The $300,000 Grade 1 Awesome Again September 27 at Santa Anita is perhaps the most significant Breeders’ Cup prep race in a weekend jammed with enough Breeders’ Cup prep races to make a handicapper’s head spin.
At Belmont Park, "Super Saturday" will kick off with the $400,000 Kelso Handicap. The Grade 2 event will be run at one mile on the main track and has drawn a field of seven.
The $300,000 Grade 3 Gallant Bob has attracted a field of seven three year-old sprinters going six furlongs on the main track September 20 at Parx as part of the Pennsylvania Derby day undercard.
On Saturday at Parx Racecourse, their star-studded day of stakes races kicks off with the $100,000 Alphabet Soup Handicap. Restricted to horses bred in Pennsylvania, the mile and a sixteenth race will be run on the turf and has drawn a field of eleven.
On Monday at Presque Isle Downs, the featured race is the 8th edition of the $400,000 Presque Isle Master Stakes. The six and a half furlong contest will be run on the synthetic main track and has drawn a field of twelve.
The $200,000 Presque Isle Mile is sure to whet the appetite of horse players across the country as a field of twelve and two also eligibles are signed on for the eight furlong event on the Tapeta.
The $250,000 Grade II Bernard Baruch August 30 at Saratoga signifies the return of two-time reigning Horse of the Year Wise Dan who is back from a bout with colic that was potentially fatal and required surgery – but nothing stops a champ.
Two-time Horse of the Year Wise Dan will make his return to the races on Saturday at Saratoga in the 56th edition of $250,000 Bernard Baruch Handicap. The Grade 2 event will be contested at a mile and a sixteenth on the Mellon Turf Course.
On Wednesday at Saratoga, three-year-old colts and geldings will take to the Inner Turf Course for the inaugural running of the $100,000 Better Talk Now Stakes. The one-mile race has attracted a field of seven sophomores.
The $500,000 Secretariat is the first of three grade one races on tap at Arlington Park August 16 as nine three year-old colts are set to contest the mile and quarter race on turf.
