Breeders' Cup: Daddy Nose Best training up to Juvenile Turf

Barbara D. Livingston

Daddy Nose Best will not start again until the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf.

Daddy Nose Best will train up to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf off his deceptively good effort in the Grade 3 Summer Stakes at Woodbine and could be a live longshot in the Grade 1 stakes.

The Sept. 17 Summer, which was run over a mile around one turn, featured a slow pace that benefited the top two finishers, Finale and Excaper. Daddy Nose Best, who rallied for third under Julien Leparoux, was the only one to make up significant ground.

Scott Blasi, assistant to trainer Steve Asmussen, said Daddy Nose Best will probably go into the Nov. 5 BC Juvenile Turf off the layoff.

“Steve, Julien, and I talked about it, and we thought he was a little flat in the Summer,” Blasi said. “We ran him back quick, but we wanted to get that race in him and then give him plenty of time between that race and the Breeders’ Cup. I think the horse will be way more effective going two turns at Churchill, hopefully with a better pace scenario.”

Unbeaten State of Play was scratched from Sunday’s Pilgrim Stakes at Belmont because of the boggy going. He shipped to Keeneland on Monday with the intention of running in Sunday’s Grade 3 Bourbon Stakes but spiked a fever after arriving and will now train up to the Juvenile Turf.

State of Play captured the Grade 2 With Anticipation Stakes, a Win and You’re In event at Saratoga, by a half-length over Optimizer. Optimizer will experiment on Polytrack at Keeneland on Saturday in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity, a race that trainer D. Wayne Lukas said he hopes to use as a springboard to the Grade 1 BC Juvenile.

The connections of Shkspeare Shaliyah and Kitten’s Kid, the first two finishers in the Grade 3 Pilgrim, are both planning on running in the BC Juvenile Turf. Shkspeare Shaliyah would have to be supplemented at a cost of $100,000.

Unbeaten Dabirsim captured the Win and You’re In race run in France last Sunday, the Group 1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere, but a trip across the pond is unlikely for the budding star.

The final Win and You’re In, the Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket on Saturday, includes Red Duke, who could go on to Churchill with a strong showing. Power, victorious in the Group 1 Goffs National Stakes, a Win and You’re In run Sept. 10 in Ireland, also is entered.