The $1 million Pennsylvania Derby is the final major stakes race on dirt restricted to 3-year-olds in 2026, and this year’s 46th edition Sept. 19 at Parx Racing drew a very competitive 11-horse field vying for a share of the race’s lucrative purse.
In a display of sheer determination, a trait that earned him the 2025 Eclipse Award for champion turf male, Notable Speech returned to Woodbine Sept. 12 and won the Grade 1 Woodbine Mile Stakes for a second consecutive year.
Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert believed that Salahudin, his favorite for the $300,000 Grade 3 Iroquois Stakes, would appreciate stretching out to a mile and every inch of the long Churchill Downs stretch. That statement turned out to be prophetic.
The bet365 Summer Stakes offers a “Win and You’re In” berth to the Brown Advisory Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, and it’s usually a good betting race that attracts promising 2-year-old turf runners from around North America and often from overseas.
