Preakness Champion American Pharoah Meets Beholder In Saturday's Breeders' Cup; Breeders' Cup Buffet in Laurel Park Terrace; Doors Open Saturday at 10:15; 19 Nominated for Saturday's Laurel Turf Cup
Preakness Champion American Pharoah Meets Beholder In Saturday's Breeders' Cup; Breeders' Cup Buffet in Laurel Park Terrace; Doors Open Saturday at 10:15; 19 Nominated for Saturday's Laurel Turf Cup
Breeders' Cup Buffet in Laurel Park Terrace
Doors Open Saturday at 10:15
19 Nominated for Saturday's Laurel Turf Cup
LAUREL, MD - Preakness and Triple Crown champion American Pharoah and several other Maryland winners are set to go to post Friday and Saturday in the 32nd Breeders' Cup at Keeneland.
Along with the simulcasts of the 13 Breeders' Cup races, there will also be live racing at
Laurel with a first-race post of 12:35 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Simulcasting will also be available at the Horseshoe Casino and Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. Laurel's featured race Saturday will be the $100,000 Laurel Turf Cup.
Laurel will offer a Breeders' Cup Buffet in the Terrance Dining Room and Tips Restaurant between 12-4 p.m., featuring appetizers, entrees, and carving and slider stations for $40.
After splashing through the mud on his way to winning the Middle Jewel of The Triple Crown by seven lengths in front of a record crowd at Pimlico May 16, the Bob Baffert-trained American Pharoah went on to win the Belmont Stakes and become the first Triple Crown Winner since Affirmed in 1978.
Along with American Pharoah, several other horses familiar to Maryland bettors will be competing over the weekend at Keeneland.
Ageless has won four times in Maryland, including the last two runnings of The Very One Stakes at Pimlico. The 6-year-old mare trained by Arnaud Delacour was one of 19 horses pre-entered in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint.
In addition to winning The Very One Stakes, Ageless also went on to win the Royal North Stakes (G3) at Woodbine in July, and most recently she won the Buffalo Trace Franklin County Stakes at Keeneland on October 9. Ageless brings a record of seven wins, two seconds and two thirds from 12 turf sprints into the Breeders' Cup.
Lady Shipman has a perfect in-the-money record sprinting on the grass and the 3-year-old Kathleen O’Connell-trained filly is also one of 19 horses pre-entered in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint. Out of nine starts sprinting on the lawn, Lady Shipman has seven wins, one second and one third-place finish.
Her first stakes win on the grass was in April at Pimlico when she crushed nine other rivals by five lengths in the Stormy Blues Stakes. Lady Shipman then went on to win four more stakes races on the grass, including the Coronation Cup and Smart N Fancy Stakes at Saratoga.
Ruby Notion’s last race was an emphatic eight-length victory over a sloppy dirt track at Laurel Park in the Selima Stakes, which was originally carded as a turf sprint. The Wesley Ward-trained 2-year-old daughter of leading Maryland sire Great Notion was pre-entered in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, which drew 20 pre-entries.
Stopchargingmaria, entered in the Distaff, is no stranger to racing fans in Maryland. The daughter of Tale of the Cat won the Black-Eyed Susan (G2) in 2014 and returned this spring to win the DuPont Distaff (G3). Todd Pletcher trains.
Watsdachances, entered in the Filly & Mare Turf, comes from the barn of Chad Brown. Second in the 2012 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, Watsdachances avenged a second-place finish in the 2014 Gallorette (G3) at Pimlico with a victory earlier this year.
19 Nominated for Saturday's Laurel Turf Cup
Graded stakes winners Divine Oath and Holiday Star are two of the 19 horses nominated for Saturday's $100,000 Laurel Turf Cup at 1 1/2 miles.
Divine Oath, a 4-year-old son of Broken Vow, was a winner last time out of the Sycamore (G3) at Keeneland while Holiday Star, a 5-year-old son of Harlan's Holiday who won the McKnight (G3) last winter, was fifth. Both are trained by Graham Motion.
Trainer James Lawrence has nominated Perfect Title to the Turf Cup. The two-time winner on the turf was sixth in September in the Turf Classic (G1) at Belmont. St. Albans Boy, third in the Sycamore, has also been nominated along with Sarbanes, a 6-year-old gelded son of Greek Sun trained by Robin Graham.
