Woodbine Entertainment has announced the nominations for Turf Champions Day, set for Saturday, September 12, with four Grade 1 races scheduled on the E.P. Taylor Turf Course. The programme will bring together established international performers and promising two-year-olds for a major afternoon of racing at Woodbine Racetrack.
Woodbine Turf Champions Day nominations are set to feature four Grade 1 contests, with the Woodbine Mile, E.P. Taylor Stakes, Summer Stakes and Natalma Stakes all sharing the same programme for the first time.
The $1 million Grade 1 Woodbine Mile has attracted 16 nominations, headed by defending champion Notable Speech (GB) and four-time Grade 1 winner Deterministic.
Notable Speech, trained by Charlie Appleby for Godolphin, has enjoyed another productive campaign since his Woodbine Mile success last year. The five-year-old subsequently captured the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Del Mar and, after returning to Britain following a fourth-place finish in the Maker’s Mark Mile at Keeneland on April 10, has won two of three starts.
His latest success came in the Group 1 City of York on August 22, giving the defending Woodbine Mile champion a strong platform heading into September.
Godolphin has four horses nominated for the Woodbine Mile. Alongside Notable Speech are Group 1 winner Opera Ballo (IRE), Group 1-placed Talk of New York (GB) and another contender from the stable. Of the four, Notable Speech is the only one with previous North American racing experience.
Deterministic brings an equally compelling record to the nominations. Owned by St. Elias Stable, Ken Langone, Steven Duncker and Vicarage Stable, the five-year-old is trained by Miguel Clement and has won six consecutive graded stakes races dating back to May 2025.
Four of those victories have come at Grade 1 level, including successive renewals of the Manhattan Stakes and Fourstardave Stakes at Saratoga. Deterministic is scheduled to enter stud at Lane’s End after his racing career.
The Woodbine Mile nominations also include Kevin Attard-trained Gas Me Up, third in last year’s renewal and a recent winner of the Grade 2 King Edward; Wathnan Racing’s Archivist (GB), a recent Group 3 winner at York; Gran Oriente (CHI), trained by Saffie Joseph Jr. and runner-up in the Grade 1 Arlington Million; and Vina Arana (IRE), trained by Jack Sisterson and a recent Grade 2 Nassau Stakes winner.
The $750,000 Grade 1 E.P. Taylor Stakes has received 21 nominations. Run over 1¼ miles, the race will serve as a Challenge Series event for the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf.
The E.P. Taylor has moved around the calendar in recent seasons but will now form part of Turf Champions Day, creating a new chapter for Woodbine with all four Grade 1 races being staged on the same day for the first time.
Diamond Rain (GB) could return to Woodbine seeking to go one better than last year. The Godolphin runner was beaten by a head by She Feels Pretty in the previous E.P. Taylor Stakes before finishing third in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf at Del Mar. Diamond Rain has since returned to the winner’s circle, taking a stakes race at York on July 24.
Trainer Graham Motion has three nominations for the E.P. Taylor. Gimme a Nother (SF), a multiple graded stakes winner, arrives after taking the Beverly D. Stakes at Colonial Downs and has now won three races in succession.
Warming, another multiple graded stakes winner from the Motion stable, recently captured the Yellow Ribbon Stakes at Del Mar on August 8. Vronti (GB) completes Motion’s trio after winning a stakes race at Del Mar on August 16.
Brad Cox also has a strong hand, with Grade 1 winner Fionn nominated for owners George Messina and Michael Lee. Multiple Grade 1-placed Bless the Broken and graded stakes winner Stellify give Cox three nominations in total.
The two-year-old divisions will add another layer to the programme, with the $500,000 Grade 1 Summer Stakes and $500,000 Grade 1 Natalma Stakes both contested over one mile on the E.P. Taylor Turf Course.
The Summer Stakes has attracted 29 nominations and will serve as a Challenge Series race for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf. The Natalma Stakes, for two-year-old fillies, has received 27 nominations and will offer a place in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf pathway.
With established Grade 1 performers at the top of the card and a sizeable group of emerging two-year-olds underneath them, Turf Champions Day is shaping up as one of Woodbine’s most significant fixtures of the season.
The final fields will be determined closer to race day, but the strength and depth of the early nominations have already given the September 12 programme considerable international interest.
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