Horse Racing News

The Breeders' Cup has announced that a record 184 horses were pre-entered Monday in the 14 races that make up the 2010 championships that will be run Nov. 5-6 at Churchill Downs. The entire lineups of pre-entries and races will be released Wednesday.

Brass Hat, the popular 9-year-old homebred, rallied from last to overtake longshot Southern Anthem and favored Musketier to win the Grade 3, $100,000 Sycamore Stakes at Keeneland, where he was met afterward with a rousing ovation from his many fans.

Oddsmaker Mike Battaglia has set the undefeated Zenyatta as the preliminary favorite for the Breeders' Cup Classic on Nov. 7 at Churchill Downs, representatives of the Breeders' Cup World Championships said Oct. 21.

Gio Ponti will be cross-entered in both the Breeders' Cup Classic and the Breeders' Cup Mile when Breeders' Cup pre-entries are taken on Monday, according to a manager at the Castleton-Lyons Farm of Gio Ponti's owner, Shane Ryan.

The Breeders' Cup Classic is worth considerably more than the Breeders' Cup Mile, no more so than in the case of Gio Ponti, who is under consideration for both races.

Not that one has anything to do with the other, but when a full field of 14 3-year-old fillies ran last fall in the Raven Run Stakes at Keeneland, the Grade 2 race was dominated by huge longshots.

Nine-year-old Brass Hat will square off against 8-year-old Musketier and 7-year-old Presious Passion in a compelling 16th running of the $100,000 Sycamore.

Cloudy's Knight has been retired after an old injury flared up, ending a terrific racing career in which the 10-year-old gelding earned more than $2.5 million, was voted a champion in Canada, and barely missed winning a Breeders' Cup event.

Runco saddled three stakes winners on Saturday night's 25th West Virginia Breeders' Classic program for West Virginia-breds at Charles Town, highlighted by a 57-1 upset by the 4-year-old colt Sea Rescue in the featured $500,000 Classic.

Mad Flatter won the first graded race of his career and in the process earned an automatic berth in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile by virtue of his easy 6 1/4-length triumph in the $100,000 Spend a Buck Handicap.