One of the summer’s biggest races is set for Saturday under the Twin Spires at Churchill Downs, where a high-quality field will compete in the Stephen Foster Stakes for a purse of $1 million and a guaranteed spot in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, one of the most prolific trainers and influences in horse racing history, has been hospitalized in Louisville, Ky. and will not return to training, according to Lukas family members.
Never traveling beyond a mile before June 21, Mo Plex handled his first two-turn test with aplomb to win the $500,000 Grade 3 Ohio Derby June 21 at Thistledown.
Trainer Aidan O’Brien’s dominance of the Royal Ascot juvenile contests continued with Charles Darwin’s dominant victory in the June 19 Norfolk Stakes.
The No Nay Never colt was sent off odds-on and was briefly challenged by American Sandal’s Song and longshot Ameeq, but he exerted his class over the pair to pull clear under Ryan Moore by 2 1/4 lengths over a Godolphin’s rallying juvenile Wise Approach.
The Breeders’ Cup World Championships is the biggest event in global horse racing: if the Triple Crown is the equine equivalent of the Super Bowl, then the Breeders’ Cup is like the equine Olympic Games, but held every year. There are Thoroughbred races for all different age groups, distances, and surfaces with racehorses, jockeys, trainers, owners, and breeders all celabrated with a year-end championship event.
