Newmarket Hosts Qualifiers, Non-Challenge Races at Parx

Before 14 Breeders' Cup Challenge races are contested in the United States and France Oct. 1-3, a quiet week concludes September in the Challenge Series. Only two races remain on the month's schedule, both at Newmarket in England.

First up is the Sept. 24 Unibet Rockfel Stakes (G2), which offers its winner a paid, automatic berth into the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1T). Then the next day, the Juddmonte Royal Lodge Stakes (G2) provides the same qualifying entry into the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Presented by Coolmore America (G1T). The two Breeders' Cup races will be held Nov. 5 at Del Mar.

Regardless of the absence of automatic Breeders' Cup qualifiers in the U.S., Breeders' Cup contenders will be in action this weekend, mainly in the east. Parx Racing hosts the Pennsylvania Derby (G1) and Cotillion Stakes (G1) Sept. 25, along with a series of supporting stakes that could propel horses into the Breeders' Cup. About 100 miles away at Belmont Park, Life Is Good  is the headliner of the one-mile Kelso Handicap (G2), and should he perform well, a race such as the Big Ass Fans Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) could follow.

With Medina Spirit withdrawn from the Pennsylvania Derby, Hot Rod Charlie and Midnight Bourbon are the leading 3-year-old colts in the 1 1/8-mile contest, a race that annually produces Breeders' Cup starters.

The Pennsylvania Derby was not run in 2020 due to COVID-19, but its 1-3 finishers from 2019, Math Wizard and War of Will , ran in the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1), finishing fifth and ninth, respectively.

A year before, McKinzie  and Axelrod, 1-2 in the Pennsylvania Derby, ran 12th and ninth in the Breeders' Cup Classic.

Runners from other years fared better. The 2017 Pennsylvania Derby winner West Coast was third to Gun Runner  and Collected  in that year's Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar. Farther back, Bayern won both races in 2014, surviving a stewards' inquiry to win the Classic after breaking inward into opponents.

That followed 2013 when Pennsylvania Derby winner Will Take Charge fell a nose short of catching Mucho Macho Man  when second to him in the Breeders' Cup Classic.

The Cotillion has similarly impacted the Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1), notably in 2018 when Monomoy Girl won the Distaff after being disqualified from victory for interference in the Cotillion and placed second in that race behind Midnight Bisou. The latter ran third in that year's Breeders' Cup.

Also during the prior decade, Untapable won both the Cotillion and Breeders' Cup Distaff in 2014. Numerous other 3-year-old fillies from the Cotillion managed to hit the board on Breeders' Cup Day.

Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, who trained Untapable and Midnight Bisou over the second half of her career, has four top prospects in competition Saturday at Parx. Besides Winchell Thoroughbreds' Midnight Bourbon, Stonestreet Stables' Clairiere races for him in the Cotillion, and he runs a couple of grade 1 winners on the undercard.

Winchell Thoroughbreds and Willis Horton Racing's Silver State  starts in the Parx Dirt Mile, which is around two turns like the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile this year. Asmussen also starts Kirk and Judy Robison's Jackie's Warrior  in the Gallant Bob Stakes (G2), readying him for the six-furlong Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1).

China Horse Club and WinStar Farm's Life Is Good , a close second to Jackie's Warrior in the H. Allen Jerkens Memorial Stakes (G1) last month at Saratoga Race Course, will be odds on in the Kelso.