Saratoga, Del Mar Stakes Provide Breeders' Cup Berths

Berths into the Nov. 3-4 Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita Park can be earned Aug. 26 when Saratoga Race Course hosts the Ballerina Handicap (G1) and Sword Dancer Stakes (G1T) and Del Mar the Pat O'Brien Stakes (G2).

The three stakes are part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In, providing the victorious automatic, paid entry into designated Breeders' Cup races. The Ballerina catapults its winner into the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1), while the Sword Dancer and Pat O'Brien propel their winners into the Breeders' Cup Turf (G1T) and Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1), respectively.

The Ballerina appears the most likely of the three races to not just generate a Breeders' Cup starter—but also a potential winner, having drawn the 1-2-3 finishers from last year's Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint in Goodnight Olive , Echo Zulu , and Wicked Halo . (The latter has been cross-entered in the Aug. 25 Misty Bennett Pink Ribbon at Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races and could alternatively run there.)

Team Hanley and First Row Partners' Goodnight Olive, a 5-year-old daughter of Ghostzapper   trained by Chad Brown, won last year's Ballerina en route to Breeders' Cup glory and championship honors as the Eclipse Award-winning female sprinter of 2022.

Though she has shown continued excellence this year, winning two of three starts, she is the 9-5 second favorite behind Echo Zulu, whose fast, blowout win the Honorable Miss Handicap (G2) at Saratoga earlier in the summer leaves her a popular selection with handicappers. The Steve Asmussen trainee is 7-5 on the morning line and is potentially the controlling speed of the race.

The seven-furlong Ballerina is run at the same distance as the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint, though under handicap conditions. Goodnight Olive carries Irad Ortiz Jr. and high weight of 124 pounds, spotting her seven foes 1-8 pounds.

While the Ballerina offers a high-class lineup, the 2023 Sword Dancer appears lighter than usual, with comebacking Stone Age  favored over 9-year-old Channel Maker , who set a slow pace in capturing the Bowling Green Stakes (G2T) last month at Saratoga. With limited speed in the Sword Dancer lineup, the latter may carve out a similar trip. Channel Maker, a gelding by English Channel, won the Sword Dancer in 2020.

Other contenders in the Sword Dancer, a 1 1/2-mile grass race like the Breeders' Cup Turf, include Verstappen , second in the Bowling Green; Soldier Rising , a troubled seventh in the same race; and European invader Bolshoi Ballet .

The latter faces easier after running a distant sixth when facing some of Europe's best in the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Stakes (G1) over softer Ascot ground than he likes.

The 5-year-old son of Galileo is winless in nine starts since July 2021, when he won the 1 1/4-mile Belmont Derby Invitational (G1T) for trainer Aidan O'Brien and for his Coolmore-affiliated owners of Westerberg, Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor, and Derrick Smith.

"He's arrived in good order—he's grand and fresh. We're hoping he's starting to pick it up now and he's back to somewhere near where he should be," O'Brien's traveling assistant T.J. Comerford said. "You're not going to get your ground at home at the moment; it's been very wet."

With a reasonable excuse for going unplaced in his last start is Soldier Rising, who was bumped and checked on the final turn in the Bowling Green when the heavy favorite, 2022 Breeders' Cup Turf winner Rebel's Romance , clipped heels and unseated jockey Richard Mullen.

Channel Maker is not the only 9-year-old with a Saturday opportunity to punch a Breeders' Cup ticket. Also trying to do the same out west is C Z Rocket , who is part of a contentious field in the seven-furlong Pat O'Brien.

Over the past three years, he has competed in the six-furlong Breeders' Cup Sprint, running second in both 2020 and 2022. He was seventh in 2021.

The Pat O'Brien serves as a qualifier for the Dirt Mile around two turns at Santa Anita, though the winning connections can apply their earned starting fees toward another race, without automatic entry and by paying any difference in starting fees. Entry fees are higher for the $2 million Sprint than the $1 million Dirt Mile.

Zero-for-nine since taking an allowance optional claiming race at Del Mar 13 months ago, C Z Rocket, a 9-year-old gelding by City Zip, races with blinkers on for trainer Peter Miller and owner Altamira Racing Stable, Madaket Stables, and Tom Kagele.

Sir Atticus , Brickyard Ride , Spirit of Makena , and Anarchist  are leading Pat O'Brien contenders.

In addition to Saturday's three domestic Breeders' Cup qualifiers, two took place in the United Kingdom at York earlier in the week and another is set for Aug. 25.

In recently completed action, Mostahdaf  took the Juddmonte International (G1), a Breeders' Cup Classic qualifier, and Warm Heart  captured the Aug. 24 Yorkshire Oaks (G1), giving her a berth in the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1T).

The last of the three Breeders' Cup Challenge Series races at York is the Aug. 25 Nunthorpe Stakes (G1), a prep for the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1T).