The third time proved to be the charm today for Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum’s 5-year-old gelding Battaash (IRE), who after consecutive fourth-place finishes the last two years, finally won the five-furlong, $512,000 Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes (G1) at York in a scintillating 3 ¾-length course record victory under jockey Jim Crowley.

For the third year in a row, America’s Best Racing is challenging some of the brightest minds in horse betting to come up with their top three picks for key races every weekend leading up to the Breeders' Cup on Nov. 1 and 2. The handicappers face off in what we like to call “Big-Race Showdown.”

A colt that Robert Baron had purchased for $37,000 at the 2016 Keeneland September yearling sale was nearing his debut late last summer and he needed a name. It just so happened that Baron and his wife, Debbie, celebrate their wedding anniversary on Aug. 18.

Prince Khalid Abdullah’s Enable (GB) bade farewell to British race fans with the ultimate crowd-pleasing performance as she recorded her 10th consecutive Group 1 win with a second victory in the Darley Yorkshire Oaks. 

The defending champion Catalina Cruiser is back to defend his title in Saturday’s $200,000 Pat O’Brien Stakes (G2) against a field of seven other rivals at Del Mar. It will go off as race nine while serving as the feature event of the day.

This year’s version of the $850,000 Sword Dancer Stakes (G1) features a solid field of nine horses on Travers Stakes (G1) day, Saratoga’s biggest of the year. The race has been a key Breeders’ Cup prep event over the past few years, and this edition should prove no exception.