ALERT: Tam Tam went straight to the front and stayed there in the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup (G1T) at Keeneland. The Phil Bauer-trained filly followed her Del Mar Oaks win with a second straight grade 1 under Junior Alvarado. ##TC2027

Barry Irwin said Champagne winner U. S. S. Valor will skip the Breeders' Cup Juvenile and remain on a Kentucky Derby path. The Team Valor owner detailed the plan during an appearance on BH Monday. ##TC2027

Barry Irwin says U. S. S. Valor will skip the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) after his Champagne Stakes (G1) win. On BloodHorse Monday, the Team Valor founder discusses the decision and what could come next. ##BC2026 ##TC2027 ##Video ##BloodHorsePlus

Amusingly beat the colts in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere (G1) at Longchamp. The filly's win also earned her a fees-paid berth to the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1T). ##BC2026 ##TC2027

ALERT: Hughes stayed unbeaten with an open-length win in the American Pharoah Stakes (G1) on Oct. 3 at Santa Anita. The Bob Baffert-trained colt followed his Best Pal and Del Mar Futurity wins with another graded score. ##BC2026 ##TC2027

ALERT: U. S. S. Valor won the Champagne Stakes (G1) by 6 1/2 lengths at Belmont Park. Team Valor has not committed to the Breeders' Cup Juvenile. ##BC2026 ##TC2027

Q B Rocket is the choice in Saturday’s Claiborne Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland, stretching to 1 1/16 miles. The Grade 1 brings together a 2-year-old field with Kentucky Derby and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile implications. ##Handicapping ##TC2027

Coach Pope heads a six-horse field for Keeneland’s $650,000 Breeders’ Futurity, a Breeders’ Cup Juvenile qualifier and Road to the Kentucky Derby prep. American History, Title Worthy, Q B Rocket, and Phone Booth are among those entered. ##BC2026 ##TC2027

J. Keeler Johnson handicaps six Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks qualifying races this weekend at Keeneland, Belmont at the Big A, and Santa Anita. His picks cover both divisions across all three tracks. ##Handicapping ##BC2026 ##TC2027 ##KYOaks2026

U. S. S. Valor and Gaudreau meet again Oct. 3 in the $500,000 Champagne Stakes (G1) at Belmont Park after finishing 1-3 in the same Saratoga maiden Aug. 8. The rematch puts two 2-year-olds back on the same stage. ##BC2026 ##TC2027

This week’s Podcast Playback includes Mark Cornett on Forged Steel’s Goodwood Stakes (G1) win, John Sadler on Super Corredora, and Bill Carstanjen on the Triple Crown. ##TC2027

Red Bullet, winner of the 2000 Preakness Stakes, died Aug. 7 in Ocala at age 29. The Adena Springs stallion had been pensioned since 2011. ##TC2027

The Maryland Jockey Club says the Preakness Stakes will stay three weeks after the Kentucky Derby. That leaves no appetite in Baltimore for any further Triple Crown schedule changes. ##TC2027

BloodHorse Monday recaps Salahudin's Iroquois (G3) and Manuka Honey's Pocahontas (G3), the first Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks preps at Churchill Downs. Nic Lynch also discusses the filly's win and his barn's season. ##BC2026 ##TC2027 ##KYOaks2026 ##Video ##BloodHorsePlus

Salahudin stayed unbeaten with a late-running win in the Iroquois after a slow start, and Manuka Honey kept her perfect record in the Pocahontas at Churchill Downs. ##TC2027 ##KYOaks2026