2021 Breeders' Cup Juvenile: Baffert and Pletcher separating contenders from pretenders
Grade 1 stakes this week in California and New York should begin to define the true contenders for the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, to be run at Del Mar on Nov. 5.
Trainers Bob Baffert and Todd Pletcher go into the week with a bevy of hopefuls for the Juvenile. While Baffert, a four-time Juvenile winner, has seemingly decided to train Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity winner Pinehurst up to the 1 1/16-mile Juvenile, he will send out three high-quality runners in Friday’s Grade 1 American Pharoah at Santa Anita: Corniche, Rockefeller, and Flying Drummer.
The American Pharoah and Saturday’s Champagne at Belmont Park, each offer the winner a berth into the Juvenile, as does the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity, to be held Oct. 9 at Keeneland.
Corniche, a son of Quality Road, earned a 98 Beyer Speed Figure for his 4 1/4-length debut win sprinting at Del Mar on Sept. 4. Rockefeller, a son of Medaglia d’Oro, was a 2 1/2-length maiden winner on Aug. 28, while Flying Drummer, a son of Gun Runner, is still a maiden after runner-up finishes in his two starts.
Outside of the Baffert trio, Oviatt Class might be the most interesting Juvenile candidate in the American Pharoah field. He took advantage of a hot early pace to circle the field and win a one-mile maiden race at Del Mar. His move was akin to that of Texas Red, who in 2014 won the BC Juvenile with a similar sustained run. Oviatt Class, like Texas Red, is trained by Keith Desormeaux.
“He’s more streamlined and elegant as compared to Texas Red, maybe not as powerful but very athletic and fit,” Desormeaux said. “I think more of his description can be attributed to his pedigree, Bernardini on top and Tiznow on the bottom. That explains his style more than my training.”
Todd Pletcher, a two-time BC Juvenile winner, entered three in the Champagne – Wit, My Prankster, and Commandperformance. Wit won the Grade 3 Sanford and was second to Gunite in the Grade 1 Hopeful after stumbling at the start. My Prankster was a 10-length debut winner of a 6 1/2-furlong maiden race at Saratoga. Commmandperformance is a maiden after running second to Don’t Wait Up in a Sept. 6 maiden race at Saratoga.
The Champagne also features Hopeful winner Gunite, trained by Steve Asmussen, and the impressive debut winner Jack Christopher, trained by Chad Brown.
Pletcher already has one slot in the Juvenile starting gate occupied with Major General, who took the Grade 3 Iroquois on Sept. 18 at Churchill Downs. Also, Pletcher plans to run Double Thunder and Keepcalmcarryon in the Breeders’ Futurity to see if either is worthy of taking to California.
The Breeders’ Futurity is expected to be headed by Classic Causeway, a son of Giant’s Causeway who won a seven-furlong maiden race at Saratoga by 6 1/2 lengths.