More Than Ready, the sire of five previous Breeders’ Cup winners, has three chances to improve that number over the Nov. 2-3 championships at Churchill Downs.
Leading the way is Roy H, last year’s Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1) winner, who returns for that same event on Saturday. The Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1), also on Saturday, features the 3-year-old colt Catholic Boy, a Grade 1 winner on both turf and dirt. Rounding out More Than Ready’s trio is Stellar Agent in Friday’s Breeder’s Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1), a race won by More Than Ready offspring More Than Real in 2010 and Rushing Fall in 2017.
Roy H, last year’s Eclipse Sprint Champion, drew the outside post in the field of nine for the Sprint, race 7 at 2:46 p.m. ET. After winning the Palos Verdes (G2) in February, the 6-year-old went to Dubai, where he was beaten less than a length in the Golden Shaheen (G1). He got most of the summer off, but looked super-sharp in winning the Santa Anita Sprint Championship (G1) on Oct. 6, earning a 105 Beyer Speed Figure.
Catholic Boy, commanding winner of the Travers S. (G1) last time out, will face older horses for the first time in Saturday’s 1 1/4-mile Classic, which runs at 5:44 p.m. as race 11. Prior to the Travers, Catholic Boy won the Belmont Derby (G1) and Pennine Ridge S. (G3), both on grass. He also took the Remsen S. (G2) as a 2-year-old and has earned more than $1.8 million. The bay drew post 3 and the services of Javier Castellano.
Stellar Agent has just two starts, an impressive win in her debut Aug. 31 at Saratoga and then a third-place finish in the Miss Grillo S. (G2) on a yielding Belmont Park turf course in late September. She drew post seven in the field of 14 going one mile. Post time for race six is 4:00 p.m.
More Than Ready’s five Breeders’ Cup winners ranks as the second-most by any sire over the 34 years of the event, behind only legendary sires Sadler’s Wells and Unbridled’s Song.
