Racing fans are in for an exciting racing weekend across the world this weekend with three high-stakes races at Ascot Racecourse, Del Mar Racetrack, and Saratoga Race Course and the Champions Cup at Greyville in Durban. 

At Ascot, just outside London, the $1.6 million King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes on Saturday promises an exciting showdown between Auguste Rodin and Rebel’s Romance in what could be an 11-horse field. The winner secures an automatic, fees-paid entry into the Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1) in November. 

At Del Mar, the venue for the Breeders’ Cup, sprint sensation The Chosen Vron is the favorite in the $400,000 Bing Crosby Stakes (G1) on Saturday. The winner earns an automatic, fees-paid berth in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1).

Meanwhile, at Saratoga, the $500,000 Jim Dandy Stakes (G2) features a stellar lineup of three multiple graded stakes winners: Preakness champion Seize the Grey, Florida Derby winner Fierceness, and Blue Grass winner Sierra Leone. The Jim Dandy, a key prep race for the Travers Stakes on August 24, showcases the best 3-year-olds.

King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes

Aidan O’Brien-trained Auguste Rodin, fresh off a win in the Prince of Wales Stakes and currently listed at 5-4 odds, aims for his seventh Group/Grade 1 win, having already secured a spot in the Breeders’ Cup Turf with his Prince of Wales victory. Rebel’s Romance, the 2022 BC Turf winner, is on a four-race winning streak under trainer Charlie Appleby, including a victory in the Dubai Sheema Classic (G1) in March.

Fierceness Returns in Jim Dandy after skipping Haskell

Fierceness, the 2-year-old champion trained by Todd Pletcher, returns to the track following a disappointing 15th-place finish as the favorite in the Kentucky Derby (G1). Seize the Grey, trained by D. Wayne Lukas, is back after his Preakness win, while Chad Brown’s Sierra Leone returns following a second-place finish in the Derby and a third in the Belmont Stakes (G1).

A Double in the Bing Crosby?

The Chosen Vron, who has won 13 of his last 14 starts and is 4-for-4 this year, rides a five-race win streak. Trained by Eric Kruljac, the 6-year-old gelding’s only recent loss came in the BC Sprint, where he finished fifth. The Bing Crosby is the first stakes race on the West Coast offering an expenses-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Sprint. It has been a key race on the road to the Breeders’ Cup since the early 1990s, with notable winners like Thirty Slews (1992), Lit de Justice (1996), and Kona Gold (2000).

Also at Del Mar on Saturday is the San Diego Handicap (G2). Potential contenders for the 1 1/16 miles on dirt include Bob Baffert-trained Arabian Knight and Phil D’Amato-trained Newgrange.

The Greyville features include the WFA Gr1 Champions Cup which extensively covered here.

Image of Auguste Rodin DRC extraction