LEXINGTON, Ky. (November 27, 2020) – Throughout the year, the NTRA will provide a guide to the best stakes races in North America and beyond. Races are listed in chronological order (all times Eastern). Full previews when available can be found through the link for each race.
Del Mar wraps up its 2020 Bing Crosby meet by hosting two Grade 1 contest this weekend with the Hollywood Derby taking place on Saturday and Breeders’ Cup winner Sharing headlining Sunday’s Matriarch Stakes. Racing from Del Mar and other tracks will be shown on TVG as part of its coast-to-coast coverage.
Racing from Aqueduct and Churchill Downs is televised on “America’s Day at the Races.” The NYRA-produced show runs through Sunday this week on FS2. Key races covered include Friday’s Grade 1 Clark Stakes and Saturday’s Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes and Golden Rod Stakes at Churchill and Discovery Handicap at Aqueduct.
.
Friday November 27
3:15 p.m.—$100,000 Grade 3 Comely Stakes at Aqueduct on FS2
Miss Marissa will carry a three-race winning streak – including a her first stakes score last out in the Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan – into the expected last start of her sophomore campaign when she headlines the Comely for 3-year-old fillies going 1 1/8 miles. Miss Marissa won just once in her first nine starts, culminating when trainer James Ryerson moved the He’s Had Enough filly to back to turf, where she ran fifth on June 14 at Belmont. After the off-the-board effort, Miss Marissa showed improved form returning to the main track. Ryerson credited the stretch out in distances, which paid immediate dividends when she notched a three-length victory going a mile and 70 yards on July 11 at Monmouth and a 2 1/2-length score against optional claimers going 1 1/8 miles on August 13 at Saratoga Race Course.
Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/AQU112720USA8-EQB.html
5:27 p.m.—$500,000 Grade 1 Clark Stakes at Churchill Downs on FS2
W.S. Farish’s multiple Grade 1 winner Code of Honor will take on 13 rivals including graded stakes winners By My Standards, Mr Freeze and Owendale in the 146th renewal of the Clark – the marquee race of the Fall Meet at Churchill Downs. Code of Honor, a 4-year-old son of Noble Mission (GB), achieved Grade 1 glory in last year’s $1.25 million Travers and $750,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup. Trainer Shug McGaughey III had his sights set on a strong 2020 campaign but when the COVID-19 pandemic struck, he was forced to alter the colt’s plans.
Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/CD112720USA10-EQB.html
6:30 p.m.—$200,000 Grade 2 Hollywood Turf Cup Stakes at Del Mar on TVG
A wide-open edition of the $200,000 Hollywood Turf Cup will be the day-after treat this Friday at Del Mar as a dozen turfers will ramble in the 1 ½-miles test. A trio of out-of-towners add special spice to the handicapping stew – Donegal Racing, Bulger and Coneway’s Arklow, Manfred Ostermann’s Laccario and Agave Racing Stable or Sam-Son Farm’s Say the Word. They’ll all be making their Del Mar debuts. The race also has drawn its defending champion – Messineo or Sands’ Oscar Dominguez, who rallied through the lane to win by a neck over turf star United in last year’s running. It additionally has lured back a pair of runners who have been there before – Mr. & Mrs. Larry Williams’ Ward ‘n Jerry, third in the Turf Cup last year, and Little Red Feather and Tavares’ Marckie’s Water, fourth in the 2018 edition of the race.
Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/DMR112720USA7-EQB.html
Saturday November 28
12:48 p.m.—$100,000 Grade 3 Discovery Stakes at Aqueduct on FS2
Godolphin’s Shared Sense has proven himself against highly competitive graded stakes company during his sophomore campaign and will try to end a prosperous season on a high note when facing four other 3-year-olds in Saturday’s 76th running of the Discovery. Trained by Brad Cox, Shared Sense arrives at the Discovery off a two-length triumph in the Grade 3 Oklahoma Derby on September 27 at Remington Park. The bay son of Street Sense took command with a furlong and a half out to the finish, holding off an inside rally from two-time winner Mo Mosa.
Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/AQU112820USA3-EQB.html
4:13 p.m.—$100,000 Grade 3 Long Island Stakes at Aqueduct on FS2
An evenly-matched field of fillies and mares are set to clash on the Aqueduct turf in Saturday’s Long Island at 1 ⅜ miles on the inner course, led by graded stakes winner Theodora B. from the barn of trainer Michael Dickinson. A versatile 5-year-old daughter of Ghostzapper, Theodora B. had been knocking on the door at the stakes level for much of her career before breaking through in a big way in 2020. The Augustin Stable homebred began her year with an encouraging optional claiming win at Laurel Park, and after a hiccup on the synthetic main track at Woodbine in the Grade 3 Trillium, finally notched her first stakes victory with a wire-to-wire score in the Grade 2 Dance Smartly on turf.
Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/AQU112820USA10-EQB.html
4:57 p.m.—$200,000 Grade 2 Golden Rod Stakes at Churchill Downs on FS2
Harold Lerner LLC, Magdalena Racing and Nehoc Stables’ Grade 1 winner Simply Ravishing will lead a field of 10 promising juvenile fillies that were entered in Golden Rod Stakes. Simply Ravishing, trained by Kenny McPeek, was a 6 ¼-length winner of the October 2 Alcibiades at Keeneland. The Laoban filly finished fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies behind Vequist, Dayoutoftheoffice and Girl Daddy.
Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/CD112820USA9-EQB.html
5:29 p.m.—$100,000 Grade 3 Jimmy Durante Stakes at Del Mar on TVG
Fluffy Socks, a winner twice in four career starts, is the 5-2 choice in a field of 13 for the Jimmy Durante for 2-year-old fillies. Trained by Chad Brown, Fluffy Socks was most recently second in the Chelsey Flower Stakes at Belmont Park on November 1. The daughter of Slumber (GB) scored her first stakes win in the Selima Stakes at Pimlico on October 3.
Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/DMR112820USA5-EQB.html
5:56 p.m.—$200,000 Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill Downs on FS2
Cypress Creek and Arnold Bennewith’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile third-place finisher Keepmeinmind will be in search of his first-career victory against a competitive field of nine 2-year-olds, which includes stakes winners King Fury and Sittin On Go, entered in Saturday’s 94th running of the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes. Keepmeinmind has yet to record a victory for trainer Robertino Diodoro but sports a runner-up effort behind likely 2-year-old champion Essential Quality in the $400,000 Breeders’ Futurity (GI). Following the Breeders’ Futurity, he finished third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile where he was defeated two lengths by Essential Quality and Hot Rod Charlie.
Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/CD112820USA11-EQB.html
6:27 p.m.—$200,000 Grade 2 Seabiscuit Handicap at Del Mar on TVG
Flavius, a 5-year-old son of War Front got the 5-2 nod for favoritism among 13 older horses in the Seabiscuit. The Juddmonte Farms homebred is seeking his first graded stakes score and was fifth last time out in the Grade 1 Shadwell Mile at Keeneland on October 3. Defending Seabiscuit winner Next Shares is also in the field, seeking his first victory since winning last year’s edition of the test.
Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/DMR112820USA7-EQB.html
7:25 p.m.—$300,000 Grade 1 Hollywood Derby at Del Mar on TVG
The Hollywood Derby, run at nine furlongs on the turf, has drawn 13 3-year-olds with a trio of Eastern-based trainers slated to have a big say. Christophe Clement has sent out a pair for the race in Otter Bend Stables’ Gufo and Decorated Invader. Chad Brown has entered Klaravich Stables’ Domestic Spending while Tom Bush will be represented by Get Smokin. Gufo shows four wins and a photo-finish second on his ledger for 2020. The stretch runner won the Grade 1 Belmont Derby Invitational last out on October 3 while stablemate Decorated Invader has won five of nine starts and more than $500,000.
Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/DMR112820USA9-EQB.html
Sunday November 29
3:15 p.m.—$100,000 Grade 3 Fall Highweight Handicap at Aqueduct on FS2
A compact-but-competitive field of seven dirt sprinters will be on tap for Sunday’s Fall Highweight Handicap at six furlongs, led by the versatile Majestic Dunhill for trainer George Weaver and owner R. A. Hill Stable. A son of Majesticperfection that always seems to pack a late punch, Majestic Dunhill is in career form as his 5-year-old campaign winds down. Majestic Dunhill was at one time strictly a turf horse, having run on grass for the first nine starts of his career before making his foray onto the main track late in 2018. His first dirt start, which came in the ungraded City of Laurel at Laurel Park, resulted in a win, and his connections then decided to focus exclusively on dirt races for his 2019 campaign.
Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/AQU112920USA8-EQB.html
6 p.m.—$100,000 Grade 3 Cecil B. DeMille Stakes at Del Mar on TVG
Royal Prince, an impressive maiden winner at Keeneland on October 2, steps into graded stakes company against 10 others in the one-mile Cecil B. DeMille. Trained by Brad Cox, Royal Prince finished second in his debut at Ellis Park before taking a 1 1/16-miles maiden test last month by 1 ¼ lengths.
Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/DMR112920USA7-EQB.html
7 p.m.—$300,000 Grade 1 Matriarch Stakes at Del Mar on TVG
Sharing, winner of the 2019 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, looks to wrap up her 2020 campaign by earning another Grade 1 triumph when she heads up the field for the one-mile Matriarch. Trained by Graham Motion, Sharing finished second in the Group 1 Coronation Stakes during the Royal Ascot meeting this June before returning stateside to take the Grade 2 Edgemont Stakes at Churchill Downs on September 4.
Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/DMR112920USA9-EQB.html