Belmont Park: Graydar puts in work for Breeders' Cup Classic

ELMONT, N.Y. – The tasks couldn’t be any more different for trainer Todd Pletcher as he prepares two horses for the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 2 at Santa Anita.

In Graydar, Pletcher has a horse who has never run beyond 1 1/8 miles and has raced just once in seven months.

In Palace Malice, Pletcher has a horse who has won at 1 1/2 miles – a quarter-mile farther than the Classic distance – and already has made nine starts this year.

On Sunday, Pletcher put both horses through significant workouts over the Belmont training track.

Graydar, working in company with Fantasy of Flight, went five furlongs in 1:01.63, with a final quarter of 25 seconds. He galloped out six furlongs in 1:15.93 while being asked by exercise rider Hector Ramos. It was his second workout since his front-running victory in the Grade 2 Kelso going a mile here Sept. 28.

Before the Kelso, Graydar hadn’t run since winning the New Orleans Handicap on March 30. In the interim, he had surgery to remove an ankle chip.

“Part of the plan was to get three good breezes into him,” Pletcher said. “I think we got two good breezes in him. Like I’ve said before, he’s a little different personality than Palace Malice, for example. You got to ask him to work a little bit. He’ll train forwardly, but he also knows the difference between the a.m. and p.m.

“He’s never been a bullet, brilliant work horse, so to me, he continues to show more of what we’re accustomed to seeing from him. If I get one more good work into him, then I think we’re on target for the Classic. Maybe not 100 percent the way we want to bring him into the Classic, but I think considering how well he’s run fresh, that might make up for it.”

Pletcher said Graydar would be pre-entered for both the Classic and the $1 million Dirt Mile on Nov. 1.

Meanwhile, Palace Malice continues to impress, working five furlongs in 59.95 seconds under jockey John Velazquez, with a final quarter of 24.13 over the training track. He galloped out six furlongs in 1:13.07.

“Johnny was really pleased with the way he went,” Pletcher said. “He said he thought he went even better this week than last week. That, to me, is kind of splitting hairs because I don’t think he could have gone much better than he went last week, so I was really pleased with him.”

Earlier in the morning, Velazquez reunited with the Pletcher 2-year-old Havana, guiding him through a half-mile in 49.12 seconds over the training track. The best part of the work may have been after the wire, when he galloped out five furlongs in 1:01.96 and six furlongs in 1:15.19. Velazquez was aboard for Havana’s maiden win but was out of town when he won the Grade 1 Champagne. Velazquez will ride him in the Juvenile.

“His second eighth after the wire was exceptionally good,” Pletcher said. “With him, you know he’s fast, so we’re just working on keeping him in a nice rhythm and settled. Johnny got along with him well. He’s not an easy horse to ride. I thought he did a nice job of breaking him from the pole. He got into a good, steady rhythm. I really liked the gallop-out.”

In between working Havana and Palace Malice, Velazquez put Point of Entry through a five-furlong workout over the turf. Point of Entry went five furlongs in 1:02.10, with Velazquez asking him to finish through a fast final quarter in 23.06.

“I think he's progressed exactly the way I've wanted him to,” trainer Shug McGaughey said. “He's gotten better and better. Johnny said this work was better than last Sunday's work.”

McGaughey said he might have Point of Entry do a sharp half-mile move with a strong gallop-out next Sunday.

– additional reporting by Mike Welsch