Breeders’ Cup Saturday features a quartet of starters for Vekoma
October 27, 2026
Vekoma will have four starters in three different Breeders’ Cup races Saturday at Keeneland as the champion sire looks to score his first Breeders’ Cup winner.
All four runners are on the main track, with Praying in the Filly & Mare Sprint (G1), Bracket Buster and Forged Steel in the Dirt Mile (G1) and Mad House in the Sprint (G1).
Praying, a two-time graded winner for Newtown Anner Stud Farm, was beaten just a neck in the Oct. 3 Throughbred Club of America S. (G2), which serves as the local prep for Saturday’s seven-furlong race. The dark bay 4-year-old is trained by Robert Medina and will be ridden by John Velazquez, who has been aboard in the majority of her 15 lifetime starts.
Praying was bred in Kentucky by Jeff Kerber and sold for $410,000 at the 2024 OBS Spring sale.
Praying is in post 3 in the 13-horse field. Post time for the F&M Sprint, race 4, is 1:10 pm ET.
In the Dirt Mile, race 6 at 2:26 pm, Bracket Buster drew post seven and Forged Steel post 9 in the field of 11.
Bracket Buster faced the best of his generation last year, finishing second to Sovereignty in the Travers S. (G1) and winning the Pegasus S. by seven lengths. The 4-year-old is owned by BBN Racing & Bowen Thoroughbred Racing and will also be ridden by Velazquez. The bay colt was bred by David Baxter.
Forged Steel brings Grade 1 credentials into Saturday’s racing, winning the Goodwood S. (G1) in his most recent start on Sept. 26. The well-traveled colt is starting at his eighth different track in the past 13 months.
Forged Steel is owned by C2 Racing Stable LLC, Mathis Stables LLC and TCC Stables LLC and has earned $616,630. The gray/roan 4-year-old was bred in Kentucky by Richard Wilson. He will be ridden Saturday by regular rider Edwin Gonzalez.
Mad House drew the inside post for the Sprint, race 8 at 3:42 pm. The speed-loving 4-year-old won last year’s Gallant Bob S. (G2) and the Count Fleet Sprint H. (G3) earlier this year. He was beaten just a length in the Phoenix S. (G2) on Oct. 2. Trained by David Van Winkle for James Thares, Mad House has earned $662,572. He was bred in Florida by Jean White, Wavertree Farm & SGVThoroughbreds, LLC.
In the Sprint Mad House reunites with Paco Lopez, who rode him in both graded wins.
Good showings by any of the four would almost certainly secure Vekoma the top spot on the 2026 Third-Crop Sire list. After another excellent year at stud, Vekoma will stand the 2027 season for $100,000 S&N.