In two starts, both wins, 2-year-old filly Vanta has shown signs of a budding star for trainer Jeff Mullins. In the Oct. 4 Surfer Girl Stakes (G3T), Vanta will look to add a second stakes win and a first at the graded level.
Irad Ortiz Jr. returned to the saddle Oct. 2 at Keeneland and picked up a win in the Phoenix Stakes (G2) after missing nearly two months with a foot injury.
The daughter of Blue Point looked none the worse for a busy season that had yielded five successive wins, three at this level, in the paddock beforehand and even earned the best turned out prize before trouncing Evolutionist and City of Memphis.
Two-time champion male sprinter Roy H died Oct. 2 following complications from colic at 14. Roy H had been a resident of the Kentucky Horse Park's Hall of Champions barn since November 2023.
West Point Thoroughbreds' Counting Stars is already favored to earn the Eclipse Award as outstanding 3-year-old filly, and now she faces older rivals for the first time in the Oct. 4 Spinster Stakes (G1) at Keeneland.
An evenly matched group of juveniles line up for the Oct. 4 Bourbon Stakes (G2T), which is a Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In race for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1T).
In this week's On Racing, the emphasis on youth at this time each year is relentless. But let the congregation pause for a moment to give thanks for those tireless campaigners who have taken their people on long and glorious rides.