Approaching its 43rd running on Oct. 31, the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic is well-established as one of Thoroughbred racing’s most prestigious contests, often the deciding factor in determining Horse of the Year.
Breeder Jane Lyon’s Summer Wind Farm features two high-powered producers, mares whose progeny have left their mark on the sport’s history in their own ways. Littleprincessemma, purchased by Lyon when her Pioneerof the Nile colt was 2, was part of an elite sorority that boasted, at the time, only two members. That Pioneerof the Nile colt, named American Pharoah, won the Triple Crown in 2015.
Can American Soul shatter half a century of history and become the first horse with experience racing outside of North America to win the Kentucky Derby since 1976?
Last year's winner of the Grade 1 American Grand National Hurdle Stakes, Zanahiyr, didn't repeat in the $300,000 race Oct. 17 at Far Hills, but trainer Gordon Elliott and jockey Jack Kennedy did.
