Breeders' Cup Clocker: Arabian Knight full of energy in gallop
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ARCADIA, Calif. – Let the games begin.
That’s probably the prevailing thought among most, if not all, horsemen as the countdown to this year’s Breeders’ Cup moved into its final stages when daylight dawned on a picture-perfect morning for training Thursday at Santa Anita.
Trainer Bob Baffert was likely among those who would have loved to run the Classic on Thursday afternoon, if possible, considering the abundant energy Arabian Knight showed during training hours Thursday morning. He turned what was to be a routine gallop into a bit of a wrestling match with his rider as he weaved in and out of traffic while just loaded for bear and looking ready to get down to business.
Another couple of Hall of Fame horsemen, Steve Asmussen and Bill Mott, are likely feeling the same way when it comes to their Breeders’ Cup hopefuls Society and Cody’s Wish. Society got into a similar tussle with her rider while looking like she just wanted to explode during her final maintenance breeze over the weekend and was on her toes again while jogging home alongside the pony Thursday morning.
Cody’s Wish has been a bear ever since his arrival earlier this week, both in his gallops and strong final work Sunday. His rider did all he could to keep him on the ground galloping over the main track Wednesday, with the defending Dirt Mile champ laying down an impressive-looking, wire-to-wire 1:53 mile along the way. Mott said afterward that he needed to slow him down moving forward, and he found the perfect solution when sending Cody’s Wish to the training track, where he cantered in a relaxed manner going the wrong way on the outside fence not far in front of stablemate War Like Goddess late Thursday morning.
Other notable highlights and impressions during Thursday’s training session included:
Desert Dawn who has turned in a couple of big works here over the past two weeks and looked strong again during her routine, pre-dawn gallop. She could prove a live longshot over her home track in the Distaff.
Just F Y I is another member of the strong contingent Mott has entered in the Breeders’ Cup, the young filly giving off positive vibes once again Thursday morning, looking ready to perhaps outrun her odds in the Juvenile Fillies.
The Chosen Vron is coming into the Sprint off a long layoff but has looked especially sharp doing all his prep work over the training track, where he open galloped down the lane catching the eye once again Thursday.
As noted previously, all of trainer Chad Brown’s horses have looked razor sharp in their gallops since arriving from their New York headquarters earlier in the week, with Zandon (again) and General Partner particularly so today.
The turf course was open, as usual, for international horses at 7:30 a.m. and drew another good crowd, with King of Steel the star of the show, striding out beautifully while blowing out down the stretch and into the clubhouse turn. So too did Mostahdaf along with several other members of the European contingent.
While they didn’t get in official works, the Aidan O’Brien troops came close enough to it, the entire group, save for Cherry Blossom, who could not keep up with the others, flying around single file posting splits of 41 seconds for three-eighths, 53.80 from the half, and 1:21 for six furlongs before pulling up into the clubhouse turn. An impressive show, to say the least, especially coming just more than 24 hours (for the 2-year-olds) and 48 hours before their respective races.
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