LEXINGTON, Ky. (October 9, 2020) – 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.
This weekend’s action is highlighted by five Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series “Win and You’re In” races taking place at Belmont Park, including the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup. The Belmont Park Breeders’ Cup races will be televised on “America’s Day at the Races” on either FS1 or FS2.
TVG will be live at Keeneland for a loaded card this Saturday featuring two graded stakes races including the Grade 1, $500,000 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup. In addition to Keeneland, the award-winning network will also be trackside at Santa Anita and Monmouth Park.
In addition to racing from Keeneland, Santa Anita and Monmouth Park, TVG will also be showing racing from Gulfstream Park West, Charles Town, Golden Gate and more.
Friday October 9
5:30 p.m.—$150,000 Grade 3 Buffalo Trace Franklin County Stakes at Keeneland on TVG
Gary Barber’s multiple Grade 1 winner Got Stormy tops a field of 12 fillies and mares entered for the 24th running of the Franklin County going 5½ furlongs on the turf. Trained by Mark Casse, Got Stormy comes into Friday’s race off a 3¼-length romp in the Grade 3 Ladies Sprint at Kentucky Downs on September 12 going 6½ furlongs. The daughter of Get Stormy was an Eclipse Award finalist for champion turf female in 2019 after notching wins in the Grade 1 Fourstardave Handicap over males and the Grade 1 Matriarch Stakes.
Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/KEE100920USA9-EQB.html
Saturday October 10
1:58 p.m.—$250,000 Grade 1 Champagne Stakes at Belmont Park on FS1
J. Kirk and Judy Robison’s Jackie’s Warrior is a standout in the juvenile division with an unblemished record and will put his perfect resume on the line in the Champagne going a one-turn mile. Trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, Jackie’s Warrior arrives at the Champagne off a 2 ¼-length victory in the Grade 1 Hopeful on September 7 at Saratoga. In his prior effort, the bay son of Maclean’s Music won his stakes debut in the Grade 2 Saratoga Special on August 7 at the Spa by three lengths after displaying stalking tactics in his debut at Churchill Downs, which he won by 2 ½ lengths.
Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/BEL101020USA4-EQB.html
2:30 p.m.—$250,000 Grade 1 Frizette Stakes at Belmont Park on FS1
Vequist proved she could dominate a Grade 1 field when she cruised to a 9 1/2-length score in her stakes debut in the Spinaway on September 6 at Saratoga Race Course. She will look to show similar form on Saturday against a talented field of juvenile fillies in the Frizette contested at one mile on Belmont Park’s main track. Gary Barber and Adam Wachtel purchased a 75 percent share from Swilcan Stable following Vequist’s runner-up debut effort on July 29 at Parx when she ran a nose behind Niente. In her second start, the Butch Reid trainee was stretched out from 4 ½ furlongs to seven in the Spinaway.
Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/BEL101020USA5-EQB.html
3:53 p.m.—$150,000 Grade 3 Monmouth Stakes at Monmouth Park on TVG
Shadwell Stable’s Almanaar (GB) makes his first start since capturing last year’s edition of the 1 1/8-miles Monmouth Stakes when he heads up a field of nine. Trained by Chad Brown, Almanaar displayed an affinity for the Monmouth course when he captured the Monmouth Stakes last May 25 but the son of Dubawi (IRE) has been on the shelf since.
Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/MTH101020USA8-EQB.html
4:14 p.m.—$250,000 Grade 1 Flower Bowl Stakes at Belmont Park on FS2
The top-four finishers in the Grade 2 Glens Falls last month at Saratoga Race Course will each vie for supremacy again in Saturday’s rematch that highlights the Flower Bowl for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up going 1 1/4 miles on the inner turf. Allen Stable’s Civil Union, trained by Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey, outkicked the Chad Brown trainee My Sister Nat by one length in the Glens Falls going 1 3/8 miles on September 5. Civil Union, a 5-year-old War Front mare, has won three in a row, starting with a 1 ¼-mile allowance tilt on the Belmont turf on June 21 before winning the River Memories on the same track going 1 1/2 miles on July 12.
Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/BEL101020USA8-EQB.html
4:48 p.m.—$250,000 Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park on FS2
Juddmonte Farms’ three-time graded stakes-winning multimillionaire Tacitus will look to secure his first career Grade 1 triumph in the 102nd running of the Jockey Club Gold Cup going the classic distance of 1 ¼ miles. Trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, a three-time Jockey Club Gold Cup winner, Tacitus was third in last year’s edition and was most recently second as the favorite in the Grade 1 Woodward on September 5 at Saratoga, where he chased a slow pace tracking a half-length off Global Campaign but was unable to catch the pacesetter, who strolled home a 1 ¾-length winner.
Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/BEL101020USA9-EQB.html
4:57 p.m.—$200,000 Grade 2 Fayette Stakes at Keeneland on TVG
Parque Patricios Racing Stables’ Mirinaque (ARG), a two-time Group 1 winner in Argentina, headlines a field of 10 runners for the 63rd running of the Fayette Stakes. Trained by Maria Munoz, Mirinaque finished fifth in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic on August 22 at Del Mar in his U.S. debut. Coming back for another try in the Fayette is Jim Bakke and Gerald Isbister’s Mr Freeze. Second in the race last year that was run over a sloppy track, the Dale Romans trainee exits a sixth-place finish in the Grade 2 Alysheba on September 4 at Churchill Downs.
Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/KEE101020USA8-EQB.html
5:20 p.m.—$150,000 Grade 2 Sands Point Stakes at Belmont Park on FS2
Trainer Chad Brown will saddle a pair of contenders led by multiple graded-stakes winner Selflessly and French-bred Tamahere as the four-time Eclipse Award-winning conditioner looks to secure his fourth win in Saturday’s Sands Point, a one-mile Widener turf test. Selflessly stumbled at the start of her seasonal debut when fifth in the Grade 3 Wonder Again on June 20 at Belmont, but returned to form last out when a nose winner of the one-mile Grade 3 Lake George at Saratoga on August 28, when besting multiple graded-stakes winner Sweet Melania.
Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/BEL101020USA10-EQB.html
5:30 p.m.—$500,000 Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes at Keeneland on TVG
Lael Stables’ Magic Attitude (GB) headlines a field of nine for the 37th running of the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup going 1 1/8-miles. Trained by Arnaud Delacour, Magic Attitude comes to Keeneland off a 2¼-length victory over Antoinette in the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks Invitational in her U.S. debut. Antoinette, owned and bred by Godolphin, won the Saratoga Oaks in her start prior to the Belmont Oaks.
Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/KEE101020USA9-EQB.html
Sunday October 11
4:12 p.m.—$100,000 Grade 3 Futurity Stakes at Belmont Park on FS1
Ironhorse Racing Stable and Secure Investments’ Momos will look to build on a third-place effort last out in his graded stakes debut when he tries turf for the first time in the Futurity for 2-year-olds going six furlongs on Belmont Park’s Widener course. Momos won his debut for trainer Christophe Clement with a 6 1/2-length maiden win going 5 ½ furlongs on July 18 over Saratoga Race Course’s main track. Returning just three weeks later, the Distorted Humor colt ran third in the six-furlong Grade 2 Saratoga Special, finishing behind winner and eventual Grade 1 Hopeful victor Jackie’s Warrior.
Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/BEL101120USA7-EQB.html
5:20 p.m.—$100,000 Grade 3 Matron Stakes at Belmont Park on FS1
Three Chimneys Farm’s Royal Approval will seek to parlay an impressive maiden victory into graded stakes company when taking on seven other juvenile fillies in the 111th running of the Matron going six furlongs over the Widener turf. Trained by Wesley Ward, who saddled Happy Like a Fool to victory in the 2017 Matron, Royal Approval arrives off her best performance yet when besting a maiden special weight field going 6 ½ furlongs at Kentucky Downs, where she drew off to a 6 ¼ length victory.
Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/BEL101120USA9-EQB.html
5:42 p.m.—$125,000 Grade 3 Durham Cup Stakes at Woodbine on TVG
Armistice Day, owned by Bruce Lunsford and Lansdon Robbins, faces six rivals in the Durham Cup, a 1 1/16-mile main track test. Bred in Kentucky by Glenvale Stud, four-year-old Armistice Day, the son of Declaration of War-Harmony Lodge, will chase his second stakes score and first graded stakes title on Sunday. Campaigned by trainer Barbara Minshall, Armistice Day, who took last year’s Toronto Cup, has compiled a 3-2-2 record from 15 starts.
Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/WO101120CAN9-EQB.html