Sports
Dirt newcomer City of Troy favored at Breeders' Cup Classic
Oct 31, 2024; Del Mar, CA, USA; City of Troy trains ahead of the 2024 Breeders’ Cup Championship at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club. Mandatory Credit: Denis Poroy-Imagn Images The top thoroughbred horses in 14 divisions will be crowned when the racing world convenes for the 41st annual Breeders’ Cup World Championships on Friday and Saturday at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club outside San Diego.
The highlight will be the $7 million Breeders’ Cup Classic on Saturday afternoon, deciding the best horse in the world at the classic distance of 1 1/4 miles on the dirt surface.
Though there has not been a true standout horse this season among the 3-year-old and older roster, the Classic will feature an impressive list of 14 entries, several of whom will be racing out of their normal comfort zone.
The morning-line favorite in the Classic at 5-2 is City of Troy, the world’s best turf horse with three Group 1 wins in Europe this season. Trained by Aidan O’Brien and set to be ridden by Ryan Moore, City of Troy will race on the dirt for the first time as O’Brien looks to win the Classic after 17 misses.
“(City of Troy) has been trained very hard through the summer and then he’s come here on a different continent, different ground, different surface, race and pace, there’s so many different things,” O’Brien said. “Everything is done. We think we have looked under every stone we can.”
Looming large as the second choice at 3-1 is the enigmatic Fierceness, who was last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner. The champion 2-year-old male horse of the year in 2023 has captured his past two races, including the Travers Stakes (G1) in his most recent start.
Fierceness has never raced against older horses and has been a feast-or-famine-type runner, finishing 15th as the favorite at this year’s Kentucky Derby. His trainer, Todd Pletcher, likes the way the strapping colt has been training and maturing.
“I think physically, Fierceness has done really well,” Pletcher said. “He’s gotten bigger, stronger, and put on weight. You can see him maturing into a fall 3-year-old. I’m very pleased with his overall condition.”
The Classic field will feature three horses from Japan, two who ran in last year’s Classic (Derma Sotogake and Ushba Tesoro) as well as the uber-talented Forever Young, who finished third by a nose in the Kentucky Derby.
Forever Young has raced once since the Run for the Roses, posting an easy win in the Japan Cup Dirt Classic that has his connections enthused about his chances in the Classic. He is listed as the third choice at 6-1.
Perhaps the most intriguing horse in the Classic is Next. He is currently on a seven-race winning streak, all in dirt marathon races of 1 3/8 miles or longer, with a combined margin of victory of over 90 lengths. He was given morning-line odds of 8-1.
Besides the Classic, the nine-race Breeders’ Cup card on Saturday will feature the $5 million Turf, with Rebel’s Romance the 5-2 morning-line favorite; the $2 million Distaff in which the popular filly Thorpedo Anna is the 4-5 pick to win; the $2 million Filly & Mare Turf, with War Like Goddess the top choice at 5-2; the $2 million Sprint that will send Federal Judge to the post as a 3-1 favorite; the $2 million Mile, with the Irish-bred Porta Fortuna the lukewarm 4-1 favorite; and three $1 million races: the Filly & Mare Sprint, the Turf Sprint and the Dirt Mile.
The Breeders’ Cup begins with Future Stars Friday, with all five races contested by horses in their 2-year-old racing year. The card includes a pair of $2 million races: the Juvenile Fillies and the Juvenile (both on dirt); and three $1 million events — the Juvenile Turf Sprint, the Juvenile Fillies Turf and the Juvenile Turf.
This is the second consecutive year that the Breeders’ Cup has been conducted in California — it was contested at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia last year — and the third time it’s been held at Del Mar. The iconic beachside track will also host the Breeders’ Cup in 2025.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Lionel Messi thanks Argentina fans: ‘Wound will take time to heal’
July 19, 2026; East Rutherford, New Jersey, U.S.; Argentina’s Lionel Messi with the runners-up medal as he looks dejected after the match. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images After what may have been his final World Cup match, Lionel Messi was in tears on the field Sunday in East Rutherford, N.J., ruing a missed chance to win a second consecutive title for Argentina.
Messi, without hinting whether his World Cup career was officially through, congratulated Spain and said the memories will last in an Instagram post Monday.
“The pain is immense, and this wound will take time to heal,” Messi wrote in his native Spanish alongside a photo of him bearing a silver medal. “But I also hold onto all the good things… The matches we turned around by giving it our all–moments that will remain in our memories forever–and the support of an entire country which, combined with this group’s hard work and effort, brought us back among the world’s elite once again. It is hard to fully appreciate our achievement right now, but this group reached two consecutive World Cup finals.”
