Airdrie Stud stallions will be represented in three different races in this weekend’s Breeders’ Cup at Churchill Downs, headlined by Creative Cause’s Grade 1 winner Pavel in the $6 million Classic (G1) on Saturday.
But before Pavel makes his run at history, things get kicked off for Airdrie on Friday when Cairo Prince has his first Breeder’s Cup starter with Pakhet in the Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1). The one-mile race drew a full field of 14 2-year-old fillies, with Pakhet, trained by Todd Pletcher, drawing post 10. The bay filly broke her maiden on the Belmont Park turf, then ran second in last month’s Jessamine Co. S. (G2) at Keeneland. The Juvenile Fillies Turf is race 6 on Friday, with a post time of 4 p.m. ET.
Cairo Prince currently ranks second on the 2018 First-Crop Sire list with $840,000 in progeny earnings and 14 individual winners.
Moving to Saturday’s card, Majesticperfection’s Chanteline figures prominently in the Turf Sprint (G1), race 4 at 12:38 p.m. Chanteline is in post 8 in the field of 14. The Steve Asmussen trainee has won three of her last four starts, including the Oct. 12 Buffalo Trace Franklin Co. S. (G3) at Keeneland.
The final race on Saturday is the 1 1/4-mile Classic. Pavel, winner of the Grade 1 Stephen Foster H. in June over this same Churchill surface, drew post 8 in yet another 14-horse field. He has made one start since then, running second in the Pacific Classic (G1). The 4-year-old colt is Creative Cause’s leading earner this year and has helped propel his sire to a top-five spot on the 2018 Third-Crop Sire list, with more than $4.5 million in progeny earnings.
The Classic, which will be televised live on NBC, is race 11 and runs at 5:44 p.m.
