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.
Keeneland Race Course has been a treasured Thoroughbred Racing venue for many years —Keeneland celebrated its 90th anniversary Oct. 15, 2026 — but for the first 30-plus years of the Breeders’ Cup the Lexington track had not hosted the World Championships.
One of the perennial highlights of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships is the Longines Distaff, which brings together many of the best fillies and mares in training to compete for a $2 million purse and boost their chances at being honored as champion older female at the Eclipse Awards.
Sean Clancy has worn his share of hats over the years: rider, bloodstock agent, journalist, and now owner of a Breeders’ Cup contender. This former steeplechase jockey turned Eclipse Award-winning writer has parlayed his decades of experience with equine athletes into the fortuitous purchase of Adonius, a Soldier’s Call gelding trained by Rebecca Menzies.
On a dark and rainy morning Oct. 15 at Keeneland, trainer Jose D'Angelo watched his champion female sprinter Shisospicy disappear into a dense fog as she entered the clubhouse turn alongside a workmate and a pony.
In many ways, that disappearance was symbolic of a 2026 season that vanished for Shisospicy.
