Three-year-olds take the spotlight on the biggest day of racing at Century Mile in Edmonton, Alberta, Saturday evening with a competitive field entered in the $200,000 Grade 3 Canadian Derby. The Canadian Derby anchors a card featuring three other stakes races and its distance of 1 ¼ miles will be a test of stamina for the entrants, as all but one have not raced this far before.
There were 44 stakes races run across North America last week, including a memorable King’s Plate card at Woodbine and key graded stakes action at Saratoga and Del Mar, which led to significant changes in every division on the North American leaderboard.
“Unbeatable” is how many people viewed and described the great Cigar. By the time the seemingly invincible 6-year-old arrived at Del Mar to race in the 1996 Grade 1 Pacific Classic, he had traveled the country – even the world – while winning an incredible 16 consecutive races.
The Alabama Stakes Presented by Keeneland Sales has cemented a place in Thoroughbred racing history as one of the most important stakes for 3-year-old fillies in North America. The race was first held in 1872, it has been held at the classic distance of 1 ¼ miles since 1917, and the Alabama has long been a fixture on the Saratoga Race Course calendar.
