Breeders' Cup Classic: Fort Larned, Palace Malice arrive

Fort Larned, the defending champion of the Breeders’ Cup Classic, and top 3-year-old Palace Malice, who will meet Saturday in the $5 million Classic, finally arrived at Santa Anita early Tuesday evening after a flight that was delayed.

Palace Malice was among a group of horses who began the cross-country journey in New York. The flight stopped in Kentucky to pick up Fort Larned and several other horses, including Wise Dan. But the trip from Kentucky to California involved an unscheduled stop in Oklahoma to refuel, owing to a route more circuitous than planned.

“They had to fly around some weather,” Ian Wilkes, the trainer of Fort Larned, said Wednesday.

Wilkes elected to merely walk Fort Larned under tack his first day here. Fort Larned was scheduled to go to the track Thursday morning.
Palace Malice had a busier Wednesday morning. He went to the track for a routine gallop.

“He shipped in well,” trainer Todd Pletcher said. “They were supposed to get here by about 4:30. They got in at 6:20.”

[BREEDERS’ CUP 2013: Fields with DRF odds and comments]

Palace Malice, the winner of the Belmont Stakes, is a top contender for champion 3-year-old male honors, along with Will Take Charge. Both are in the Classic.

“If Palace Malice or Will Take Charge wins it, I think it would be a huge step towards champion 3-year-old,” Pletcher said.

In the 29 runnings of the Classic, a 3-year-old has won nine times, the most recent being Raven’s Pass in 2008 at Santa Anita.