The countdown to the 2026 Breeders’ Cup World Championships has ticked below five months, and action is ready to heat up a notch in the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series: Win and You’re In.
The Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series is an international series of stakes races, the winners of which receive automatic starting positions with fees paid into a corresponding race of the 2026 Breeders’ Cup World Championships, to be held at Keeneland Oct. 30-31.
Four of those automatic berths are on the line this week across the globe with the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival offering a trio at Saratoga Race Course in New York and Tokyo Racecourse staging the Yasuda Kinen (G1) in Japan. Each of three races at Saratoga could help provide clarity on who to consider the current division leader.
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That appeared to be Nitrogen in the older filly and mare division after she returned from a runner-up effort in the $2 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in November with a convincing win in the Bayakoa Stakes (G3) at Oaklawn Park in January. However, she has since tasted defeat twice as an odds-on favorite in both the Azeri Stakes (G2) and Apple Blossom Handicap (G1).
A victory at Saratoga June 5 (6:25 p.m.) in the $500,000 Ogden Phipps Stakes (G1) would certainly ease the minds of owner and breeder D. J. Stable and her Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse. Not only would it put the daughter of Medaglia d’Oro back in the winner’s circle, but it would clinch her spot in this year’s Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Keeneland. A return to “The Spa” could be exactly what last year’s Eclipse champion 3-year-old filly needs as she has won both starts over Saratoga’s main track, including last summer’s Alabama Stakes (G1).
Nitrogen will be joined in the gate by Ribble Farms and Front Page Equestrian’s Regaled, who was third in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Del Mar in the fall. A consistent closer, returning to 1 1/8 miles should be beneficial for her to make up late ground. Other chief rivals include Klaravich Stables’ Fully Subscribed, who was second in the May 1 La Troienne Stakes (G1) at Churchill Downs in her seasonal debut, and a pair of runners from the Brad Cox barn in multiple graded stakes winner Alpine Princess and multiple grade 1-placed Bless the Broken.
Nysos Cuts Back in Met Mile
On June 6 at Saratoga, last year’s $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) winner Nysos aims to keep himself atop that division while matching up against sprinters stretching out and classic-distance horses cutting back in the $1 million Metropolitan Handicap (G1) (5:32 p.m.).
The son of 2015 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) winner Nyquist owned by Baoma Corp. and trained by Bob Baffert has never been out of the exacta in nine starts. He emerges from just his second career defeat when providing strong opposition to 2025 Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) winner Forever Young (JPN) in the Feb. 14 Saudi Cup (G1), where he came up just a length short.
His return to the United States will be nothing short of easy as he faces last year’s Preakness Stakes (G1) winner Journalism. The son of Curlin, who was fourth in last year’s Classic, cuts back in distance to 1 mile for the first time since his 2-year-old year. Like Nysos, he has been a model of consistency no matter the track or distance, the Classic being his lone off-the-board finish.
Journalism breaks from the outside post 7 for trainer Michael McCarthy, and there are plenty of top horses in between them. Grade 1 winners Antiquarian and Saudi Crown both enter off graded victories, and Vibe appears a promising talent making his graded stakes debut.
Ag Bullet Targets Familiar Path in Jaipur
On the grass at Saratoga Saturday will come the opportunity to earn a spot in the $1 million Prevagen Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (G1) in the $500,000 Jaipur Stakes (G1) (4:13 p.m.), a route Ag Bullet used in 2025.
Trainer Richard Baltas has always had faith in Calvin Nguyen and Joey Tran’s daughter of Twirling Candy, and that confidence led him to running her against the boys in last year’s Jaipur. Having finished third in the 2024 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint, she was no stranger to the request, and her speed carried her to a 2-length Jaipur triumph.
Ag Bullet improved one spot in the 2025 Turf Sprint, finishing second behind 3-year-old filly Shisospicy, otherwise beating all her male rivals again. Now, a repeat Jaipur win would guarantee her a shot to finally get that elusive Breeders’ Cup win and return her to the top spot in the division.
Fourth in last year’s Turf Sprint was Alex and JoAnn Lieblong’s Reef Runner, who bounced out of that performance to carry the American flag overseas with distinction by winning February’s 1351 Turf Sprint (G2) in Saudi Arabia and finish a solid fourth in the Al Quoz Sprint (G1) in Dubai. The Jaipur marks his return race to America for trainer David Fawkes.
