2021 Breeders' Cup Turf: United, Astronaut carry local hopes
It may be up to the 6-year-old gelding United and 4-year-old colt Astronaut to represent the home squad in the Breeders’ Cup Turf on Nov. 6 at Del Mar.
United won the Grade 2 John Henry Turf Championship at 1 1/4 miles at Santa Anita on Saturday for his third stakes win in five starts this year.
Astronaut earned a fees-paid berth to the BC Turf with an upset win in the Grade 2 Del Mar Handicap at 1 3/8 miles on Aug. 22, his most recent start. The BC Turf at 1 1/2 miles will be his Grade 1 debut and third appearance in a stakes. Trained by John Shirreffs, Astronaut will not race again until the BC Turf.
Friar’s Road, third in the John Henry Turf Championship, has not been ruled out of consideration for the BC Turf, although the Grade 2 Hollywood Turf Cup on Nov. 26 at Del Mar is a strong possibility, trainer Michael McCarthy said.
United has started with mixed results in the BC Turf the last two years, finishing second by a head to eventual Horse of the Year Bricks and Mortar in 2019 at Santa Anita, but only eighth of 10 at Keeneland last year.
In the John Henry Turf Championship at 1 1/4 miles, United closed from ninth in a field of 12 under jockey Flavien Prat to win by a nose over Acclimate as the 7-5 favorite. Trainer Phil D’Amato said Acclimate is likely for the Hollywood Turf Cup.
United has won 10 of 22 starts and earned $1,813,549 for the LNJ Foxwoods Stable.
“He is a lot of fun,” trainer Richard Mandella said. “He loves what he does. He just enjoys doing it. Flavien couldn’t pull him up.”
United typically races as a stalker, or even as a pacesetter, but closed from farther back than expected to win the John Henry.
Mandella dismisses the loss in the 2020 BC Turf, saying United was not suited to the turf course.
“Flavien said he didn’t handle the turf,” Mandella said. “It seems like he kept stumbling and fumbling.”
United has won the Grade 2 Eddie Read Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on turf at Del Mar the last two summers, and was beaten a head in the 2020 Del Mar Handicap.
None of those races had the sort of field United will face in the BC Turf, a group led by Tarnawa.
Trained in Ireland by Dermot Weld, Tarnawa won the 2020 BC Turf at Keeneland and was second by three-quarters of a length in the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp Racecourse in Paris on Sunday. The turf course was heavy, while firm going is expected at Del Mar.
Sealiway, who was fifth in the Arc and second in the Group 1 French Derby is June, is another candidate for the BC Turf.
Other American-based runners for the BC Turf will be better known after Saturday’s Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic at 1 1/2 miles on turf at Belmont Park. Gufo, Japan, and Cross Border, the first three finishers of the Grade 1 Sword Dancer Stakes on Aug. 28 at Saratoga, are Hirsch probables.