In The Money Telegraph
Saturday, October 3, 2026 · By ITM Staff
Keeneland’s Fall Stars Saturday
The best day of the fall calendar so far is here. Keeneland’s Fall Stars Saturday puts five graded stakes into a single all-stakes Pick 5, headed by three Grade 1s with major Breeders’ Cup implications: the First Lady at a mile on the turf, the Breeders’ Futurity — a key Juvenile prep where the impressive Coach Pope is the one to beat — and the $1.25 million Coolmore Turf Mile, a “Win and You’re In’’ to the Breeders’ Cup Mile that drew Rhetorical and the progressive Lake Forest. The Grade 2 Woodford and Grade 2 TCA round out the sequence.
Contest players should also note the Keeneland Fall Challenge, with feeders running at HorsePlayers.com — details at keeneland.com. PTF and JK went through the full Pick 5 in the show below, and PTF has written horse-by-horse guides to four of the weekend’s races, including the Turf Mile, over at At The Races.
A Juvenile Showcase at Belmont
The new Belmont answers with a six-stakes Saturday of its own, loaded with two-year-olds pointing toward the Breeders’ Cup — and, a few of them, toward next spring. The Grade 1 Champagne is the headliner, shaping up as a showdown between the brilliant maiden winner U.S.S. Valor and Gaudreau that could frame the early Kentucky Derby winter-book picture. The Grade 1 Frizette for the fillies (impressive Saratoga winner Libby Lloyd is the likely favorite), plus the Matron, Miss Grillo, Futurity, and Pilgrim, fill out an all-stakes sequence. PTF and JK have the card below, and Eric Solomon has a full horse-by-horse on the Champagne as part of his Road to the 2027 Kentucky Derby series. Solomon’s Champagne preview →
Woodbine’s Fall Turf Showcase
Don’t sleep on what’s happening north of the border. Woodbine’s 11-race Fall Turf Showcase (first post 1:05 p.m. ET) stacks four graded turf stakes, topped by the 86th running of the Grade 1 Canadian International, where the lightly raced Purview has been bet into favoritism over Arabian Crown, Ancient Egypt, and Tory Port. The Grade 2 Nearctic, Grade 2 bet365 Dance Smartly, and Grade 3 bet365 Algonquin complete the stakes, with a $100,000 guaranteed Early Pick 5 and a $5 all-stakes Pick 3 across the features.
ITM’s Callum Helliwell is on site at Woodbine for Sky Sports Racing, and he joined PTF — live from Heathrow en route to Toronto — to go through the card. PTF also has a full write-up of the Canadian International at At The Races. Watch their preview below.
More Saturday Racing
Santa Anita. The West Coast chips in its own Breeders’ Cup Juvenile prep, the Grade 1 American Pharoah, where Bob Baffert’s undefeated Hughes stretches out to two turns. Dean Keppler makes Quattro Passi his best bet in Race 3. Keppler’s card →
Laurel Park. A stakes-sprinkled card of its own — the Smart Halo, James F. Lewis III, Twixt, and Polynesian. Will Humphrey has picks and trip notes throughout. Humphrey’s tips & trips →
Mark Your Calendar: Breeders’ Cup Handicapping Event
The perfect kickoff to racing’s biggest weekend: the 2026 Breeders’ Cup Handicapping Event, presented by Medallion Racing, takes place Thursday, October 29 at Malone’s Banquet Center in Lexington — the eve of the Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland. The evening features PTF and JK of the In The Money Players’ Podcast, plus a premium open bar and buffet. Tickets are live now. Get your tickets here →
ITM Plus
The Best Time All Year to Join ITM Plus
There’s no better month to sign up. For a single month, you get all of ITM’s Keeneland Fall Meet coverage and the full Breeders’ Cup package — which includes proprietary trip notes and speed figures for the foreign horses, in-depth coverage of every race, and grid picks from the entire team. If you’ve been waiting to try Plus, this is the window.
More all weekend at inthemoneypodcast.com and on the ITM YouTube channel, with premium coverage on ITM Plus.
