into the sport and the equine athletes that make it happen. To ensure safety, these groups will be accompanied by experienced horsemen provided by Oak Tree.

Ambassador Program participants will also be able to interact with blacksmiths, grooms and other backstretch personnel and will also be encouraged to take photographs.

Following their tour of the backstretch, participants will attend a newcomer's handicapping seminar that will help to explain the process and verbiage involved in placing a wager as they receive race selections from a handicapping professional.

After watching the first race from a private box seat, participants will continue their owner/fan experience by going to Santa Anita's walking ring prior to the next race. It is there that they will be able to meet with and to see and hear trainers and jockeys discussing last minute strategy prior to the call of "Riders Up!"

The Oak Tree/NTRA Ambassador Program is free of charge and will be offered every Thursday and Sunday (excepting Oct. 5) from Sept. 28 through Oct. 19. Admission and box seat are included. Participants will also be able to join, free of charge, Santa Anita's Thoroughbreds Club, which offers all members discounted admission.

Those interested are encouraged to contact the Marketing Department at Santa Anita at (626) 574-6384.

IEAH STABLES TO DONATE TO CHARITY A PORTION OF BREEDERS' CUP WINNINGS

The Breeders' Cup announced this week that International Equine Acquisitions Holdings, Inc. (IEAH Stables), owners of 2008 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner Big Brown, will donate a percentage of all winnings any IEAH starters earn in next month's World Championships to Breeders' Cup Charities.

In addition to Breeders' Cup Classic contender Big Brown, IEAH Stables is scheduled to start as many as four other horses in the Oct. 24-25 Breeders' Cup World Championships at Oak Tree at Santa Anita, including defending Breeders' Cup Mile winner Kip Deville, and the multiple stakes winning 3-year-old filly, Pure Clan, a candidate for the $2 million Emirates Airline Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf.

The primary beneficiaries of Breeders' Cup Charities are: Susan G. Komen for the Cure and the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Breeders' Cup Charities also will support causes in southern California and Thoroughbred industry charities.

"We are grateful for the generosity of Michael Iavarone and his partners at IEAH Stables in pledging to join us in supporting multiple non-profit organizations at the 25th Breeders' Cup," said Greg Avioli, president and chief executive officer of the Breeders' Cup. "IEAH had great success with Kip Deville at the 2007 Breeders' Cup and we wish them the best of luck with their horses in 2008."

The pledge by IEAH is the second commitment from the Thoroughbred industry to Breeders' Cup Charities, which was established this year to further community outreach efforts in conjunction with the 2008 Breeders' Cup World Championships. Last week, Pamela and Martin Wygod, on behalf of WebMD Health Foundation, made the first contribution to Breeders' Cup Charities, donating $250,000.

"IEAH Stables is proud to be supporting such great charities at our world championships," said Iavarone, Co-President and CEO of IEAH Stables. "Breeders' Cup's commitment to St. Jude's and Susan G. Komen and others shows the importance of utilizing an event of this magnitude to bring support and awareness to causes which help those who are less fortunate than us."

RACING ON THE AIR (all times Eastern) September 27 Jockey Club Gold Cup (Belmont Park); 5:50-6:00 p.m., ESPNEWS

October 4 Breeders' Cup Challenge; Pattison Canadian International Stakes, E.P. Taylor Stakes Presented by Emirates Airline, Summer Stakes and Nearctic Stakes (Woodbine); and Lane's End Breeders' Futurity and Shadwell Turf Mike (Keeneland); 4:00-6:00 p.m., ESPN

RACING TO HISTORY

Sept. 25, 1866: Jerome Park, named for its founder, Leonard W. Jerome, opened in the Bronx, N.Y. The track was a magnet for New York's fashionable society, and the first to attract women in large numbers. Even the racehorses were fashionable, with ribbons of their owners' colors braided into their manes and tails. Jerome, seeking to emulate the British racing system, also established the American Jockey Club, precursor to the present Jockey Club, formed in 1894.

Sept. 25, 1948: Fans at Atlantic City Racecourse filed onto the track after the 3-2 favorite in the fourth race, Even Break, dwelt in the starting gate as the race went off. A total of $71,414 was refunded to the angry crowd of bettors.

