LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 29, 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.
The Grade 3 Winning Colors is the co-featured event on Saturday’s card at Churchill Downs along with the Grade 3 Mint Julep for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles on the turf. On Sunday, multiple Grade 1-winner Ce Ce, currently the fifth-ranked horse on the NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll, is back in action in the Grade 2 Santa Maria Stakes at Santa Anita Park.
TVG will partner with NBC Sports to bring live horse racing into the homes of fans across the country for the tenth consecutive weekend with eleven hours of coverage scheduled from May 29-31. “Trackside Live” will be simulcast from 4 p.m. ET to 7 p.m. ET on Friday and from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. ET on Saturday and Sunday. The coverage will feature racing from across the country including the $100,000, Grade 3 Honeymoon Stakes from Santa Anita.
America’s Day at the Races, produced by the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) in partnership with FOX Sports, returns on FOX Sports with live racing action highlighted by Saturday’s Winning Colors and Mint Julep from Churchill Downs. The acclaimed national telecast will air on FS2 through Sunday for a combined 20.5 hours of national television coverage from Churchill Downs and Tampa Bay Downs as well as live coverage of Sunday’s action from Ruidoso Downs.
Saturday May 30
4:08 p.m.—$100,000 Grade 3 Winning Colors Stakes at Churchill Downs on FS2
Graded stakes winners Break Even, Bell’s the One, Mia Mischief and Spiced Perfection top a competitive nine-horse affair in Saturday’s 17th running of the Winning Colors. Mia Mischief, owned by Stonestreet Stables and trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, won last year’s Grade 1 Humana Distaff at Churchill Downs. The 5-year-old mare by Into Mischief began her 2020 campaign with a 2 ¼-length allowance victory and 4 ½-length win in Oaklawn Park’s $125,000 Carousel Stakes. Haruya Yoshida’s newly-purchased mare Spiced Perfection will break from post seven in her first start with trainer Mark Casse. Spiced Perfection has earned more than $1.2 million in purse earnings, which includes victories in the 2018 Grade 1 La Brea and 2019 Grade 1 Madison Stakes.
Entries: http://www.equibase.com/static/entry/CD053020USA7-EQB.html
6:16 p.m.—$100,000 Grade 3 Mint Julep Stakes at Churchill Downs on FS2
Multiple graded stakes winner Beau Recall (IRE) is set for her 2020 campaign along with Grade 3-winning stablemate Juliet Foxtrot (GB) as they face 12 rivals, including six other graded stakes winners, that were entered in the 44th running of the Mint Julep. Beau Recall had a stellar 5-year-old campaign with victories in the Grade 2 Churchill Downs Distaff Turf Mile and Grade 2 Yellow Ribbon Stakes. Juddmonte Farms’ Juliet Foxtrot reached graded stakes glory in the Grade 3 Modesty Handicap prior to a heartbreaking runner-up effort in the Grade 2 John C. Mabee.
Entries: http://www.equibase.com/static/entry/CD053020USA11-EQB.html
6:37 p.m.—$100,000 Grade 3 Honeymoon Stakes at Santa Anita Park on NBCSN
Gary Barber’s well-accomplished Laura’s Light heads a solid field of nine sophomore fillies in Saturday’s Honeymoon Stakes going 1 1/8-miles on the turf. Hronis Racing’s Stela Star (IRE), a big second in her U.S. debut on March 7 and LNJ Foxwoods’ speed Parkour both figure to provide stiff competition in the race named for movie mogul Louis B. Mayer’s brilliant California-bred filly Honeymoon, who won seven stakes in California in 1946.
Entries: http://www.equibase.com/static/entry/SA053020USA7-EQB.html
Sunday May 31
6:30 p.m.—$200,000 Grade 2 Santa Maria Stakes at Santa Anita Park on NBCSN
Currently poised as a potential superstar on the rise, Ce Ce heads a field of five fillies and in Sunday’s Santa Maria Stakes. Trained by Michael McCarthy, Ce Ce has won all three of her 2020 starts, the most recent being a head victory in the Grade 1 Apple Blossom Handicap at Oaklawn Park April 18. A well-beaten second as the 3-5 favorite in her lone confrontation with Ce Ce on the Grade 1 Beholder Mile on March 14, the John Shirreffs-trained Hard Not to Love will try to turn the tables as she seeks her sixth win from eight overall starts.
Entries: http://www.equibase.com/static/entry/SA053120USA7-EQB.html
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