The upcoming weekend at Saratoga Race Course is an important station on the road to the 2024 Breeders’ Cup World Championships. Year in and year out, multiple races held this weekend at the Spa are influential in cementing Breeders’ Cup plans for several horses and their connections, and there are prominent prep races held elsewhere as well over the next few days.

The penultimate weekend at Saratoga traditionally is highlighted by the track’s signature race for 3-year-olds, the $1.25 million DraftKings Travers Stakes on Aug. 24. Although the Travers is not an official Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series “Win and You’re In” qualifying race, it often sends its best performers on to the World Championships, which will be held this year on Nov. 1-2 at Del Mar. Two other races Aug. 24 at Saratoga are “Win and You’re In” preps: the $750,000 Resorts World Casino Sword Dancer Stakes (Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf) and the $500,000 Ballerina Handicap (PNC Bank Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint).

Del Mar, which is also winding down its popular summer meet, hosts the $250,000 Pat O’Brien Stakes Aug. 24, a “Win and You’re In” qualifier for the Big Ass Fans Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. And three more Challenge Series races will be held during the Ybor Festival conducted at York Racecourse in Great Britain: the Juddmonte International Stakes Aug. 21 (Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic); the Darley Yorkshire Oaks Aug. 22 (Maker’s Mark Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf); and the Coolmore Wootton Bassett Nunthorpe Stakes Aug. 23 (Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint).

Here’s some background on the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series races, the Travers Stakes, and other important races on tap this week:

Resorts World Casino Sword Dancer Stakes

Where: Saratoga Race Course, Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

When: Saturday, Aug. 24

How to watch: FOX

“Win and You’re In” for: Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf

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Why it’s important: This race, held at 1 ½ miles, has been won by some of the best U.S.-based grass horses from the past 30-plus years. It’s one of the main preps for domestic horses as they sharpen up their form to take on Europeans in the Breeders’ Cup, and on occasion a top contender from Europe will ship to Saratoga and start in the Sword Dancer (such as Flintshire, who won this race in 2015 and 2016 and finished second in the BC Turf in 2014 and ’16). Four runners have won the Sword Dancer and the Breeders’ Cup Turf in the same year: Theatrical (1987), Fraise (1992), Better Talk Now (2004), and Main Sequence (2014). The latter two horses were trained by Graham Motion.

Best winner during the Breeders’ Cup era: Better Talk Now was one of the most durable and consistent turf runners of the first decade of the 21^st century. He raced from age 2 to age 10 (!) and squared off against the best North America and Europe had to offer many times through his 51 career starts, which netted him over $4.5 million in earnings. His peak came in 2004, when the gelding won two of eight starts – those two being the Sword Dancer and then two starts later the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Lone Star Park, where he defeated odds-on favorite Kitten’s Joy by 1 ¾ lengths at odds of 27.90-1. Better Talk now would run in the BC Turf four more times, and come a half-length short of winning it again in 2006, when he checked in second behind Red Rocks. He also started twice more in the Sword Dancer, finishing second in both 2008 and 2009, the latter his final career start.

2024 field: Soldier Rising, second in the 2023 Sword Dancer, is among the six entrants in Saturday’s renewal. He enters off of a runner-up finish in the Bowling Green Stakes July 28 at the Spa to Godolphin’s Silver Knott, who is the even-money morning-line favorite in the Sword Dancer.

Ballerina Handicap

Where: Saratoga Race Course, Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

When: Saturday, Aug. 26

How to watch: FOX

“Win and You’re In” for: PNC Bank Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint

Why it’s important: The seven-furlong Ballerina was won by many top-class fillies and mares in the years before the introduction of the Filly & Mare Sprint to the World Championships slate in 2007, including Lady’s Secret, who won the Ballerina in 1985 and the Breeders’ Cup Distaff in 1986. But back in that very first year, Ballerina winner Maryfield turned out to relish the sloppy Monmouth Park racetrack one start later in the Filly & Mare Sprint to win by 1 ½ lengths. Weeks later, the Doug O’Neill trainee received the first-ever Eclipse Award for champion female sprinter. Several Ballerina winners since 2007 performed very well in the Filly & Mare Sprint, but none won the race, until …

Best winner during the Breeders’ Cup era: Two years ago, Goodnight Olive made her stakes debut in the 2022 Ballerina after winning four starts in a row by open lengths. The 4-year-old daughter of Ghostzapper had interruptions in her training starting in 2021 when she was 3 due to bone chips in her ankles. Therefore, despite her dominance on the allowance level she was sent off at 5.80-1 odds in the Ballerina, fourth choice in a seven-horse field that included 2021 Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint winner and post-time favorite Ce Ce. Under jockey Irad Ortiz Jr., Goodnight Olive settled matters in early stretch with an explosive move and won going away by 2 ¾ lengths. She made her next start in the Filly & Mare Sprint at Keeneland, this time as the 1.85-1 favorite in a 12-horse field, and authored a nearly perfect repeat performance, pulling clear to a 2 ½-length score. As with Maryfield 15 years earlier, Goodnight Olive was honored with an Eclipse Award for her campaign. At age 5, she added to an incredible career portfolio in 2023 by coming back to finish second in the Ballerina and then to post a repeat victory in the Filly & Mare Sprint at Santa Anita Park, securing another Eclipse Award as champion female sprinter.

