Ascot Racecourse Gets Royal Upgrade

2008 Breeders' Cup World Championships at Santa Anita Park

The 2008 Breeders' Cup, thoroughbred racing's most prestigious event, consisting of 14 Breeders' Cup races and $25.5 million in purses, will be held on October 24-25, at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California.

But before that, Belmont Stakes winner Da'Tara is going to race in the Travers Stakes at Saratoga Race Course while Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Big Brown will be racing in the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park.

Posted on Tuesday, June 20th, 2006

ASCOT, England (AP) — Even the queen might have trouble finding her way around refurbished Royal Ascot when the premier meet of the English racing season opens Tuesday.

It took nearly two years and $368 million to renovate the centuries-old track west of London, which now includes a grandstand that accommodates 57,000, a new finish line about 30 yards from its original site and refurbished stables.

The first four-day meeting was held on the site in 1768, and this year’s six-day program opens with the featured St. James’s Palace Stakes.

English trainer Jeremy Noseda, who had two winners last year when the meet was held at York, hopes for another with Irish 2000 Guineas winner Araafa.

"I feel Araafa is approaching the race in tiptop shape," Noseda said of the one-mile St. James.

Dubai World Cup winner Electrocutionist, owned by the Godolphin Racing, heads a seven-horse field for Wednesday’s Prince of Wales’s Stakes. Italian jockey Frankie Dettori is expected to ride Electrocutionist.

David Junior, winner of the Champions Stakes, and Ouija Board, who finished second to Manduro in the Coronation Cup at Epsom, are also in the lineup.

Joe Janiak is the trainer of Takeover Target, the favorite in two of the featured sprints at Royal Ascot — Tuesday’s King’s Stand and the Golden Jubilee on Saturday’s closing program.

Takeover Target will attempt to match Australian sprinter Choisir, winner of both races in 2003.

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"Ascot Racecourse Gets Royal Upgrade" was posted on Tuesday, June 20th, 2006 at 9:10 am and is filed under Horses, Jockeys, Owners & Breeders, Trainers, UK-Great Britain Horse Racing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Leave a response, or trackback from your own site.