Horse Racing News

Cape Blanco and Teaks North, both two-time Grade 1 winners on turf this year, headline a star-studded six-horse field for the Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational that is part of the Oct. 1 stakes extravaganza at Belmont Park.

It drew only six, but the lucrative Grade 2 Cotillion Stakes from Parx Racing lured three of the top-ranked sophomore fillies in the nation -- each of them Grade 1 winners.

So while Scooter Dickey would like his 5-year-old horse to improve upon runner-up finishes in both the Whitney Handicap and Woodward Stakes at Saratoga when he runs in Saturday's $750,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park, a victory is not paramount.

Preakness winner Shackleford will cut back to 1 1/16 miles in Saturday's Grade 2 Indiana Derby at Hoosier Park in his final prep for the Breeders' Cup.

Blind Luck, in her final prep for the Grade 1 Lady's Secret Stakes on Saturday, worked a sharp half-mile in 47.60 seconds on Tuesday morning at Hollywood Park under her regular exercise rider, Marco Ramirez.

WinStar Farm is offering a complimentary breeding season to Tiznow for any filly or mare that wins the 2011 Breeders' Cup Classic on November 5 at Churchill Downs.

Grade 2 winner St Trinians, whose shining moment was when she gave Zenyatta a scare in the Grade 1 Vanity Handicap in 2010, has been retired from racing, trainer Mike Mitchell said Tuesday.

Peter Walder would have been content to wait until the Breeders' Cup Sprint to find out just how good a horse he had in Force Freeze.

There's probably no way that Saturday's $750,000 Fitz Dixon Cotillion Stakes can live up to the race's 2010 edition.

Shackleford and Caleb's Posse are among the 3-year-olds confirmed to race Saturday in the Indiana Derby.