Sept. 25, 2002: The National Thoroughbred Racing Association and Breeders' Cup Ltd. introduced a new wager called Head2Head to be unveiled at the World Thoroughbred Championships, Oct. 26, at Arlington Park. The wager challenges bettors to select which of two horses in a given Breeders' Cup race will finish ahead of the other.

Sept. 26, 1942: The Jockey Club stewards revoked Eddie Arcaro's license for one year after his display of "rough riding" aboard odds-on favorite Occupation in the Cowdin Stakes on Sept. 19. In the Cowdin, Arcaro deliberately drove his horse into another, Breezing Home, knocking his jockey, Vincent Nodarse, into the infield. Nodarse and his mount had crowded Arcaro at the start of the race, almost causing him to be unseated.

Sept. 27, 1894: Aqueduct Racetrack opened its doors. The building was torn down in 1955 and the new Aqueduct was reopened on Sept. 14, 1959.

Sept. 27, 1924: In the second his three specially staged International races, the French colt Epinard was again defeated, this time by a nose to Ladkin, at Aqueduct. A crowd of 40,000 witnessed the race.

Sept. 27, 1947: Armed, then the world's leading money-winning Thoroughbred, met 1946 Kentucky Derby winner Assault in the first $100,000 winner-take-all match race, held at Belmont Park. Armed earned an easy victory over Assault, who was not in peak racing condition.

Sept. 28, 1960: Forty years after Man o' War won the Lawrence Realization Stakes by 100 lengths in the record time of 2:40 4/5, Kelso equaled his time in the same event.

Sept. 28, 1983: Atlantic City Racecourse and The Meadowlands became the first U.S. tracks to engage in simulcasting. The previous year, Woodbine and Fort Erie in Canada had been the first to experiment with simulcasting.

Sept. 28, 1996: Jockey Lanfranco "Frankie" Dettori won seven-of-seven races at Ascot, a single-day wins record in England. His win streak was estimated to have cost English bookmakers 30 million and to have caused the closing of as many as 40 bookmaking shops, which suffered heavy losses after paying off winning punters.

Sept. 28, 1996: Jockey Dave Gall had his 7,000th career win, at Fairmount Park aboard A. J. Onray. He was the fourth rider to attain 7,000 wins.

Sept. 29, 1973: With Meadow Stable's Riva Ridge scratched because of rainy weather, his stablemate Secretariat was left to compete in the 1 1/2-mile Woodward Stakes at Belmont Park. Prove Out, trained by Allen Jerkens, beat the 3-10 favorite Secretariat, who faded after 1 1/4 miles to finish second by 4 1/2 lengths. Another Jerkens trainee, Onion, had defeated Secretariat in the Whitney Stakes on Aug. 4 at Saratoga.

Sept. 30, 1898: Jockey Tod Sloan rode five consecutive winners at England's Newmarket racecourse.

Sept. 30, 1922: After a six-year hiatus, racing returned to Chicago with the reopening of Hawthorne Park. The popular gelding Exterminator, winner of the 1918 Kentucky Derby and the then-second-leading money winner of all time, made a special appearance, racing solo against the track-record time of 2:04 3-5 for 1 1-4 miles. He completed the distance in 2:10.

Sept. 30, 1969: Jockey Kathy Kusner won her first career race, at Pocono Downs. Kusner, a former rider with the U.S. Equestrian Team, had sued to obtain a jockey's license in Maryland in 1968. She won her case but was subsequently sidelined by a broken leg suffered in a training accident.

Sept. 30, 1981: Jockey Laffit Pincay Jr. had his 5,000th career win, aboard Wander in the seventh race at Santa Anita Park.

Sept. 30, 1990: Bill Shoemaker had his first graded stakes win as a trainer when Baldomero (IRE) won the Grade III Golden Harvest Handicap at Louisiana Downs.

Sept. 30, 1995: Jockey Craig Perret, 44, scored his 4,000th career victory, at Turfway Park, riding Heloise to victory in the eighth race.

Oct. 2, 1943: Belmont Park hosted "Back the Attack" day in support of the war effort. Admission was by purchase of $25 or $100 war bonds. Approximately $25 million was raised.

Oct. 2, 1981: At age 17, Behavin Jerry, the oldest Thoroughbred in racing competition, set the record for most career starts by a Thoroughbred, 307. Behavin Jerry began his career as a two-year-old in 1966 and raced every year thereafter through 1978. He took two years off, 1979-80, and returned to racing at age 17 in 1981.

