Breeders' Cup Challenge

With the cream of the Japanese dirt crop readying for next weekend's G1 Saudi Cup, Sunday's G1 February S. presented a golden opportunity for gallopers perhaps just a cut below the very best to shine, with a trip to the GI Breeders' Cup Classic on the line. When the dust had settled, the majority of the market leaders faltered and it was the unheralded Peptide Nile (Jpn) (King Kamehameha {Jpn}) that proved the chief beneficiary at boxcar odds. Away cleanly from stall nine, Peptide Nile raced prominently through the early...

Santa Anita Park, which will host this year's Breeders' Cup World Championships for a record 11th time Nov. 3 and 4 and storied Keeneland Racecourse, site of last year's Breeders' Cup, have announced that both tracks will combine to present the Keeneland/Santa Anita Breeders' Cup Challenge Pick 6 to players nationwide on Saturday, Oct. 7. A traditional $1 Pick 6 with a player-friendly 15% takeout, the Keeneland/Santa Anita Breeders' Cup Challenge Pick 6 will include the following Breeders' Cup "Win & You're In" Challenge Race qualifiers and be offered in...

On Monday, Chos Malal's Belleza de Arteaga (Arg) (Cosmic Trigger {Arg}) captured the G1 Gran Premio Criadores at Hipodromo de Palermo by a head and earned an automatic starting position in the $2 million GI Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff through the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In. Trained by Roberto Pellegatta and ridden by William Pereyra, Belleza de Arteaga improved her record to 11 wins in 22 starts and covered the 1 1/4 miles in 1:58.97 over a fast track. Following the race Malal confirmed that the 5-year-old...

Chuck Simon, a trainer for two decades in horse racing who previously worked for legends of the game like H. Allen Jerkens and D. Wayne Lukas, has reinvented himself in the sport. After being squeezed out of the training game in part due to the rise of the "super trainer", Simon has become one of the most articulate critics of racing and advocates for the sport's reform, both on Twitter and the hit Going in Circles podcast, which he co-hosts with handicapper Barry Spears. Wednesday, Simon joined Bettor Things with...