Tom Law

Fans of stakes-heavy cards are in for a treat this week with the Maryland Million and Empire Showcase sharing top billing here in the U.S. and the QIPCO Champions Day getting things rolling across the Atlantic Ocean.

Tom Proctor showed up in the Keeneland paddock Thursday with a suit jacket and tie.

Jerry Riordan is as much of a racing fan as he is a trainer, so when he sees good horses come along, he can take a step back and appreciate them. That was the case in the early 2000s when Riordan campaigned Zambesi Flash against world champion Varenne in Europe. Although Zambesi Flash was a good horse whose successes included the Group 1 Orsi Mangelli, he never beat the 62-time winner, $5.6 million earner and Italian, French and United States Horse of the Year Varenne.

The clock is ticking down to the 2017 Breeders’ Cup World Championships – less than three weeks from Saturday – and the show goes on across North America with a powerful renewal of the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup at Keeneland taking top billing.

Proctor’s Ledge is so easygoing in the morning at the barn that trainer Brendan Walsh doesn’t argue at the thought of a young child leading the Ghostzapper filly around the shedrow.

Veteran bloodstock agent Mike Ryan watched a filly by More Than Ready go through the inspection process at the Taylor Made Sales consignment at Fasig-Tipton Saratoga last summer and was immediately reminded of another daughter of the same sire who did her best work on the grass in 2010.

Mark Casse trained Flameaway on the grass this winter in Florida, this spring at Woodbine and this summer in Saratoga, all the while waiting patiently to start the 2-year-old son of Scat Daddy on the grass.

Bret Calhoun went to Saratoga this past summer with his usual small string and two pretty large targets for Finley’sluckycharm.

Owner Ron Lombardi beat trainer Jason Servis to the winner’s circle after Firenze Fire won Saturday’s Grade 1 Champagne Stakes and made his way toward the Belmont Park main track. However, when Servis arrived, Lombardi turned around and made a bee line for his longtime partner. They threw their arms around each other and embraced, trying to take in the moment they each registered their first Grade 1 win.