LEXINGTON, Ky. (February 19, 2021) – 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 $20 million Saudi Cup, headlined by 2020 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner Knicks Go and fellow top-level victor Charlatan, will be broadcast on FS2 and FS1 as part of the NYRA-produced “America’s Day at the Races” series on Saturday. Undercard races will air on FS2 from 8:30 a.m. to noon ET, and the Saudi Cup will air on FS1 during an hour-long broadcast from noon to 1 p.m. ET.

FOX Sports is the exclusive broadcast provider of the Saudi Cup in the United States. Scheduled post time for the Saudi Cup is 12:40 p.m. ET and wagering is available in the United States via NYRA Bets.

Saturday is also set to feature Laurel Park’s Winter Sprintfest, a nine-race program featuring six stakes worth $900,000 in purses co-headlined by the Grade 3 Barbara Fritchie and Grade 3 General George.

 

Saturday, February 20 

12:40 p.m.—$20,000,000 Saudi Cup at King Abdulaziz Racetrack on FS1

Multiple Grade 1 winner Knicks Go and fellow top-level victor Charlatan head up the American contingent set to go to post in the second edition of the $20 million Saudi Cup. Knicks Go captured the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile in track-record setting fashion last November to cap off his 2020 campaign and began his 2021 season with a triumph in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes on January 23. The Saudi Cup will mark the seasonal bow for Charlatan as the son of Speightstown captured the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes at Santa Anita Park on December 26.

3:46 p.m.—$250,000 Grade 3 Barbara Fritchie Stakes at Laurel Park on TVG

With few remaining gaps on Hello Beautiful’s resume, trainer Brittany Russell will seek to achieve a significant milestone for both herself and her stable star when they go up against seven rivals in Saturday’s Barbara Fritchie. A graded win would fill an important blank on an otherwise stellar ledger for Hello Beautiful, a Maryland-bred daughter of Golden Lad that has won five career stakes and takes a three-race win streak into the richest and most prestigious event of the winter meet. Sporting a perfect 7-0 record over Laurel’s main track, Hello Beautiful is three-for-four at seven furlongs including wins in the Maryland Million Nursery and Safely Kept last fall to cap her sophomore campaign.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/LRL022021USA7-EQB.html

4:19 p.m.—$250,000 Grade 3 General George Stakes at Laurel Park on TVG

Grade 3 winner Majestic Dunhill, exiting a pair of disappointing efforts off a career-best performance, trades the South Florida sunshine for Maryland’s winter chill as he attempts to regain his winning form in the General George. Majestic Dunhill has placed in three stakes since, including the 2019 Polynesian at Laurel, and beat Share the Ride by a head to capture the Grade 3 Bold Ruler Stakes in the mud on Halloween at Belmont Park.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/LRL022021USA8-EQB.html

5:16 p.m.—$100,000 Grade 3 Royal Delta Stakes at Gulfstream Park on TVG

Edward Seltzer and Beverly Anderson’s Eres Tu is scheduled to seek her fourth straight comeback victory in Saturday’s Royal Delta. The 5-year-old daughter of Malibu Moon, who is undefeated since returning from an 18-month layoff and joining trainer Arnaud Delacour’s stable, will also pursue her second straight graded-stakes triumph. The homebred mare returned to action with a 2 ¼-length optional claiming allowance victory last October at Keeneland. She followed with a 1 ½-length score in the November 26 Thirty Eight Go Go Stakes and a length triumph in the December 26 Allaire DuPont.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/GP022021USA11-EQB.html

6:46 p.m.—$200,000 Grade 2 Buena Vista Stakes at Santa Anita Park on TVG

A pair of talented California-breds, Mucho Unusual and Warren’s Showtime, head a competitive field of 10 older fillies and mares in Saturday’s Buena Vista Stakes, to be contested at one mile over the Santa Anita turf. Owned and bred by George Krikorian and trained by Tim Yakteen, Mucho Unusual seeks her third consecutive graded stakes victory at the current meeting. A winner of the Grade 3 Robert J. Frankel on December 27, she again stalked the early pace and registered a three quarter length victory at 2-5 in the Grade 3 Megahertz on January 18.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/SA022021USA7-EQB.html