Horse Racing News

Pick of the Litter found a seam between favorites Departing and Long River inside the final sixteenth and was just up to defeat the former by a neck in Saturday's Grade 2, $200,000 Fayette, the closing day feature of the Keeneland fall meet.

The Breeders' Cup board of directors has unanimously voted to modify its convicted trainer rule to prohibit the pre-entry or entry of any horse found to have tested positive for any substance listed under class one or class two, penalty category A.

California Chrome turned in his final pre-Breeders' Cup Classic work Oct. 25 at Los Alamitos Racecourse, clocking a sharp five furlongs in :59 3/5 seconds under jockey Victor Espinoza.

Whitney Stakes winner Moreno drilled six furlongs in 1:12 3/5 Oct. 24 in preparation for the Breeders' Cup Classic Nov. 1 at Santa Anita Park.

Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens, a 10-time Breeders Cup winner, will be riding in this year's event at Santa Anita Park, exactly 14 weeks to the day after undergoing total knee replacement surgery July 25.

Claiborne Farm and Adele Dilschneider's Departing headlines a field of eight horses entered for the $200,000 Hagyard Fayette to be run Oct. 25, closing day of the fall meet at Keeneland.

United States-based horses will have their work cut out for them in the $3 million Longines Breeders' Cup Turf Nov. 1 with a powerful contingent of foreign horses pre-entered, including Coolmore's defending winner Magician.

There are two burning questions regarding this year's Breeders' Cup Classic: Who is going to win and what horse is going to be excluded from the field?

The Breeders' Cup unveiled its pre-entrants for the 31st annual World Championships the morning of Oct. 22 at Santa Anita Park, with 201 horses named for the 13-race festival Friday and Saturday, Oct. 31 and Nov. 1.

Reigning Breeders' Cup Turf champion Magician will return to Santa Anita to seek a repeat in the 1 1/2-mile prize November 1, trainer Aidan O'Brien has told Racing Post.