2024 field: Saturday’s Ballerina drew a solid eight-horse field led by morning-line, even-money favorite Vahva, who comes in off of wins in the Grade 1 Derby City Distaff Stakes Presented by Kendall-Jackson Winery in May and the Grade 3 Chicago Stakes in June. The Cherie DeVaux-trained filly is 5-for-7 with two seconds at the Ballerina’s seven-furlong distance. Other top contenders are Grade 1 winner Society and royally bred Grade 2 winner Scylla.

Pat O’Brien Stakes

Where: Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, Del Mar, Calif.

When: Saturday, Aug. 24

How to watch: FanDuel TV

“Win and You’re In” for: Big Ass Fans Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile

Goldencents in 2014. (Eclipse Sportswire)

Why it’s important: This seven-furlong race has been an influential steppingstone to both the Big Ass Fans Dirt Mile and the Qatar Racing Breeders’ Cup Sprint through the years, and on one notable occasion even the Breeders’ Cup Classic. That came back in 1996, when Alphabet Soup shortened up to seven furlongs in the Pat O’Brien after being soundly defeated in his first start at a mile and a quarter and rebounded with a 3 ½-length win. The David Hofmans trainee then stretched out in his next two starts to a mile and a mile and an eighth, finishing second and first (subsequently disqualified and placed third) in California stakes races, before trying the classic distance again at Woodbine against a star-studded field that included reigning Horse of the Year Cigar. With Chris McCarron aboard, Alphabet Soup scored a memorable nose victory over Louis Quatorze at odds of 19.85-1, with Cigar a head back in third in what turned out to be the legend’s final race.

Best winner during the Breeders’ Cup era: Pat O’Brien top-three finishers Cardmania (third in 1993) and Lit de Justice (third in 1996 to the aforementioned Alphabet Soup) would train on to win the Breeders’ Cup Sprint later in the year, but to date the only horse to win the Pat O’Brien and the Big Ass Fans Dirt Mile (which was first held in 2007) in the same year is Goldencents. That top-class competitor first jumped on the scene at age 3 in 2013 when he won the Santa Anita Derby, but after finishing well back in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes he was shortened up to race at distances a mile or shorter from then on by Doug O’Neill and his assistant Leandro Mora, and he thrived over the next year and a half, finishing second in the 2013 Pat O’Brien en route to a 2 ¾-length win that fall’s Dirt Mile at Santa Anita Park. In 2014 at age 4, Goldencents won the Pat O’Brien by 4 ¼ lengths and then in his final start took the Dirt Mile once again at Santa Anita as the 7-10 favorite. Overall, Goldencents won seven of 18 races with seven seconds and earned more than $3 million.

2024 field: Saturday’s Pat O’Brien shapes up as a must-watch renewal. It is expected to draw both The Chosen Vron, arguably the best sprinter in California who recently won the six-furlong Bing Crosby Stakes, and Senor Buscador. That world traveler is scheduled to make his first start since finishing third in the 1 ¼-mile Dubai World Cup Sponsored by Emirates Airline in March, which followed a sensational victory in the 1 1/8-mile, $20 million Saudi Cup in February. 

The Travers Stakes and other weekend races:

The 1 ¼-mile DraftKings Travers Stakes, known as the “Mid-Summer Derby,” may not be a “Win and You’re In” qualifier for the Breeders’ Cup, but that certainly does not mean it lacks significance as a prep race. Many times over the past four decades a 3-year-old that excelled in the Travers trained on to shine in the World Championships as well. The list is long and just a few of the standouts are Easy Goer (won 1989 Travers, second by a nose in the Breeders’ Cup Classic to rival Sunday Silence), Concern and Tabasco Cat (second and third in a thrilling 1994 Travers behind Holy Bull, first and second in the Classic), Bernardini (won 2006 Travers, second in the Classic to Invasor), and Will Take Charge (breakthrough win in the 2013 Travers, but second by a nose to Mucho Macho Man in the Classic).

For all of that history, there had never been a Travers winner that went on to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic in the same year … until 2016, when Arrogate’s record-setting Travers score propelled him to superstardom. His brilliance from that day in late August was confirmed 10 weeks later at Santa Anita Park when he defeated California Chrome in the Classic and then amplified by his incredible races in early 2017 before he lost his best form that summer. Arrogate, who was elected into the Racing Hall of Fame last summer, unfortunately died soon after beginning his stud career. 

