ARCADIA, Calif. — Top European jockey Ryan Moore has been booked to ride Astronomer in the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Santa Anita on Nov. 4, trainer Simon Callaghan said on Saturday.
The decision was finalized after trainer Aidan O’Brien withdrew top contender Paddington from consideration. Paddington, the winner of four consecutive Group 1 races in Ireland and Britain earlier this year, has been retired to stud.
Santa Anita
Weather: Cloudy
Temperature: 56
Track: Fast
ARCADIA, Calif. - A very busy morning on the Breeders’ Cup front at Santa Anita ended on a sad note after GEAUX ROCKET RIDE suffered a significant leg injury while in the latter stages of a seven-furlong work for the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
ARCADIA, Calif. — Before the significant injury suffered by Geaux Rocket Ride in a workout at Santa Anita late Saturday morning, five other potential Classic starters put in workouts at four different venues for the $6 million Classic to be run Nov. 4.
At Santa Anita, Clapton, the Lukas Classic winner, went a half-mile in 48.72 seconds while galloping out five furlongs in 1:01.22 and six furlongs in 1:13.50, per Daily Racing Form clocker Mike Welsch.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Geaux Rocket Ride, one of the leading contenders for the $6 million Breeders' Cup Classic here on Nov. 4, suffered a displaced condylar fracture to his right foreleg during a workout Saturday morning at Santa Anita.
Trainer Richard Mandella said the fracture broke through the skin and while there is no sesamoid fracture, the ligaments around it are stretched, making for a potentially difficult surgery to save the colt. Surgery is planned for Sunday at a clinic on the track property, Mandella said.
Just F Y I is set to make her two-turn debut in the Grade 1, $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies on Nov. 3 at Santa Anita – just like nearly half of the 15 horses pre-entered in the race Monday.
The Juvenile Fillies, at 1 1/16 miles, also would be the first two-turn start for five others if they enter back Monday: Accommodate Eva, Esprit Enchante, Jody’s Pride, Omaha Girl, and Tamara.
The European 3-year-old stars Auguste Rodin and King of Steel and the brilliant 5-year-old Mostahdaf will make a difficult trio for Team USA to beat in the $4 million Breeders’ Cup Turf on Nov. 4 at Santa Anita.
Auguste Rodin, winner of the English and Irish derbies in June and July, and Mostahdaf, who has won two of England’s leading races for older horses this year in an abbreviated campaign, will lead the betting in what is likely to be a maximum field of 14 in the BC Turf at 1 1/2 miles.
ARCADIA, Calif. - The regally bred filly Tamara will race at 1 1/16 miles for the first time in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Santa Anita on Nov. 3. The closer the race gets, the more jockey Mike Smith and trainer Richard Mandella think the filly can handle a longer distance in a race in which she is projected to be a solid favorite.
On Sunday at Santa Anita, Hall of Famer Smith, 58, spoke confidently of Tamara’s chances after she worked six furlongs in 1:12.60, and galloped out seven furlongs in 1:25.
It was 10 years ago that a zippy gray mare became the first horse ever to win back-to-back editions of the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint, at Santa Anita, no less. A decade later, the popular gray Caravel is headed to Santa Anita to attempt to add her name to the list of doubles, and will be one of several shades of gray in this starting gate.
Since the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint was added to the program in 2008, the two-time winners of the race are the mare Mizdirection in 2012 and 2013, and Stormy Liberal, who earned a divisional Eclipse Award, in 2017 and 2018.
Formal research studies suggest the COVID-19 pandemic warped people’s sense of time. Take the Summer Stakes, for instance. The race was run at Woodbine on Sept. 16, not long ago at all, but it feels like the winner, Carson’s Run, has been forgotten.
While Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf prep races subsequently have been run in New York, Kentucky, and California, Carson’s Run has quietly gone about his business at Saratoga, his daily training overseen by Miguel Clement, the son of and assistant to trainer Christophe Clement.
