Eighty-nine Keeneland sales graduates are entered in North American graded stakes this weekend, with 66 of those alumni highlighting the $28 million Breeders' Cup World Championships on Nov. 3-4 at Del Mar, among them champions Arrogate, Drefong, Finest City, Champagne Room and Lady Aurelia, and Grade/Group 1 winners Lady Eli, Roly Poly, Beach Patrol, Free Drop Billy, Collected and West Coast.
Keeneland sales graduates represent more than half the field in the $6 million Breeders' Cup Classic (G1), with seven of the 11 entrants. Last year's winner and Keeneland sales graduate Arrogate will defend his title in the event. Additional Keeneland sales alumni in the race are Collected, winner of the TVG Pacific Classic (G1) at Del Mar; West Coast, winner of five consecutive starts led by the Travers Presented by NYRA Bets (G1) and Pennsylvania Derby (G1); and Brooklyn Invitational (G2) winner War Story.
Other notable Keeneland sales graduates in the Breeders' Cup are:
—Multiple Grade 1 winner Lady Eli, the morning-line favorite for the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1). A two-time Keeneland sales graduate, Lady Eli is cataloged as a racing or broodmare prospect to the 2017 November Breeding Stock Sale;
—Abel Tasman, whose four Grade 1 victories include wins in the Kentucky Oaks and Coaching Club American Oaks, and last year's 14 Hands Winery Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) winner, champion Champagne Room, in the Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1);
—Top turf marathoner Beach Patrol, a five-length winner of the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic (G1) in his last start, in the Breeders' Cup Turf (G1);
—Champion Drefong, winner of the Forego (G1) in August at Saratoga, who is favored to successfully defend his title in the TwinSpires Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1);
—European champion Lady Aurelia, the favorite for the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1); and
—Champion Finest City, who seeks to defend her title in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (G1), where she will meet favored Unique Bella, a winner of five consecutive races, including four graded stakes.
See complete list of Keeneland graduates in Breeders' Cup
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