The path to the 2021 Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Del Mar on Nov. 5-6 is a road with plenty of ups and downs as talented racehorses vie for a spot in one of 14 championship races and $31 million in purses and awards.
Each week a panel of media members, horseplayers, and Breeders’ Cup World Championships officials release a poll tabulating their votes on the nation's top contenders for the 2021 Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic.
Now placed back on its customary late-August spot on the calendar after a pandemic-altered 2020 season, Saturday’s $1.25-million, Grade 1 Runhappy Travers Stakes at Saratoga Race Course is shaping up to be a crucial contest in determining the pecking order in the 3-year-old male division.
The field for the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic begins to take shape in early summer after the Triple Crown races conclude. Last weekend an expenses-paid berth to the $6 million Classic was awarded to Tripoli for winning the $1,002,000 TVG Pacific Classic Stakes Aug.
Saturday’s $1.25 million, Grade 1 Runhappy Travers Stakes is one of the most prestigious races in North America and is the annual centerpiece of Saratoga Race Course’s elite summer meet. This year, it’s been moved back to its normal late-August date after a most unusual 2020 when the race served as a prep for the rescheduled Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve.