Argentina defeated France on penalty kicks following a 3-3 draw in the 2022 final in Qatar, earning the last piece of major hardware Messi had yet to win in his illustrious career.
Argentina were once again one of the best teams in the 2026 tournament in North America. They rallied past England in the semifinals before coming up against a Spanish defense that held them without a shot on goal.
Messi turned 39 during the tournament and will turn 43 during the 2030 World Cup to be held in Spain, Portugal and Morocco.
“Thank you from the bottom of my heart for every greeting and message,” Messi wrote. “Once again, we managed to unite as a country and stand together, sharing the immense pride of being Argentine.
“I also want to congratulate Spain on winning the championship.”
Messi broke Miroslav Klose’s record of 16 all-time World Cup goals early in the tournament, and he finished with 21, though he was caught and surpassed by Kylian Mbappe (22). The French star also denied Messi a Golden Boot, finishing with 10 goals to the Argentine’s eight.
ESPN reported Monday that Messi and his national team and club teammate Rodrigo De Paul will not play the next two regular-season matches for Inter Miami, nor participate in the MLS All-Star Game, as they rest and recover from the World Cup.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Report: WTA to mandate genetic gender test
![STOCK | A tennis racket and tennis balls rest alongside the court during an FHSAA District 3-1A high school girls tennis match in Jacksonville, Florida, on April 14, 2025. [Clayton Freeman/Florida Times-Union]](https://dailyfacthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/25937937.jpg)
STOCK | A tennis racket and tennis balls rest alongside the court during an FHSAA District 3-1A high school girls tennis match in Jacksonville, Florida, on April 14, 2025. [Clayton Freeman/Florida Times-Union] The Women’s Tennis Association has changed its eligibility policy and will require athletes to submit to a one-time genetic gender test to establish eligibility, the organization revealed early this week.
In a Reuters report detailing the specifics of the new requirements, players will be required to be tested for the SRY gene, which helps determine biological sex. The test can be administered via cheek swab or blood test.
“Player screening will begin in 2026, following all appropriate confidentiality and data privacy safeguards and concurrent with a comprehensive player engagement program,” a WTA spokesperson told Reuters. “The WTA recognizes that this is a sensitive and complex issue and is committed to treating all players with dignity and implementing the policy in a respectful and thoughtful way.”
Previous policy allowed transgender women the ability to compete if their testosterone level was lowered past a specific threshold for more than two years prior to participation, though no known transgender women are currently active in professional tennis.
The International Olympic Committee adopted a similar policy involving a one-time test earlier this spring. Other sports organizations to adopt the testing have included the World Athletics federation and World Boxing federation.
Current and former pros have voiced their support and opposition to such testing, with critics arguing that it is discriminatory.
Martina Navratilova, an 18-time Grand Slam champion and gay rights proponent, has spoken in opposition to the inclusion of transgender athletes, as has current world No. 1 player Aryna Sabalenka.
Yet Billie Jean King, famous for once winning the “battle of the sexes” in 1973, has described exclusion of transgender athletes as discrimination.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Dodgers acquire RHP Seth Halvorsen from Rockies
May 29, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Colorado Rockies relief pitcher Seth Halvorsen (54) delivers a pitch in the sixth inning against the San Francisco Giants at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images The Los Angeles Dodgers acquired right-handed reliever Seth Halvorsen in a trade with the Colorado Rockies on Monday.
The Rockies received a pair of minor leaguers in right-hander Nick Frasso and outfielder Landyn Vidourek.
Halvorsen, 26, is 0-1 with a 4.74 ERA in 21 relief appearances for the Rockies this season. In three major league seasons with Colorado, he is 3-4 with a 4.31 ERA in 75 relief appearances.
After just spending time on the injured list because of right shoulder inflammation, Halvorsen made a rehab appearance at Triple-A Albuquerque on Sunday and pitched a scoreless inning. Los Angeles is expected to send Halvorsen to Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Frasso, 27, was 1-0 with a 4.74 ERA in 21 appearances (one start) with Oklahoma City this season, while Vidourek, 22, was batting .170 with six home runs and 24 RBIs in 59 games at Single-A Ontario.
Also on Monday, the Dodgers optioned right-hander Kyle Hurt to Oklahoma City. Hurt was the additional 27th man on the roster for the second game of Sunday’s doubleheader against the New York Yankees and pitched two scoreless innings.
–Field Level Media
Lionel Messi thanks Argentina fans: ‘Wound will take time to heal’
Report: WTA to mandate genetic gender test
