120 Graded Races in the Second Quarter of 2026: What Did We Learn?

Spring racing in North America always packs a punch, particularly with the public's eyes on the Triple Crown. With all 120 graded races in the U.S. and Canada from 2026's second quarter in the books, let's look back at some of the stats stretching from April 1 to June 30.

• The 120 graded races for the quarter featured 121 winners, with a rare dead heat in a Grade I when Expensive Queen (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) and Segesta (Ghostzapper) crossed the wire together in the Jenny Wiley Stakes at Keeneland.
• Twenty-six Grade I, 33 Grade II, and 61 Grade III races highlighted North American racing during the quarter, with 62 of the events contested on dirt, 51 on turf, and seven on Woodbine's all-weather surface.
• Nine horses doubled up for two graded stakes victories, led by GI Kentucky Derby and GI Belmont Stakes winner Golden Tempo (Curlin). He was the only horse to win two races at the highest level in North America during the second quarter of the year. With the aforementioned dead heat, there were 112 individual winners of the 120 graded events.
• If you think you see Not This Time's name everywhere as a sire, you're right. He led all stallions with eight individual graded winners during the quarter. Into Mischief had six unique graded winners, while Vekoma had four. Another eight stallions each sired three individual graded winners during the quarter and eight more sired two apiece. All told, 72 individual stallions sired the winners of the 120 graded stakes. Not This Time led all stallions by Grade I winners during the quarter with three, while Gun Runner, Into Mischief, and Liam's Map each had two.
• The late Bernardini topped all broodmare sires with seven individual winners, with the late Scat Daddy close in pursuit with six. Overall, 73 stallions recorded graded winners out of their daughters. Bernardini led by Grade I winners as the broodmare sire of four, while Scat Daddy had three.
• A total of 45 different trainers won the 120 graded races, capped by Saffie Joseph, Jr. with 11 victories. Chad Brown and Brad Cox each had 10. Brown topped all trainers by Grade I wins with four, followed by Mark Casse with three–all within a remarkable 24 hours at Saratoga–and Cherie DeVaux with three, including two legs of the Triple Crown.
• The late Brereton C. Jones led all breeders with five individual graded winners, including three by former Airdrie stallion Preservationist. Godolphin followed with four individual graded winners for the quarter, all homebreds, while Juddmonte and Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings each had three.
• Thirty graded races this quarter were won by homebreds, some with partners added to the ownership. The winners of 86 of the quarter's graded races went through a public auction at least once in their lives, including nine in sales outside the U.S.
• The priciest at auction was Cornucopian (Into Mischief), who brought $1.1 million as a 2023 Keeneland September yearling, followed by Always a Runner (Gun Runner), who brought $1.05 million at the same sale in 2024. They marked the only two graded winners this quarter sold for seven figures at a sale. The least expensive sales horse was Crude Velocity (Beau Liam), who brought just $3,000 at the 2024 Fasig-Tipton December Digital Sale, followed by White Abarrio (Race Day), who sold for $7,500 as a yearling at OBS in 2020.
• Nineteen graded races were won by 15 'TDN Rising Stars, presented by Hagyard,' led by Derby/Belmont winner Golden Tempo, GI Kentucky Oaks winner Always a Runner, and six other Grade I winners this quarter, including budding superstar Englishman (Maxfield) and the accomplished Nysos (Nyquist).