Oct. 2, 1995: Jockey Mike Smith won his 3,000th career race, aboard Old Chapel, in the seventh race at Belmont Park.

Oct. 3, 1942: With a victory in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, Whirlaway, ridden by George Woolf, became the first Thoroughbred to amass more than $500,000 in lifetime earnings.

Oct. 4, 1762: Nineteen members of England's Jockey Club announced an agreement at Newmarket to register their racing colors for purposes of distinguishing runners among a field of horses. The Duke of Devonshire chose "straw," and the color, still registered for the family, is the oldest continuously used color in racing.

Oct. 4, 1970: Nijinsky II's 11-race winning streak came to an end when he ran second to Sassafras in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.

Oct. 4, 1972: Secretariat worked a mile in 1:37 in preparation for the Oct. 14 Champagne Stakes.

Oct. 4, 1980: Less than an hour before post time, Spectacular Bid was scratched from the Jockey Club Gold Cup, the race that was to have been his last. Trainer Bud Delp claimed that "Bid" had a slight leg injury, but refused to allow a veterinarian to examine the horse and insisted he be retired. Despite this ignoble end to his career, Spectacular Bid's 1980 racing season was perfect: he won each of his nine starts, all of them stakes, and was subsequently voted Horse of the Year.

Oct. 4, 1989: Secretariat, 1973 Triple Crown champion, was euthanized at Claiborne Farm, Paris, Ky., after suffering a severe case of laminitis. He was 19.

Oct. 4, 2003: Trainer Bobby Frankel saddled Sightseek to victory in the Beldame Stakes at Belmont Park. For Frankel, it was his 23rd Grade I stakes winner of the year, breaking D. Wayne Lukas' record of 22 set in 1987.

Oct. 4, 2003: Thanks to Belmont Park victories aboard Sightseek in the Beldame Stakes and Birdstone in the Champagne Stakes, jockey Jerry Bailey surpassed his own single season record for North American purse earnings--$19,271,814--set in 2002.

Oct. 5, 1933: Jockey Gordon Richards concluded a 12-race winning streak that had begun on Oct. 3 when he won the last race at Nottingham, followed by a six-for-six day at Chepstow on Oct. 4 and five wins at Chepstow on Oct. 5.

Oct. 5, 1953: Twenty-one years after he retired from riding, 54-year-old Earl Sande, 'the Handy Guy,' returned to the saddle, finishing third on Honest Bread at Belmont Park.

Oct. 5, 1973: In his final workout for his first grass race, the Man o' War Stakes, Secretariat went five furlongs on the turf in :56 4/5 at Belmont Park.

Oct. 5, 1983: Jockey Jorge Velasquez won his 5,000th career race, riding Banquet Scene to victory in the fourth race at Belmont Park.

Oct. 6, 1949: Col. Matt J. Winn, credited with making the Kentucky Derby the greatest horse race in America, died at the age of 88. He witnessed all of the first 75 Derbies.

Oct. 6, 1979: In their only race together, champions Affirmed and Spectacular Bid met in the Jockey Club Gold Cup. Odds-on favorite Affirmed, ridden by Laffit Pincay Jr., won by 3-4 of a length and became the first horse ever to earn more than $1 million in a single racing season. Affirmed was later voted Horse of the Year off this convincing victory over Spectacular Bid, who was named champion three-year-old.

Oct. 6, 1989: Parimutuel racing returned to Texas with a meet held at G. Rollie White Downs. Racing had been banned in the state since 1937.

Oct. 7, 1956: In his final start of his career, four-year-old Ribot won the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe for the second consecutive year and retired a perfect 16-for-16.

Oct. 7, 2001: Jockey Jerry Bailey became the first jockey in history to surpass $20 million in purses in a single year, eclipsing his own single-season record of $19,465,376 set back in 1996.

Oct. 8, 1973: Secretariat made his grass-racing debut in the Man o' War Stakes at Belmont Park, winning the 1 1-2-mile race by five lengths in a time of 2:24 4-5. He overran the finish line by another furlong, running 1 5-8 miles in a world-record-equaling time of 2:37 4-5.

