Racing’s Busiest Weekend
The fall season gets into full swing this weekend with nearly 20 graded stakes races (Fox) scheduled coast to coast, with most of the action taking place at Belmont and Santa Anita. ESPN will air five races, including the Jockey Club Gold Cup and the Goodwood, starting at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday.
The Gold Cup and Goodwood are the two races with the biggest implications for the Breeders’ Cup Classic. In the Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont, a competitive field of eight will start, including Travers winner Flower Alley and Hollywood Gold Cup winner Lava Man. Trainer Todd Pletcher has entered a rabbit, Bishop Court Hill, to help out stablemate Flower Alley (Daily Racing Form):
The Belmont stewards have decided to couple Bishop Court Hill and Flower Alley. “Although they don’t have to because the Gold Cup is a $1 million race, it clearly is the right thing to do to protect the betting public,” opines Jerry Bossert in the New York Daily News. The stewards were criticized last month for not coupling the two rabbits entered with Saint Liam in the Woodward.
Pletcher’s plan will likely work in keeping Lava Man from the winner’s circle. When pressed with early fast fractions in his last start, the Pacific Classic, he tired in the stretch, finishing third. But the rabbit could just as easily tire Flower Alley, a horse who’s repeatedly shown that he likes to be near the pace and whose Travers win came off a fairly comfortable trip.
Trainer Nick Zito has entered Pennsylvania Derby winner Sun King in the Gold Cup where he, like Flower Alley, will be tested for the first time against older horses, such as the improving Suave. The four-year-old has won both his starts this year. At Saratoga, he took the Saratoga Breeders’ Cup by two and three-quarter lengths, earning a Beyer of 107. Trainer Paul McGee is pleased with the colt’s development this year and feeling comfortable with his chances on Saturday: “We’re ready,” said McGee. “I’ve never seen him doing better” (Courier-Journal).
At Santa Anita, Rock Hard Ten making his return dominates the Goodwood. Earlier this week, it looked like he’d be facing a weak field, with West Coast stars Imperialism and Borrego headed east for the Gold Cup, and not just for the $1 million purse. “I want to avoid that big monster, Rock Hard Ten,” said Imperialism’s trainer Kristen Mulhall (Daily Racing Form). Rock Hard Ten will get some competition though from Roman Ruler. Trainer Bob Baffert decided to keep the Haskell winner in California because, “I wasn’t thrilled about the mile and a quarter, and I wasn’t crazy about shipping” (Los Angeles Times). I wonder if the decision also didn’t have something to do with an unwillingness to test the colt against Flower Alley again. Roman Ruler, the favorite in the Travers, ran third against Flower Alley and Bellamy Road in that race.
Overlooked in much of the Goodwood coverage is Choctaw Nation. The five-year-old gelding finished a strong fourth in the Pacific Classic — behind Borrego, Perfect Drift, and Lava Man — and has a perfect workout record at Santa Anita since then.
Also on Saturday …
Personal Ensign winner Shadow Cast was retired after sustaining an injury during a Tuesday morning workout (Daily Racing Form), but the Beldame field is still one of the deepest on Belmont’s card, with Ashado, Island Sand, and Happy Ticket among the starters. Ashado ran fourth in the Personal Ensign, finishing in a dead heat with Island Sand. She came out of the race with a sore foot. Trainer Todd Pletcher thinks the consistent filly deserves to be forgiven for her last race. “She looks good and she’s trained well,” said Pletcher. “We’ve got to forgive her for one bad race and try again” (NYRA). Island Sand gets her regular jockey Terry Thompson back. Jerry Bailey, who rode her in the Personal Ensign and to a win in the Delaware Handicap, will ride trainer Bill Mott’s Sweet Symphony, winner of the Alabama.
Lost in the Fog preps for the Breeders’ Cup Sprint with an appearance in the Speed Handicap at Bay Meadows. He’ll be going for his tenth straight win against six others, three of which are older (SF Chronicle). This is the first time Lost in the Fog will race against older horses. Looking ahead to Eclipse Awards voting season, Bob Neumeier writes that if Lost in the Fog wins the Breeders’ Cup Sprint and finishes the year 11-for-11, he deserves to be named Horse of the Year (MSNBC).
And more …
Megahertz is prepping for the Breeders’ Cup Fillies & Mares Turf in Santa Anita’s Yellow Ribbon Stakes (Blood-Horse). The little turf dynamo “[is the only] horse running this weekend who already has earned the overworked title of superstar,” says Jay Hovdey (Daily Racing Form — sub. req.) … Scrappy T, last seen in the Preakness crashing into Afleet Alex, and Greater Good, absent since the Kentucky Derby, make their returns in the Indiana Derby (Herald-Bulletin) … Gary West says that the Super Derby isn’t so super (Star-Telegram) … and don’t forget, retired jockey Angel Cordero revives his riding career for one day on Saturday, when he rides unbeaten Indian Vale in the Cotillion at Philadelphia Park (Daily News).
