Thursday’s $500,000, Grade 2 Flower Bowl Stakes at Belmont Park is an important stop on the road to the Oct. 30-31 Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Keeneland Race Course.
The weekend of Oct. 2-4 was one of the busiest and most important of the year for North American Thoroughbred racing with marquee stakes races that serve as prep races for the 2026 Breeders Cup World Championships held coast to coast as well as internationally in France.
Undefeated runners who continually put massive amounts of daylight between themselves and their competitors are a joy to watch. Thus, despite triple-digit Southern California heat at Santa Anita Park for the Grade 1 $300,000 American Pharoah Stakes presented by DK Horse on Oct. 3, fans reveled in seeing what a truly talented horse looks like.
After racing comfortably on the lead early, Rhetorical then delivered a strong late run to draw off to an easy victory in the $1.25 million Coolmore Turf Mile Stakes Oct. 3 at Keeneland Race Course, securing victory in the race for a second straight year.
