The days are getting shorter, and the 2024 racing calendar is winding down – the Breeders’ Cup will be key to deciding divisional championships, and only five Grade 1 flat races remain in the United States outside of that event this year. However, this is a sport with no true offseason, and there’s always plenty to look forward to, especially as some 2-year-olds begin to map out their late-fall and winter campaigns toward the 2025 spring classics. Some of those juveniles will take the next step Sunday as Churchill Downs opens its 26-day fall meet with the first of two Stars of Tomorrow cards featuring 2-year-old races exclusively, including two awarding points to the 2025 Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks. According to Churchill’s count, the “Stars of Tomorrow” programs, inaugurated in 2005, have been part of the juvenile campaigns of more than 50 Grade 1 winners, led by Horse of the Year honorees Gun Runner and Rachel Alexandra, the latter an Oaks winner; Kentucky Derby winners Super Saver, Mandaloun, and Mystik Dan; and additional Oaks winners Believe You Can, Monomoy Girl, Secret Oath, Pretty Mischievous, and Thorpedo Anna. Sunday’s card has as co-features the Grade 3, $200,000 Street Sense Stakes and the $200,000 Rags to Riches Stakes for fillies, both at 1 1/16 miles. The races award points to the top finishers toward the Derby and Oaks, respectively, on a 10-5-3-2-1 scale. There are a handful of entrants in the Street Sense who already have stakes experience. Tiztastic, trained by Steve Asmussen for Winchell Thoroughbreds and the Coolmore partners, is the lone stakes winner in the field – and although that victory came on turf, a number of factors make it possible the colt could transfer his good form. Tiztastic came five wide at the quarter pole to win the Juvenile Mile at Kentucky Downs by a neck. The added distance of the Street Sense is likely within his scope, as races at Kentucky Downs often feel a bit longer due to the undulating course. Additionally, turf form often transfers well to the main track at Churchill Downs. Sandman, off an impressive seven-furlong maiden win at Saratoga for trainer Mark Casse and owners D. J. Stable, St. Elias Stable, West Point Thoroughbreds, and CJ Stables, was off a step slow in the Grade 3 Iroquois at a one-turn mile during the September meet at Churchill. He finished with interest to be fifth, well beaten behind the Breeders’ Cup-bound Jonathan’s Way. The Rags to Riches is topped by well-bred fillies coming off wins at the September meet. Godolphin homebred Good Cheer, by Medaglia d’Oro and out of Grade 1 winner Wedding Toast, won her debut at a mile at Horseshoe Indianapolis for Brad Cox. She then became the only member of this field to win at this distance – and how. Good Cheer blitzed allowance foes by 17 lengths on Sept. 28 at Churchill, earning a Beyer Speed Figure of 85. :: Get the Inside Track with the FREE DRF Morning Line Email Newsletter. Subscribe now.  Claire’s Charm, a close second on debut sprinting at Saratoga, improved at a mile with a maiden win Sept. 22 at Churchill. The Violence filly, who is a half-sister to Grade 1 winner Muth, has been a workmate to Jonathan’s Way for Rigney Racing and Phil Bauer. The Street Sense and Rags to Riches are the first of 16 stakes at the fall meet worth a cumulative $5 million. The most lucrative race on that schedule is the Grade 2, $600,000 Clark for 3-year-olds and up on Nov. 29. There are four graded stakes scheduled to be held on the turf during this meet as grass racing is expected to resume on a Churchill course that has had some struggles since its debut in 2022. There was no turf racing held during the September meet in order to have the course in condition for November. Over the summer, maintenance on the course included “scalping” it – cutting it close to allow sunlight to better effect growth – aeration, and sprigging and fertilizing the Bermuda grass. Last year, 20 turf races were held during the November meet. Through this meet’s first condition book that runs through Nov. 16, there are 22 turf races listed. Other notable stakes during the season include a pair of Grade 2, $400,000 stakes on the second Stars of Tomorrow program on Nov. 30 – the Kentucky Jockey Club and the Golden Rod for fillies. These races also award Derby and Oaks points to the top finishers on a 10-5-3-2-1 scale. The races coincide with the second of six Kentucky Derby Future Wager pools conducted by Churchill. After the first pool takes place from Oct. 30 through Nov. 1, the day of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, the second pool, along with the Derby Sire Future Wager, runs Nov. 28 through Dec. 1. The 26th renewal of the Claiming Crown Championship Series will be staged during the Churchill meet, with the track hosting the event for the second time. The Claiming Crown features eight races, worth a total of $1.1 million in purses, with starter-allowance conditions for some of the most competitive, blue-collar horses in the country. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.