The $500,000 Personal Ensign Stakes, set for Aug. 23 at Saratoga, was taken off of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series in 2022 but the race, which is named after the undefeated Phipps Stable legend and 1988 Breeders’ Cup Distaff winner, has had a long and influential history with the event. Four fillies or mares have won both the Personal Ensign and the Longines Distaff in the same year: Beautiful Pleasure in 1999, Forever Unbridled in 2017, Malathaat in 2022, and Idiomatic last year. Idiomatic’s 2023 Personal Ensign win was an eye-opener as she romped by four lengths to capture her first Grade 1 victory. The daughter of Curlin then won the Juddmonte Spinster Stakes at Keeneland prior to rallying late and taking the Longines Distaff by a half-length over Randomized at Santa Anita. Both Idiomatic and Randomized are entered in Saturday’s Personal Ensign to continue what has become an exciting rivalry.

Cody's Wish wins 2022 Forego. (Eclipse Sportswire)

Similar accolades apply to the $500,000 Forego Stakes, held this year Aug. 24 at Saratoga. Many runners from this seven-furlong race named after the mid-70s superstar have gone on to make noise in the Qatar Racing Sprint or, less often, the Big Ass Fans Dirt Mile, and three of them won the Forego and the Sprint in the same year: Orientate (2001), Midnight Lute (2007), and more recently Mitole (2019). Few would argue against putting the latter pair in a top 10 list of North American sprinters from this century, nor would anyone dispute the excellence of the 2022 Forego winner at distances up to one mile. Indeed, after using the Forego as a coming-out party of sorts by defeating 0.15-1 favorite Jackie’s Warrior, Cody’s Wish next tried racing a mile around two turns at Keeneland in November, and he thrilled millions of onlookers via TV and one special family trackside with a heart-pounding win in the 2022 Big Ass Fans Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. 

Cody’s Wish skipped the 2023 Forego but repeated in the Big Ass Fans Dirt Mile en route to earning Horse of the Year honors. Gunite posted a mild upset in the Forego last year over champion sprinter Elite Power, and the two reversed those positions months later in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint as Elite Power picked up his second consecutive win in the $2 million race.

Two more races this week at Saratoga have had an impact on the World Championships: the $300,000 Ballston Spa Stakes Aug. 22, and the $500,000 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial Stakes Aug. 24. 2012 Ballston Spa winner Zagora trained on to win the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf, becoming one of the first stars trained by eventual multiple Eclipse Award winner Chad Brown. The seven-furlong Jerkens – which was named the King’s Bishop Stakes until 2017 when it was changed to honor the New York-based Hall of Fame trainer nicknamed “The Chief” – is arguably the most prestigious race of the year for 3-year-olds that is shorter than one mile. It’s often served as a launching pad for speedy sophomore runners to test their elders in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, and three of them have managed to win both in the same year: Squirtle Squirt in 2001, Runhappy in 2015, and Drefong in 2016. Additionally, 2011 King's Bishop/Jerkens winner Caleb’s Posse won the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile.

European Challenge Series races:

The Juddmonte International Stakes Aug. 21 at York, one of the most prestigious races on the English racing calendar, was made a “Win and You’re In” qualifier for the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic in 2019 and offered an automatic bid to the Longines Turf before then. The race, held on turf at just over 1 ¼ miles, has been won by many of the best racehorses in Europe since its first running in 1972. Three Juddmonte winners came very close to defeating U.S. stars in the Classic in years past, starting with “The Iron Horse,” Giant’s Causeway, who finished a neck behind Tiznow in the 2000 Classic at Churchill Downs. A year later, Juddmonte victor Sakhee shipped to the U.S. only to lose by an even shorter margin to Tiznow – a nose – in an emotionally-charged Classic at Belmont Park. And 12 years after that, Juddmonte winner Declaration of War was third by a head to Mucho Macho Man and Will Take Charge in the 2013 Classic at Santa Anita.

The Darley Yorkshire Oaks on Aug. 22 has likewise been won by some supreme European-based fillies and mares. From a Breeders’ Cup perspective, one stands out: Enable. A homebred of Juddmonte Farms trained by John Gosden, Enable dominated European racing during a 3 1/2-year span from 2017-2020, including open-length wins in the 2017 and 2019 Yorkshire Oaks. In 2018, she shipped to Louisville for the Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf and scored a courageous three-quarter-length win over Magical. Fellow Juddmonte homebred Midday won the 2009 Filly and Mare Turf and later took the 2010 Yorkshire Oaks during her own stellar career. 

Lastly, the Coolmore Wooton Bassett Nunthorpe Stakes, held Aug. 23 this year, has rarely sent its winners on to compete in the Breeders’ Cup. An exception was 2022, as Nunthorpe winner Highfield Princess shipped to Keeneland and finished a good fourth behind U.S. star filly Caravel in the Turf Sprint. Big Evs, winner of last fall’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint, is entered in Friday’s Nunthorpe and is the 4-1 second betting choice in the five-furlong race on Paddy Power’s bookmaking site.