First Impressions
The numbers bode well: 117 pre-entries, 22 European invaders, four returning winners. A week before, the Breeders’ Cup is shaping up as a day of full fields and tough races.
The new line-up takes both juvenile races out of the Pick 6, which must be disappointing to those who’d hoped to single First Samurai in the Juvenile. The impressive Champagne winner is one of the day’s logical favorites. You get the idea that if jockey Jerry Bailey bet, he’d put it all on his Juvenile mount:
“He’s the best 2-year-old I’ve ever been on,” said Jerry Bailey, the Hall of Fame jockey, who has mounts in all eight races. “You dream about a horse like this coming along” (New York Times).
First Samurai may be the only logical favorite that doesn’t seem totally vulnerable. He’s beaten rival Henny Hughes twice by a comfortable margin. Admittedly, Henny Hughes contested a blistering pace in the Champagne and still had enough to finish second — but it wasn’t close there and it wasn’t in the Hopeful either. The Juvenile may be the one race where the one-two favorites finish one-two, which doesn’t spoil the fun of considering upset possibilities:
Both Dr. Pleasure and Ivan Denisovich have shown glimpses of talent. Dr. Pleasure won his maiden at first asking at Saratoga, taking a 6 1/2-furlong allowance race by 7 1/4 lengths while earning a solid Beyer Speed Figure of 85 … Ivan Denisovich has 2 wins from 5 starts. He is coming off a fourth-place finish in the Group 1 Middle Park Stakes, a six-furlong stakes on turf (Daily Racing Form).
Ivan Denisovich, one of the European contingent, will be making his first start on the dirt. I confess to thinking of betting him in a longshot Russian literature exacta with Leo. That would be a payoff! But bad handicapping.
Like the Juvenile, the Juvenile Fillies is also setting up as a rematch, with Adieu and Folklore meeting once more. It seems less likely that this race will end with both hitting the board — there are just too many other improving and talented fillies entered, such as Original Spin and Wild Fit. Another is the overlooked Along the Sea, who ran a challenging second to Adieu in the Frizette and managed a third in the Matron despite bursting through the gate and running a few yards down the backstretch before the start.
Breeders’ Cup Preview
To be posted on Thursday night. I’m so behind on the news — I need another day to wade through the pre-entries and workouts and so on. I see Patrick of Pulling Hair and Betting Horses is focusing on the Filly & Mare Turf, so that he doesn’t have to worry about keeping up with the flood of information coming our way in the next week and a half. I like his strategy — I’m going to concentrate on the juveniles this year. (Not that this will keep me from saying something about the Classic or the Distaff. On Thursday, that is.)
Baffert Considers Sprint
Trainer Bob Baffert is considering the Breeders’ Cup Sprint for Roman Ruler (Daily Racing Form):
“He worked good enough today where I would seriously consider the Sprint,” said Baffert. “The problem I have with the Classic is that he’s not mature enough to run with the older horses. He’s got brilliant speed. He’s not as quick away from the blocks, but he has speed.”
Roman Ruler last started in the Goodwood, where he finished second to likely Classic favorite Rock Hard Ten after setting the pace. Not a bad performance for a three-year-old — if that race didn’t take too much out of him, I could easily see Roman Ruler as the one most likely end Lost in the Fog’s winning streak.
Looking Beyond the BC
The Breeders’ Cup is still more than two weeks away, but Steve Haskin is already thinking about the 2006 Triple Crown season:
One guess as to who Haskin thinks could be the Triple Crown winner. Not that I disagree — I saw the colt every day for three weeks at Saratoga and he is an amazing specimen. Such presence! Such grace! And he has run a tremendous two-year-old campaign.
Alex to Miss Classic
Disappointing, but not unexpected news: Afleet Alex is out of the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Trainer Tim Ritchey and veterinarian Patricia Hogan released a joint statement on the Afleet Alex web site this afternoon saying the colt’s injured ankle needs more time to heal:
After the recent works, Alex was radiographed again and although it is very subtle, it is evident that the bone is still in the end stages of the healing process. We are 99% there but for this horse we require 100%.
Ritchey said Afleet Alex will continue to jog and may still return to racing this year, possibly in the Cigar Mile at Aqueduct on November 26.
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Check out the photo on this MSNBC article: You can almost hear Afleet Alex being read his rights.
Never Mind the Slop
Rain and a sloppy track didn’t deter either of the favorites in the juvenile stakes at Belmont on Saturday.
Adieu proved she could handle an off-track and breaking from the inside post, winning the Frizette by two lengths over a stubborn Along the Sea (Blood-Horse).
