Breeders' Cup Clocker: Contenders for Romans, Ward stretch legs

DEL MAR
Weather: Clear
Temp.: 62
Track: Fast

DEL MAR, Calif. – After spending training hours Wednesday morning at Del Mar, I find it hard to imagine that in less than one week more than 150 of the world’s best horses will have converged on this track to compete in the Breeders’ Cup.

As of Wednesday, only about a dozen or so potential Breeders’ Cup starters were on the grounds and trained over the track during a four-hour session that began in the dark at 5:30 a.m. Despite forecasts calling for temperatures in the mid-90s in the afternoon, the weather was absolutely perfect for training, with the thermometer barely cracking 60 at dawn.

Among the early arrivals are trainer Dale Romans’s Juvenile contenders, Free Drop Billy and Hollywood Star, both of whom jogged and galloped shortly after dawn and before the 7:15 a.m. renovation break. Each made an extremely favorable impression, with Hollywood Star feeling so good during his eye-catching 1 1/2-mile gallop that he tossed in a playful buck approaching the quarter pole.

It’s always easy to tell when trainer Wesley Ward has one of his 2-year-olds out on the track, with every one equipped with blinkers for their races, works, and even routine training sessions, as was the case with Ultima D and Hemp Hemp Hurray here Wednesday. Both were full of energy, especially Ultima D, who got very strong as she passed by the wire and continued to gallop into and around the clubhouse turn.

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Among the others who trained here Wednesday were Cambodia, for trainer Tom Proctor; Ken McPeek’s Juvenile Fillies hopeful Princess Warrior; Catholic Boy, who put in an energetic gallop at nearly a two-minute pace from the five-eighths pole to the wire; and Curlin’s Approval, who merely jogged once around clockwise on her first day over the track.

Several major Breeders’ Cup contenders worked at Santa Anita on Wednesday, including Roy H (Sprint), Unique Bella (Filly and Mare Sprint), Battle of Midway (Dirt Mile) and It Tiz Well (Distaff).

Roy H went an easy five furlongs with Kent Desormeaux aboard, going well within himself throughout while kept well off the rail to the wire before dropping down near the inside to complete the maintenance move with a strong gallop-out.

Unique Bella had to delay her work due to an incident on the racetrack, but once she got rolling, she just cruised through an extremely impressive-looking five-eighths breeze with Mike Smith up. She was kept several paths off the fence throughout.

Battle of Midway was given a target for his six-furlong drill, readily pulling even at the sixteenth pole while going easily throughout under Flavien Prat, although he did have to ease up early into the gallop-out due to the incident on the track.

It Tiz Well broke two lengths behind a workmate, pulled even at the quarter pole, and was asked a tad to finish by Drayden Van Dyke while appearing to lug in a bit near the end. She worked without the blinkers that she wears on race day.

BELMONT PARK
Weather: Cloudy
Temp.: 59
Training track: Good

Highway Star (Filly and Mare Sprint): Trainer Rodrigo Ubillo wanted his mare to have her final work at Belmont before shipping to California on Thursday. Heavy rain Tuesday left the main track and training track with plenty of moisture. Ubillo opted for the training track following the second renovation break at 9:30 a.m., and Highway Star went a half-mile in 49.76 seconds.

Under regular jockey Angel Arroyo, Highway Star jogged alongside her stable pony from the half-mile pole once around the track before leaving the pony at the 4 1/2-furlong marker. She broke from the half-mile pole, went her opening eighth in 12.78 seconds, and reached the quarter pole in 25.08.

In the stretch, Arroyo opened his hands a little bit and asked her ever so slightly, and Highway Star finished with good energy, completing her final quarter in 24.68. She typically doesn’t gallop out much and followed that pattern Wednesday, galloping out five furlongs in 1:04.81.

Ubillo said he may do something with Highway Star at Del Mar next week, depending on how well the mare takes the ship.

– additional reporting by David Grening