Saturday’s Rogers Woodbine Mile is a Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series “Win and You’re In” race for the FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Mile Presented by PDJF, offering the winner a fees-paid berth to the Nov.
Mid-September usually signals a turning point in the North American racing calendar, and that’s true this year as Churchill Downs and Belmont at the Big A (Aqueduct) both kick off early fall meets. The marquee races, however, will occur at Woodbine on Saturday, Sept.
The $5 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf regularly attracts the best U.S.-based distance turf horses along with a formidable international contingent that makes the 1 ½-mile race a daunting assignment. It takes a consistently elite U.S. runner to have a realistic shot at success.
Brant’s professionalism in the Sept. 7 Del Mar Futurity made the jump from a maiden race to a Grade 1 look much easier than it is. But then Bob Baffert knows how to prepare a horse for this race. After all, the trainer has now won it 19 times.
The story is familiar, trainer Mike Maker heads to Kentucky Downs with a turf marathoner, frequently one he claimed, and walks away with a victory in the Grade 2 KTDF Kentucky Turf Cup Invitational Stakes.
.jpg?itok=FtCXTCpM&c=f7602e59eabf720cf5ec97dc03d83bb6 "Kentucky Downs, 2025 Kentucky Turf Cup Invitational, Longines Breeders' Cup Turf, Ole Crazy Bone")