In the Champagne, First Samurai confirmed his status as top two-year-old colt, beating runner-up Henny Hughes by two and three-quarter lengths. Henny Hughes’ margin of loss might have been less if the colt hadn’t engaged in a speed duel with Too Much Bling at the start; the two flew through the first half in :43.6, prompting announcer Tom Durkin to call, “The pace is almost too fast to believe!” From what jockey Gary Stevens said after the race, though, it seems Henny Hughes’ trainer Patrick Biacone wanted his colt to be tested on the lead (Daily Racing Form):
“My instructions specifically were to go to the front and improve my position,” Stevens said. “I asked [Biancone] last week if they go 21-and-4 what do I do? He said go 21-and-3. I just got off the phone with him, he’s happy, but I look like an idiot. The colt ran big.”
10/11 News: Henny Hughes has been transferred to trainer Kiaran McLaughlin (Thoroughbred Times). McLaughlin, Biancone trade compliments.
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Other Breeders’ Cup developments: Tap Day, winner of the Meadowland Breeders’ Cup on Friday night, may run in the Classic, said trainer Mark Hennig. “We’ll certainly take a look at it” (Courier-Journal). Choctaw Nation, third in the Goodwood to Rock Hard Ten and Roman Ruler, is another likely Classic starter. Singletary, winner of the 2004 Breeders’ Cup Mile, rallied from last place to first to win the Oak Tree Mile at Santa Anita on Saturday. The five-year-old will try to repeat in the Mile, where he’ll meet Leroidesanimaux, winner of eight races straight. “He’ll need to be sharper than he was last year,” said trainer Don Chatlos (Los Angeles Times).
Beyers: First Samurai earned a Beyer speed figure of 101 in the Champagne, Adieu an 82 in the Frizette. At Keeneland, Dawn of War earned an 87 in the Futurity, She Says It Best an 81 in the Alcibiades. Tap Day came out of the Meadowlands Breeders’ Cup with 104. Pampered Princess earned a 98 in the Spinster Stakes, Intercontinental a 99 in the WinStar Galaxy.
BC Preps, Round Two
The weekend is coming up fast and that means more Breeders’ Cup prep races. This Saturday is a big one for juveniles, with the Champagne and Frizette at Belmont and the Futurity at Keeneland, which begins its fall meet Friday with seven graded stakes scheduled for opening weekend (Courier-Journal).
First Samurai and Henny Hughes headline the Champagne. The two colts last met in the Hopeful, which First Samurai won by four and a half lengths over Henny Hughes despite a green tendency to lug in. Trainer Frank Brothers changed bits on the two-year-old for his last workout, and the different equipment seems to brought some improvement (Blood-Horse):
“We gave him the chance to lug in, and he never thought about it,” Brothers said. “We put him behind two horses and brought him around. It took him a little bit to get by them, he had his chance to (lug in) but he didn’t do it.”
Trainer Patrick Biancone said that Saratoga Special winner Henny Hughes has trained well in the past few weeks (Daily Racing Form):
“Read the works before the Hopeful and before this race — I have twist a little bit more the screw,” Biancone said. “He’s working well. Everything is in good form.”
Six others are entered in the Champagne, including the Tim Ritchey-trained Menacing, making only his second career start (Times-Union):
“Running in a Grade 1 in his second race is not ideally what you want to do, but Menacing showed me a lot off the first race,” Ritchey said. “When you see him on the racetrack, he definitely has a presence to him. So I think it’s worth trying, and if nothing else he’ll get a little battle-tested and a little more experienced. He’ll either regress or go forward to bigger and better things.”
Ritchey also has a starter in the Futurity: Kid Lemonade, who ran second to Nick Zito’s Champagne starter Superfly at Delaware on September 17.
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Spinaway winner Adieu is the morning line favorite for the Frizette (NYRA). She’ll face the unbeaten Keeneland Kat, who’s demonstrated a pretty strong late kick in both her starts, and Mykindasaint, who comes into the race 3-for-3. The Frizette will be a test for the filly. “I don’t fool myself about horses, and I don’t think she’s beaten a good filly yet,” [trainer Bubba] Cascio said about Mykindasaint. “But she’s beaten everything she’s run against easy. So we’ll just see” (Star-Telegram).
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Volponi used the Meadowland Breeders’ Cup as a springboard into the 2002 Breeders’ Cup Classic. One of this year’s starters may do the same. The six-year-old Alumni Hall is the early favorite, coming off a seven-length win at Saratoga on August 25. Purge, Royal Assault, and Tap Day are also entered, as is Ice Wynnd Fire, winner of two straight at Saratoga. Longshot Itsawonderfulife ships in from Suffolk Downs for a shot at the $500,000 purse.
