Horse Racing

Six fillies and mares are set to go to the gate at Del Mar race track on Sunday for the running of the $300,000 (G1) Clement L. Hirsch Stakes. Run at 1 1/16 miles on the Del Mar dirt, the race offers the winner automatic entry into the 2018 Breeders' Cup Distaff as part of the BC's 'Win and You're In' race series.

With the recently announced retirement of Triple Crown winner Justify, the odds have suddenly improved for a number of other horses to capture big races leading up to the 2018 Breeders' Cup Classic. One of those goes on Saturday at Monmouth Park with the running of the $1 million (G1) Haskell Invitational Stakes. Justify was once expected to be in the field, but the door is now open for his main rival.

A group of old foes will be meeting up again on Saturday afternoon to battle it out at Saratoga Race Course in the $600,000 (G2) Jim Dandy Stakes. The compact field of five features four three-year-old colts that were involved in the chase for the Triple Crown this past spring, all of them looking for a measure of redemption.

The two fastest three-year-old fillies in North America will renew their rivalry on Sunday when Monomoy Girl and Midnight Bisou go head-to-head in the $300,000 (G1) Coaching Club America Oaks at Saratoga Race Course. Between them, they have won eight of their last nine races and last met in the 2018 Kentucky Oaks in May, where Monomoy Girl prevailed.

The first weekend of the 2018 Saratoga race meet includes the first Grade 1 race on the Saratoga schedule with the running of the $500,000 Diana Stakes on Saturday afternoon. Open to fillies and mares running 1 1/8 miles on the Saratoga turf course, the Diana has drawn a competitive international field of seven horses loaded with previous Grade 1 racing success.

Qualifying for the 2018 Breeders' Cup World Championships is back on the racing schedule this Saturday with the running of the (G2) Belmont Sprint Championships Stakes from Belmont Park in New York. The $350,000 six-furlong dash on the Belmont dirt offers the winner a guaranteed spot in the Breeders' Cup Sprint.

One of two 'Win And You're In' qualifying events on Saturday for the 2018 Breeders' Cup World Championship, the winner of the (G2) Princess Rooney Stakes will grab an automatic starting spot in the BC Filly & Mare Sprint. Eight have drawn into the Princess Rooney, where they'll run for a purse of $250,000 racing seven furlongs on the Gulfstream Park dirt track.

On the undercard of Saturday's Queen's Plate at Woodbine, the (G1) Highlander Stakes is a 'Win And You're In' qualifying race for the 2018 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint. The race has drawn an eclectic mix of 10 runners, representing four countries and four different US states. They'll race six furlongs in the Woodbine turf course, chasing the Breeders' Cup berth and a total purse of $250,000. 

A couple of weeks after Justify claimed the US Triple Crown, the Canadian Triple Crown kicks off on Saturday with the 159th Queen's Plate from Woodbine Race Track in Toronto. Open to Canadian-bred three-year-old colts and fillies, they'll race 1 1/4 miles on the tapeta surface for a total purse of $1 million. The race has drawn a field of 16, all trying to become the first Canadian Triple Crown winner since 2003.