Weekend graded stakes mark horse racing action from Japan to Canada

Nov. 10 (UPI) -- Horse racing soldiers on in the wake of the Breeders' Cup World Championships and the Melbourne Cup with graded stakes on tap this weekend from Japan to Canada.

For those with eyes already on the future, the Dubai World Cup Carnival carousel starts spinning Friday night at Meydan Racecourse.

Diving right in ...

Turf / Turf Mile

Soldier Rising is the 3-1 morning-line favorite in an overflow field set for Saturday's $300,000 Grade II Red Smith Stakes at Aqueduct. The 5-year-old Frankel gelding has finished second in four of his last five starts, all Grade 1 races. He did, however, finish ninth in this race a year ago.

Saturday's $300,000 Grade III River City Stakes at Churchill Downs has a full field of 12 with three also-eligibles to go 1 1/8 miles. The morning-line favorite, at 4-1 odds, is the Chad Brown-trained Rockemperor but Cellist, Siege of Boston and Grand Sonata also get support.

Nine plus three-also-eligibles are set for Sunday's $150,000, 1-mile Artie Schiller Stakes at Aqueduct.

Filly & Mare Turf

Trainer Brown has three of the nine entries in Saturday's $200,000 Grade III Pebbles Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at Aqueduct including the 2-1 morning-line favorite, Rhiannon. Don't overlook Sacred Wish, whose last race at Keeneland was lots better than it looks on paper.

Sunday's $300,000 Grade III Long Island Stakes at Aqueduct attracted a field heavy on allowance types, the best of which seems to be R Calli Kim. Vergara has been facing better and one of her four wins came at the Big A.

Filly & Mare Sprint

Saturday's $300,000 Dream Supreme Stakes at Churchill Downs drew six with Wicked Halo and Little Prankster as the morning-line favorites.

Midnight Stroll and Loyalty top the morning line in a field of 14 set for Saturday's $175,000 (Canadian) Grade II Bessarabian Stakes on the Woodbine all-weather track.

Distaff

Thirteen signed on to go 1 1/4 miles on the all-weather track in Saturday's $150,000 (Canadian) Grade III Maple Leaf Stakes at Woodbine. The morning line has Millie Girl, Solo Album, Il Malocchio, Ever Smart and Angelou bunched, all at decent odds.

Juvenile

Friday's $100,000 Jean Lafitte Stakes at Delta Downs looks like a wide-open affair with 10 youngsters set to go 7 furlongs. Friday also brings the $50,000 Don C. McNeill Stakes for Oklahoma-breds at Remington Park.

On Saturday, it's the $100,000 James F. Lewis III Stakes at Laurel Park, the $50,000 Golden Nugget at Golden Gate Fields and the $60,000 Juvenile Sprint at Gulfstream Park.

Already in the books:On Tuesday at FanDuel Sportsbook and Racing, the former Fairmount Park, Jack Sprat just needed running room to show his stuff in Tuesday's $50,000 Jim Edgar Illinois Futurity for state-breds.

After being blocked repeatedly, the Jack Milton gelding squeezed through an opening on the rail and shot off to a 3 1/2-lengths victory over Coogan.

Juvenile Fillies

The weekend slate includes Friday's $100,000 My Trusty Cat Stakes at Delta Downs and $50,000 Slide Show Stakes for Oklahoma-breds at Remington Park. Saturday, it's the $100,000 Smart Halo Stakes at Laurel Park and the $60,000 Juvenile Fillies Sprint at Gulfstream Park.

Already in the books: Tuesday at FanDuel Sportsbook and Horse Racing, Rumbrandt came from next-last to win the $50,000 Pat Whitworth Illinois Debutante Stakes for state-breds by a neck with Michele Boyce saddling the first three finishers.

Around the world, around the clock

Australia

Without a Fight put up an exemplary fight in Tuesday's Group 1 Lexus Melbourne Cup, "The Race that Stops a Nation," rallying past heavy favorite Vauban in the final furlong to win going away.

Soulcombe, with Joao Moreira up for trainer Chris Weller, was along for second and Weller also saddled the third-place finisher, 150-1 shot Shirraz. Vauban, with Ryan Moore in from winning the Breeders' Cup Turf on Saturday, reported 14th in a field of 23.

Jockey Mark Zahra won the race for the second straight year, abandoning the 2022 winner, Gold Trip, in favorite of Without a Fight, the Caulfield Cup winner. Gold Trip finished 17th Tuesday.

Japan

Sunday's Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup for fillies and mares pits last year's winner, Geraldina, against a couple of up-and-coming 3-year-old fillies.

Geraldina, now 5, has been shut out of the money in all four stars this year although her trainer says her latest effort showed signs of life and she does benefit from getting Ryan Moore on board.

The 3-year-olds, Harper and Brede Weg, present a stiff challenge. Japan's leading 3-year-old filly, Liberty Island, is giving the race a pass.

Dubai

Global racing action never really ends and barely even pauses. Friday, six days after the Breeders' Cup and three after the Melbourne Cup, the revamped and expanded Dubai Racing Carnival kicks off at Meydan Racecourse.

An eight-race program is on tap, but the pattern races don't start until Dec. 22 "Festive Friday." Other key dates are the March 2 "Super Saturday" and Dubai World Cup night March 30.

News and Notes

Cody Dorman, the disabled but courageous young man whose close connection with two-time Breeders' Cup winner Cody's Wish touched heartstrings both within and outside racing, died unexpectedly Sunday on his way home from Santa Anita to Kentucky.

His family shared the news with thanks to everyone in racing whose efforts kept the relationship alive.

"We have been completely amazed to experience the impact Cody has had on so many people, through the journey that this wondrous racehorse has taken us all on," the Dorman family said in a statement.

The Make a Wish Foundation, which facilitated the connection through Keeneland, the Godolphin organization, which bred and owns Cody's Wish, were the prime movers in the heartwarming story.

Also ...

Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Ace Impact has been named the Cartier "Horse of the Year", beating out fellow finalists Auguste Rodin, Paddington and Mostahdaf. Three of the four now are retired with word pending about Breeders' Cup Turf winner Auguste Rodin.

Del Mar is announced as the site of the 2025 Breeders' Cup World Championships, taking the races "Where the Surf Meets the Turf" on back-to-back years.