Katie Petrunyak

At a record-breaking Keeneland September Sale, there were very few hidden gems throughout the two weeks of trade and buyers shopping at all levels had to dig deep to land any of the treasures they came to find.

“Zurdo” Estrada earned his nickname back when he was a kid in Mexico running up and down the soccer field. He would always kick the ball with his left foot so everyone called him Zurdo, the term word for left-handed. The nickname stuck and even still today, it's what everyone knows him as on the Santa Anita backside.

His voice was hoarse from yelling and his hand was a little sore after an overly exuberant high five, but Taylor Cambra was grinning from ear to ear as he weaved through the crowd at Santa Anita and made his way down to the winner's circle. The assistant trainer to Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella was one of the first out on the track to greet Mike Smith and Subsanador (Arg) (Fortify) after their hair-raising victory in the GI California Crown Stakes.

LEXINGTON, KY–International owner and breeder Bobby Flay has re-purchased his homebred Breeders' Cup champion Pizza Bianca (Fastnet Rock {Aus})-White Hot {Ire}, by Galileo {Ire}) from Resolute Bloodstock's John Stewart. Flay and Stewart finalized the private sale of Pizza Bianca and her first foal by Into Mischief on Saturday morning at Resolute Farm. Pizza Bianca claimed

Four years ago, Baoma Corp's Susan and Charles Chu sent their three-time Grade I-winning star filly Bast ( Uncle Mo ) through the ring at the Fasig-Tipton 'Night of the Stars' Sale. Carrying her first foal by Justify , she brought down the house when she sold to Spendthrift Farm for $4.2 million.

Bob Baffert has no qualms about admitting that Adare Manor ( Uncle Mo ) is going to be a difficult horse to part with. The three-time Grade I winner and $2 million earner has been a steady presence in Baffert's barn for the past three years.

From a young age, Jeramie Fennell was certain that he was born to be a jockey. Addicted to the thrill of riding, becoming a jockey was the only thing he really cared about, the only thing he knew for certain. So when, as he continued growing taller throughout his teenage years and maintaining weight became increasingly difficult, Fennell did what he thought he had to do in order to live out his dream. He turned to a different kind of addiction, but this time the consequences would lead him to a place so bleak that he never thought he would find a way out.

When it came time for Ma'am (Colonel John) to retire from the racetrack back in 2018, one of her owners Lance Gasaway began plotting how his star racehorse would live out her days at his home in Arkansas.

The gates are scheduled to open at 9:30 a.m. on Friday. Post time for the first race is 11:35 and the first Breeders' Cup race goes off at 2:45. But long before those bright-eyed Breeders' Cup attendees begin filling the grandstands of Del Mar, the backside will have been awake for hours.

Kevin Attard already knows it will be difficult, going back home to his barn at Woodbine and seeing an empty stall where stable star Moira ( Ghostzapper ) has been a steady presence for the past four years. The Canadian Horse of the Year and millionaire will perform in what will likely be her last dance in the GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf on Saturday before she goes through the ring on Nov. 4 at the Fasig-Tipton November Sale.