Oct. 8, 2007: Two-time Horse of the Year and seven-time Eclipse Award winner John Henry was euthanized at the Kentucky Horse Park at age 32.

WEEKEND STAKES RACES (unrestricted stakes in N.A. worth $75,000 and up) SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 27

Jockey Club Gold Cup Invitational, 3&up, $750,000, Grade I, 1 1-4M, Belmont Park

Beldame Stakes, 3&up (f&m), $600,000, Grade I, 1 1-8M, Belmont Park

Flower Bowl Invitational, 3&up (f&m), $600,000, Grade I, 1 1-4M (T), Belmont Park

Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational, 3&up, $600,000, Grade I, 1 1-2M (T), Belmont Park

Goodwood Stakes, 3&up, $500,000, Grade I, 1 1-8M, Oak Tree at Santa Anita

Hawthorne Gold Cup Handicap, 3&up, $500,000, Grade II, 1 1-4M, Hawthorne

Vosburgh Stakes, 3&up, $400,000, Grade I, 6F, Belmont Park

Yellow Ribbon Stakes, 3&up (f&m), $400,000, Grade I, 1 1-4M (T), Oak Tree at Santa Anita

Kentucky Cup Classic, 3&up, $350,000, Grade II, 1 1-8M, Turfway Park

Ancient Title Stakes, 3&up, $250,000, Grade I, 6F, Oak Tree at Santa Anita

Clement L. Hirsch Turf Championship, 3&up (f&m), $250,000, Grade I, 1 1-4M (T), Oak Tree at Santa Anita

Lady's Secret Stakes, 3&up (f&m), $250,000, Grade I, 1 1-16M, Oak Tree at Santa Anita

Oak Leaf Stakes, 2yo fillies, $250,000, Grade I, 1 1-16M, Oak Tree at Santa Anita

Gallant Bob Handicap, 3yo, $250,000, 6F, Philadelphia Park

Turf Amazon Handicap, 3&up (f&m), $200,000, 5F (T), Philadelphia Park

Robert F. Carey Memorial Handicap, 3&up, $150,000, Grade III, 1M (T), Hawthorne

La Lorgnette Stakes, 3yo fillies, $150,000, 1 1-16M, Woodbine

Kentucky Cup Distaff, 3&up (f&m), $100,000, Grade III, 1 1-16M, Turfway Park

Kentucky Cup Juvenile Stakes, 2yo, $100,000, Grade III, 1 1-16M, Turfway Park

Kentucky Cup Sprint, 3yo, $100,000, Grade III, 6F, Turfway Park

Fitz Dixon Jr. Memorial Juvenile Stakes, 2yo, $100,000, 6 1-2F, Presque Isle Downs

Gottstein Futurity, 2yo, $100,000, 1 1-16M, Emerald Downs

H.B.P.A. Stakes, 3&up (f&m), $100,000, 1M 70 yds., Presque Isle Downs

Indian Maid Handicap, 3&up (f&m), $100,000, 1 1-16M (T), Hawthorne

Judy's Red Shoes Stakes, 3yo fillies, $100,000, 1 1-6M (T), Calder

Kentucky Cup Juvenile Fillies, 2yo fillies, $100,000, 1M, Turfway Park

Needles Stakes, 3yo, $100,000, 1 1-6M (T), Calder

Presque Isle Debutante, 2yo fillies, $100,000, 6F, Presque Isle Downs

Brave Raj Stakes, 2yo fillies, $90,000, 1M 70 yds., Calder

Foolish Pleasure Stakes, 2yo, $90,000, 1M 70 yds., Calder

H.B.P.A. Stakes, 3&up (f&m), $100,000, 1M 70 yds., Presque Isle Downs

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 28

Norfolk Stakes, 2yo, $250,000, Grade I, 1 1-16M, Oak Tree at Santa Anita

Kelso Handicap, 3&up, $250,000, Grade II, 1M (T), Belmont Park

Oak Tree Mile, 3&up, $200,000, Grade II, 1M (T), Oak Tree at Santa Anita

Miss Grillo Stakes, 2yo fillies, $150,000, Grade III, 1 1-16M (T), Belmont Park

Pilgrim Stakes, 2yo, $150,000, Grade III, 1 1-16M (T), Belmont Park

Ontario Derby, 3yo, $150,000, 1 1-8M, Woodbine

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