Four weeks before the Breeders' Cup World Championships, the busiest slate of qualifying races for that two-day event takes place this week. Stakes races at Belmont Park, Keeneland, Santa Anita Park, and ParisLongchamp Racecourse over Oct. 1-4 will feature 23 races in which winners earn paid, automatic berths into designated Breeders' Cup races through the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In. Other races are part of the Breeders' Cup Dirt Dozen Bonus Series, which provides entry-fee credits to the top-three finishers.
Participants covet the upcoming stakes for their own allure, of course, with many offering lucrative purses and prestige. The Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (G1) in France is the clearest example.
Domestically, much of the attention this week will center on the 2-year-old division. Beyond the purse money, a grade 1 victory at 2 can substantially enhance the stallion value of a well-bred intact male.
Races such as the Champagne Stakes (G1) at Belmont, the Breeders' Futurity (G1) at Keeneland, and the American Pharoah Stakes (G1) at Santa Anita will be closely scrutinized not only by horseplayers looking for a potential Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) winner, but also by breeding farms evaluating the next promising 2-year-old for a future stallion roster.
With Hall of Famer Bob Baffert entering four of the six starters in the American Pharoah, led by early West Coast standout Hughes and supported by three other contenders, the 1 1/16-mile race has limited outside competition. That can make the race difficult to evaluate, as jockeys riding stablemates often avoid aggressive tactics that could compromise one another's chances.
The Champagne also drew only six but offers a more revealing matchup. Shug McGaughey-trained U. S. S. Valor, who romped by 13 1/4 lengths in his second start Sept. 5 at Saratoga Race Course, will face the Chad Brown-trained Gaudreau, who defeated U. S. S. Valor by three-quarters of a length when they both debuted Aug. 8 at Saratoga. Gaudreau has not raced since that victory.
Club Reign, Earth Song, Raku, and Johnny Hockey round out the one-turn mile race.
McGaughey said U. S. S. Valor, a War of Will colt owned by Team Valor International, gained valuable seasoning from his first start, in which he broke from the rail and finished third.
"He came out of it really good and obviously he ran very well the next time," the Hall of Fame trainer told track publicity. "I was expecting him to run good, but I didn't expect him to run like that."
Manny Franco, the leading rider at Saratoga, returns aboard the 3-5 morning-line choice, while Flavien Prat is back on the Louisiana-bred Nyquist colt Gaudreau, who is pegged at 8-5.
One of the leading challengers to the pair is 8-1 shot Club Reign, a debut winner owned by Ribble Farms, Three Brand Racing, and Walmac Farm. Three Brand Racing is the stable name of Super Bowl-winning quarterback Russell Wilson, who attended the Aug. 29 maiden victory at Saratoga with his Grammy Award-winning wife, Ciara, and their family.
"Any time you have an owner whose first horse wins impressively on Travers Day at Saratoga, that's a huge push for everybody involved," Club Reign's trainer Whit Beckman told track publicity. "We were pumped for him to run the way he did, and I couldn't be happier for Russ and his family getting to be there and cheer him on with them was incredible."
The runner-up who finished between victorious Gaudreau and U. S. S. Valor in that Aug. 8 maiden race is Coach Pope, the 4-5 morning-line favorite for Saturday's Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland. After that effort, he returned to defeat maidens by 12 1/2 lengths Sept. 12 at Churchill Downs. Coach Pope promises to be a fan favorite in Lexington, where his namesake, Mark Pope, coaches the University of Kentucky basketball team.
The equine Coach Pope was named a BloodHorse Maiden Watch Hot Prospect after his second-out maiden victory, in which he covered a mile in 1:35.77—faster than the winners of the Pocahontas Stakes (G3) and Iroquois Stakes (G3) run later that day at Churchill Downs. Coach Pope posted a 98 Equibase Speed Figure and an 86 Beyer Speed Figure.
Bred in Kentucky by Tall Oaks Farm and Tapit Syndicate, Coach Pope is a bay son of Tapit out of the Ghostzapper mare Gamble's Ghost, an earner of more than $700,000 and winner of seven stakes, including five at the grade 3 level. Her two other foals to race are also winners. As agent, trainer Kenny McPeek purchased Coach Pope for $350,000 at the 2025 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October Yearlings Sale from the Gainesway consignment. Gainesway, Shamrock Stables, and Mike Mackin own the colt.
McPeek, a 1984 University of Kentucky graduate, has won the Breeders' Futurity three times, most recently with Rattle N Roll in 2021. Mackin co-owned the horse with his family when they raced as Lucky Seven Stable.
Coach Pope faces two other BloodHorse Maiden Watch Hot Prospects in Q B Rocket and American History. Three others complete the short field.
Q B Rocket earned an 83 ESF and an 80 Beyer in taking his debut for trainer Brad Cox in a 6-furlong maiden race Aug. 15 at Saratoga.
The Kentucky-bred Gun Runner colt was purchased for $1.9 million from the Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa consignment at the 2025 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. The dark bay/brown colt was bred by GRS and Baffert out of stakes-placed Quality Road winner Ginja. Baffert trained the mare, who was owned by his wife, Jill.
American History, a 4-1 chance in the Breeders' Futurity, recorded a 7 3/4-length debut victory in a Saratoga maiden special weight race Aug. 22 for owners CHC, WinStar Farm, and First Go Racing and Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher. His winning time was moderate—6 1/2 furlongs in 1:17.55, resulting in a 79 ESF and a 73 Beyer.
An $825,000 yearling purchase from the 2025 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, he is the fourth foal of the War Front mare Bloody Point, a half sister to Spendthrift Farm stallion Vekoma .
Those competing in the Breeders' Futurity will have an experience advantage in the $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile, run over the same distance Oct. 30 at Keeneland.
The Breeders' Futurity, Champagne, and American Pharoah are also points races on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, with points distributed on a 10-5-3-2-1 scale toward next year's Run for the Roses.