Alex “50-50” for Classic
Trainer Tim Ritchey told reporters on Tuesday that Afleet Alex is “50-50” for the Breeders’ Cup Classic, depending on how well he does in a workout scheduled for Friday morning and whether he can get a suitable prep race in the following week (Blood-Horse). Ritchey is considering four or five options, including the seven-furlong Perryville Stakes at Keeneland on October 14. I’m trying to contain my excitement, but it would be amazing to have Afleet Alex meeting the likes of Rock Hard Ten and Saint Liam in the biggest race of the year. How would the three-year-old dual classic winner fare against older horses? How would jockey Jeremy Rose handle the competition? If he won, Horse of the Year honors would seem certain. But what if there was an upset winner and Alex ran second or third — off one prep and two workouts after an injury? The debate would be an interesting one for the end of the year.
Saturday’s Results
I thought Bishop Court Hill was entered as a rabbit for Flower Alley in Saturday’s Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont, charged with luring Lava Man into a speed duel and setting up a pace agreeable to his stalker stablemate. Instead, Flower Alley went head to head with his rabbit down the backstretch, followed by Lava Man. The first fraction was :46.3. A fast pace like that set up the race nicely for a closer — like Borrego. The California-based colt trailed the field in eighth place until reaching the stretch turn, when he smoothly swept past his competition on the outside into the lead, winning by four and half lengths.
“When it happened, I wanted to cry,” trainer Beau Greely said afterward. “It was pretty neat. This is a big deal” (New York Daily News). Borrego will now be pointed to the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Flower Alley, who finished fourth, is also headed to the Classic. Trainer Todd Pletcher explained his colt’s curious performance by saying,
“I know everyone is going to say that the ‘rabbit’ is why he got beat,” Pletcher said. “Flower Alley was just too rank. … I think we will try again [in the Breeders’ Cup]. He ran a heck of a lot better than the other two that were up there with him” (Courier-Journal).
The Classic will have a decidedly California flavor with the additional presence of the Goodwood winner, Rock Hard Ten. Making his first start in seven months, Rock Hard Ten stalked pacesetter Roman Ruler around the Santa Anita track before surging past the three-year-old in the stretch and winning by a length. “By the time we got to the quarter pole, it was just a matter of how far I wanted to win by, and when I wanted to ask him,” said jockey Gary Stevens. “I asked and it was over in two strides” (San Diego Union-Tribune).
Super Derby winner The Daddy could be going to the Classic too. “If we run again this year, we will run in the Breeders’ Cup Classic,” said owner Greg Norman (Shreveport Times). The Daddy, with a bugboy aboard (Star-Telegram) and making only his fourth career start, beat the D. Wayne Lukas-trained A.P. Arrow by a neck in the Derby.
The race was marred by the sudden death of Royal Saint in the stretch (Shreveport Times):
“I liked the way he was going throughout the race up to the point he went down,” a visibly shaken [trainer Cole] Norman said just moments after Royal Saint and jockey Guy Smith plummeted to the ground in midstretch. “I mean, he was changing his leads well, he was doing everything right, and then he just dropped.”
Jockey Guy Smith was uninjured in the spill. “I hit the ground hard and I’m a little weak, but I’m good,” Smith said later.
Also on Saturday …
Ashado bounced back into form with an easy win in the Beldame at Belmont. As good as Ashado looked, it was runner-up Happy Ticket that impressed. “This was the best she had ever run against. She proved herself here,” said trainer Andrew Leggio, Jr. (Courier-Journal). The Louisiana-bred filly is being pointed to the Breeders’ Cup Distaff with a record of 10-for-12. Before the Beldame, Happy Ticket’s only other loss came running second to Madcap Escapade in the Princess Rooney.
Lost in the Fog is now 10-for-10. “That was real hard, huh,” said jockey Russell Baze after Lost in the Fog won the Speed Handicap at Bay Meadows (San Francisco Chronicle).
Beyers: Rock Hard Ten, 112, Goodwood; Borrego, 110, Jockey Club Gold Cup; Lost in the Fog, 114, Speed Handicap; Taste of Paradise, 110, Vosburgh; Ashado, 103, Beldame; Megahertz, 101, Yellow Ribbon Stakes.
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):
“I’d rather let somebody else do the dirty work instead of Flower Alley having to do it,” Pletcher said. “You got some legitimate horses that are going to make one run late, and they’re going to lag behind, and Flower Alley is going to have to keep the pressure on Lava Man. Why soften yourself up for somebody else?”
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).
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Jessica Chapel writes and edits in Massachusetts. Railbird is a Thoroughbred horse racing blog published from June 2004 to July 2019. More / Contact
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