It’s that time of the year again. The chase for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve officially begins Saturday with the $300,000 Iroquois Stakes at Churchill Downs, the first points race for the Triple Crown class of 2026.
Atlantic Six Racing received an offer for Book’em Danno last season when he was a 3-year-old, a proposition so substantial it led each partner to take a deep breath and assess his priorities.
While partner Jim Scappi did not reveal the amount, he made it clear it was massive. “We got offered so much money,” he said, “we’ll never make it back.”
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")