Basin will miss Breeders' Cup Juvenile

While the field for the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile will pick up a few starters this weekend, the race did lose a significant player when the connections of Hopeful winner Basin revealed their horse will miss the race and the remainder of the year.

Basin has an issue with his right hind ankle, according to Ryne Poncik, the son-in-law of Terry Green, whose Jackpot Farm owns Basin. Poncik said Basin will be getting 60 days off and be pointed to the series of 3-year preps at Oaklawn Park next year.

“It’s just bad timing,” Poncik said.

Basin, trained by Steve Asmussen, was expected to run in Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland. Instead, the race went with a field of 10 that includes the impressive Saratoga maiden winners Tap It to Win and Gouverneur Morris as well as Grade 3 Sanford Stakes winner By Your Side.

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Tap It to Win, a son of Tapit trained by Mark Casse, finished second on turf at Woodbine in his debut before winning his dirt debut on Travers Day at Saratoga by 3 1/2 lengths. Casse, who won the 2016 Juvenile with Classic Empire, believes Tap It to Win could be special.

“He thinks he’s a racehorse. If you watch him go by you’d say ‘Whoa, who is that?’” Casse said. “Mentally, we’re going to throw a lot of new things at him – two turns, a different racetrack. A lot of question marks.”

Casse also sends out Enforceable, who won a 1 1/8-mile maiden race at Saratoga, albeit with only a 62 Beyer Speed Figure.

By Your Side, who beat Basin in a maiden race and then won the Sanford, will attempt to rebound from a fifth-place finish in the Hopeful, run over a sloppy surface. By Your Side is trained by Eddie Kenneally, who is already pointing Scabbard, runner-up in the Iroquois Stakes, to the Juvenile.

In New York on Saturday, Green Light Go will try to speed his way to the Breeders’ Cup in the Champagne. Green Light Go, trained by Jimmy Jerkens, won a 5 1/2-furlong maiden race on July 4 at Belmont and was impressive winning the Grade 2 Saratoga Special. He scratched out of the Grade 1 Hopeful when the track came up sloppy and was pointed to this.

Green Light Go will have six rivals in the Champagne, chief among them Tiz the Law, Three Technique, and the speedy Gozilla.

Last week, Eight Rings scored a dominant six-length victory in the Grade 1 American Pharoah at Santa Anita to put trainer Bob Baffert in position to win his fifth Juvenile, tying the record held by D. Wayne Lukas. American Theorem and Storm the Court, second and third behind Eight Rings, are still aimed at the Juvenile, but Express Train is not.

Shoplifted, fifth in the American Pharoah, will remain in California and train toward the Juvenile, according to Asmussen.

Dennis’ Moment, dominant winner of the Iroquois Stakes at Churchill Downs, is expected to return to the work tab on Friday at Churchill, according to trainer Dale Romans.