WEEKEND STAKES: WHERE TO WATCH brought to you by KBC Horse Supplies
Between Keeneland, Belmont Park and the Oak Tree meeting at Santa Anita, the weekend offers up 13 Grade 1 races, starting with the Darley Alcibiades for 2-year-old fillies at Keeneland on Friday’s opening day card. The race is scheduled to go at 6:15 p.m. (all times Eastern).
Beautician figures to be the favorite for the Alcibiades, off two runner-up efforts to Hot Dixie Chick in New York, most recently in the Grade 1 Spinaway. This will be her first try on a synthetic track. She Be Wild is a Polytrack specialist, coming off three straight without a loss at Arlington Park. Keeneland races are exclusively shown on TVG Friday.
Saturday’s Grade 1 action kicks off with the Jamaica Handicap on turf at Belmont at 2:35 p.m., available on TVG or HRTV, but then heads west to Keeneland and on to Oak Tree. Keeneland’s stakes-rich menu on its Fall Stars weekend Saturday program begins with the Woodford Stakes for turf sprinters, the TCA Stakes for filly and mare sprinters on the Polytrack, then shifts back to the Turf for First Lady Stakes–all on TVG. The remaining Saturday stakes at Keeneland (Breeders’ Futurity, Shadwell Turf Mile) can also be viewed on ESPN Classic. The ESPN Classic telecast will also show the G2 Oak Tree Mile on Turf, G1 Goodwood Stakes and G1 Lady’s Secret Stakes, both on the Pro-Ride synthetic track. Unbeaten Zenyatta bids for her 13th consecutive victory in the Lady’s Secret, while 3-year-old Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird takes on older foes in the Goodwood as he tries to solidify his chances for the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
Don’t forget that Belmont’s Grade 1 duo of the Frizette and Champagne Stakes for 2-year-olds are run at 4:43 and 5:15 p.m., respectively, in the midst of all those major Breeders’ Cup preps from Keeneland and Oak Tree. In fact, between those three tracks, the action is a lot more fast and furious even than what we’ll see on the two days of the Breeders’ Cup championships Nov. 6-7. Belmont’s races can be seen on HRTV or TVG.
Sunday’s action is not quite as heavy but carries several major races, including the G1 Juddmonte Spinster from Keeneland the Grade 1 pair of the Ancient Title and Clement L. Hirsch from Oak Tree. But don’t overlook the G3 Grey Stakes from Woodbine on Sunday. It’s the race won last year by a gelding named Mine That Bird, who went on to ever bigger and better things this spring at Churchill Downs.
.jpg)
Saturday’s Grade 1 action kicks off with the Jamaica Handicap on turf at Belmont at 2:35 p.m., available on TVG or HRTV, but then heads west to Keeneland and on to Oak Tree. Keeneland’s stakes-rich menu on its Fall Stars weekend Saturday program begins with the Woodford Stakes for turf sprinters, the TCA Stakes for filly and mare sprinters on the Polytrack, then shifts back to the Turf for First Lady Stakes–all on TVG. The remaining Saturday stakes at Keeneland (Breeders’ Futurity, Shadwell Turf Mile) can also be viewed on ESPN Classic. The ESPN Classic telecast will also show the G2 Oak Tree Mile on Turf, G1 Goodwood Stakes and G1 Lady’s Secret Stakes, both on the Pro-Ride synthetic track. Unbeaten Zenyatta bids for her 13th consecutive victory in the Lady’s Secret, while 3-year-old Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird takes on older foes in the Goodwood as he tries to solidify his chances for the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
Don’t forget that Belmont’s Grade 1 duo of the Frizette and Champagne Stakes for 2-year-olds are run at 4:43 and 5:15 p.m., respectively, in the midst of all those major Breeders’ Cup preps from Keeneland and Oak Tree. In fact, between those three tracks, the action is a lot more fast and furious even than what we’ll see on the two days of the Breeders’ Cup championships Nov. 6-7. Belmont’s races can be seen on HRTV or TVG.
Sunday’s action is not quite as heavy but carries several major races, including the G1 Juddmonte Spinster from Keeneland the Grade 1 pair of the Ancient Title and Clement L. Hirsch from Oak Tree. But don’t overlook the G3 Grey Stakes from Woodbine on Sunday. It’s the race won last year by a gelding named Mine That Bird, who went on to ever bigger and better things this spring at Churchill Downs.
