• Breeders Cup 2019 Classic Contenders 2020
• Breeders Cup 2019 Classic Contenders Odds
• Contenders For Breeders Cup Classic 2019

Most people have Proxy on their Kentucky Derby contenders radar, but until he proves that he can win a graded stakes, he most likely won’t be seen among the top 5. If Proxy wins the 2021 Kentucky Derby, he’ll be just the second horse to do so after finishing second in the Risen Star; Country House was second back in 2019.

• Mike Maker has conditioned the $200,000 John B. Connally Turf Cup Stakes (G3T) winner for seven of the last eight years, including the last six runnings. By Christine Oser January 22, 2020.
• He has not won a race since October 2018. Last seen, he ran third in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile behind Knicks Go and Jesus’ Team. Half of his eight victories were at nine furlongs, but only one of them was on dirt. Sleepy Eyes Todd (12-1 – Paddy O’ Prado – M. Gaffalione – 15: 8-2-0 - $744,825). Last year was a very.
• The son of Paynter ran the distance in 1:47.89 while earning an automatic berth in the $20 million Saudi Cup Feb. Knicks Go, a Grade 1 winner at 2, had gone winless in 2019 before being transferred to Cox’s stable in 2020. The Maryland-bred 5-year-old won all three of his races last year, including the Nov. 7 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1).
• Parx opened as Keystone Racetrack in 1974 and was renamed Philadelphia Park in 1984. You can find both Parx entries and Parx results here. Racing Jan 1 to Aug 6, and Aug 31 to Dec 31, 2019.

Korea Racing Authority’s Knicks Go came out of his brilliant victory in Saturday’s $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) at Gulfstream Park in good order, reported trainer Brad Cox Sunday afternoon.

“The horse looked really good last night. This morning, he flew back to New Orleans. He just arrived at the Fair Grounds and all is well,” Cox stated in a text message.

Knicks Go, the 6-5 favorite ridden by Joel Rosario, took early command of the 1 1/8-mile race for older horses and crossed the finish line 2 ¾ lengths ahead of Jesus’ Team. The son of Paynter ran the distance in 1:47.89 while earning an automatic berth in the $20 million Saudi Cup Feb. 20.

Knicks Go, a Grade 1 winner at 2, had gone winless in 2019 before being transferred to Cox’s stable in 2020. The Maryland-bred 5-year-old won all three of his races last year, including the Nov. 7 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1).

Grupo 7C Racing Stable’s Jesus’ Team spent Sunday morning frolicking in the round pen outside trainer Jose D’Angelo’s barn at Palm Meadows, Gulfstream’s satellite training facility in Palm Beach County.

Breeders Cup 2019 Classic Contenders 2020

“Jesus came out of the race very good,” D’Angelo said. “When I brought him back to Palm Meadows [Saturday] night, he was ready to go again. He was not tired.”

Jesus’ Team, who had finished second in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1), made a wide sweep into the stretch under Irad Ortiz Jr. and closed steadily to finish second behind the Cox trainee again, edging Independence Hall for second money. The former $25,000 claimer became a millionaire Saturday with the $580,000 purse for his third Grade 1 stakes placing.

Although D’Angelo has driven Jesus’ Team wherever he has traveled this year, the 30-year-old trainer won’t be able to hit the road with the son of Tapiture for his next start. The owners of Jesus’ Team are awaiting invitations for the $20 Million Saudi Cup Feb. 20 and the $12 million Dubai World Cup (G1) March 27.

“The owners will make the decision where he will race next,” D’Angelo said.

Robert and Lawana Low’s Colonel Liam, the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1) winner; Repole Stable’s Always Shopping, who captured the La Prevoyante (G3), and the other Todd Pletcher-trained runners who competed on the Pegasus World Cup Day card were ‘excellent’ Sunday morning.

“Everybody seemed to be sound this morning and in good shape,” Pletcher said.

Colonel Liam, who was coming off a victory in the Tropical Park Derby at Gulfstream, rallied from off the pace to capture his Grade 1 debut by neck over Pletcher-trained Largent in the 1 3/16-mile Pegasus Turf. Pletcher’s other Pegasus Turf starter, Social Paranoia finished fourth, a half-length behind third-place finisher Cross Border. Pletcher said there were no firm plans for his Pegasus Turf starters’ next starts.

“The race I have in mind for Colonel Liam is the Woodford Reserve on Derby Day, so the question is kind of what we do between now and then,” Pletcher said. “The other two we’ve got some options with, so we’ll give it a week and kind of survey the landscape and see what the right moves are.”

In addition to saddling Colonel Liam and Always Shopping for graded-stakes victories, Pletcher also visited the winner’s circle with Microsecond following a sharp optional claiming allowance win.

“It was a great day. We were a couple of noses short of having a really terrific day but anytime you have all the horses show up and for the most part run their races, that’s all you can hope for,” Pletcher said. “We were fortunate to win three of them, so it was a successful day”

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Undefeated and widely considered among the top horses in training, Maxfield (Street Sense) will make his next start in Saturday's GI Santa Anita H.

The news was first reported by TVG's Christina Blacker.

“He'll head out there tomorrow,” trainer Brendan Walsh said. “We're looking forward to it. The race has been on our radar for a while. At 1 1/4 miles, it's a nice race for him and the timing is good. It gives us a chance to win a Grade I. The race makes sense.”

With Maxfield being owned by Godolphin, the Mar. 27 G1 Dubai World Cup seemed like a logical spot for Maxfield, but Walsh said the connections wanted to keep him closer to home.

“We kind of wanted to keep the horse in this country,” he said. “He's still a lightly enough raced horse. We wanted to keep him here, try to make progress and get a solid year's racing out of him. We want to get a good body of racing into the horse.”

Maxfield showed his talent at the outset, winning a maiden race before capturing te GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity as a 2-year-old. But he missed out on the 2019 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile, the 2020 Triple Crown races and the 2020 GI Breeders' Cup Classic due to some minor setbacks. In December, he returned to win the Tenacious S. at the Fair Grounds and then the GIII Mineshaft S. It was the first time in his career he was able to run in back-to-back races without a long break in between.

“It's been great,” Walsh said. “We always thought that the horse was super talented. That's been there for everyone to see. We came to New Orleans this winter and I thought it was great we were able to get those couple of runs into him. No disrespect to the horses he ran against down there, but we didn't have to face the very top horses in the country. That was a super important stepping stone for him for us to go ahead and take a step like he is going to take next Saturday. This will be a good test for him and a good experience for him to have to travel out to California.”

Breeders Cup 2019 Classic Contenders Odds

Walsh also provided an update on another star in his stable, Prevalence (Medaglia d'Oro). After he broke his maiden by 8 1/2 lengths, he was considered a possible starter in the GII Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth S., but had to miss the race after coming down with a temperature. He returned to the work tab Saturday, breezing a half-mile in :48.40 at Palm Meadows.

Contenders For Breeders Cup Classic 2019

“It was a nice work and we were really happy with him,” the trainer said. “We'll probably try to find an allowance race at Gulfstream for him in the next book and go from there. We missed working him last week, so that eliminated any chance we might have had in running him in the Fountain of Youth. At the end of the day, he's only run one time, so it would have been a big ask to go against those horses. He's a lovely horse and I think he is progressing. He's going the right way.”