2021 Breeders' Cup Juvenile: Chris Davis will have two starters
That trainer Bob Baffert is likely to have multiple starters in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile is no shock. That trainer Chris Davis could also have two starters in the race, well, that would be considered a bit surprising.
But the 32-year-old Davis, who maintains about a 32-horse stable, is pointing both American Sanctuary and Tough to Tame to the $2 million Juvenile, to be run Nov. 5 at Del Mar. Both horses were relatively inexpensive purchases at 2-year-old in-training auctions and both have competed well enough in stakes to warrant this chance.
American Sanctuary, a son of American Freedom, cost just $47,000 at the OBS March auction. He has one win in five starts, but finished second in listed stakes at Prairie Meadows and Monmouth Park. His fourth-place finish in last Saturday’s Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland gives him a puncher’s chance in the Juvenile.
Under Sophie Doyle, American Sanctuary bobbled at the break and then was pushed down inside and forced to steady and was last early on in the Futurity. He advanced along the inside and then was behind a wall of horses in upper stretch before being tipped four wide. Ultimately, he was defeated six lengths by Rattle N Roll, but was beaten only two lengths for second.
“Not a lot of 2-year-olds could make up that much ground with that kind of traffic trouble,” Davis said. “Even when he went to make his run when they straightened up” Paco Lopez on Double Thunder “came over and cut him off. It’s racing. We’re pretty pleased with how he responded and hopefully we can get him to be a little better leaving the gate.”
It’s possible American Sanctuary could be the lone horse coming out of the Breeders’ Futurity to run in the Breeders’ Cup. Trainer Ken McPeek said he is on the fence about running Rattle N Roll and might await the Kentucky Jockey Club at Churchill Downs on Nov. 28. Double Thunder and Classic Causeway, second and third in the Futurity, are not pointing to the Juvenile, according to their trainers.
Davis’s other Juvenile hopeful is Tough to Tame, a son of Speightster who brought $75,000 at the OBS April sale. Tough to Tame finished second, beaten a neck by Major General in the Grade 3 Iroquois at Churchill Downs.
Tough to Tame was pulling on Doyle early in the race.
“For him to be as aggressive as he was for the first half-mile and still finish, I was really impressed,” Davis said. “The outrider had to pull him up after the race.”
Davis said Doyle would ride one of his horses while Florent Geroux would ride the other.
Before going out on his own about five years ago, Davis worked for several trainers and worked with Breeders’ Cup runners such as She Be Wild, Obviously and Midnight Storm.
“I’ve been around Breeders’ Cup horses before,” Davis said. “It’s nice to potentially have one, maybe two, of our own.”
Trainer Todd Pletcher said that Major General, the Iroquois winner, was getting 60 days off at WinStar Farm and will be pointed to a 3-year-old campaign. He confirmed that Champagne runner-up Commandperformance, still a maiden, would point to the Juvenile.
Trainer Dale Romans said that Giant Game, a winner of a maiden race at Keeneland last Saturday, would be pointed to the Juvenile but that Red Knobs, third in the Iroquois, would not. Red Knobs is owned by Jim Bakke and Gerald Isbister, who also own Jack Christopher, the potential Juvenile favorite.
Baffert, via text, said Corniche and Pinehurst remain on schedule for the Juvenile.