Breeders’ Cup contenders emerge from FallStars stakes

LEXINGTON, Ky. – It’s onward and upward for the horses who emerged as major Breeders’ Cup contenders with stellar performances during the eventful three-day FallStars Weekend that opened the Keeneland fall meet.

Here is a race-by-race follow-up on each of the nine FallStars stakes:

◗ Few horses were more impressive last weekend than Runhappy, who won the Grade 3 Phoenix on Friday. The 3-year-old colt now proceeds to the BC Sprint as one of the favorites.

Ridden by Edgar Prado, Runhappy won despite a tardy start and a saddle that slipped through the stretch run.

“It was pretty bad,” said Prado.

Trainer Maria Borell said Runhappy trains in a breastplate that prevents the saddle from slipping, and she now will consider using it for the BC Sprint.

◗ Gomo, a 2 3/4-length winner of the Grade 1 Alcibiades on Friday, will train here toward the BC Juvenile Fillies for Doug O’Neill, who is maintaining a small string throughout the month. Runner-up Dothraki Queen also is “all systems go,” said trainer Ken McPeek.

◗ Grand Arch now has three wins and three seconds over the Keeneland turf course after earning a spot in the BC Mile with his narrow triumph over The Pizza Man and Tourist in the Grade 1 Shadwell Turf Mile on Saturday.

The Pizza Man was using the Shadwell as a sharpener for the BC Turf. Tourist, making his second start off a layoff, will be considered for the BC Mile.

◗ Brody’s Cause “might be the best 2-year-old in the country,” trainer Dale Romans said after the colt exploded to win the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity on Saturday over the favored Exaggerator.

Brody’s Cause, by Giant’s Causeway, will train at Romans’s Churchill Downs base in the lead-up to the BC Juvenile, in which Exaggerator also is expected to start.

◗ Tepin earned a career-high 108 Beyer Speed Figure in the most dominating score of the FallStars stakes, a seven-length romp in the Grade 1 First Lady on Saturday. Trainer Mark Casse confirmed Monday that he will send out Tepin against the boys in the BC Mile.

◗ Fioretti gave trainer Anthony Hamilton and jockey Sophie Doyle their first graded stakes victory with her 17-1 upset of the Grade 2 Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes on Saturday and will run back in the BC Filly and Mare Sprint.

Trainer Ron Moquett said runner-up Heykittykittykitty is not a Breeders’ Cup nominee and is unlikely to go. Owner and trainer Wesley Ward said Judy the Beauty, third as the favorite with a tough trip, “will be there with bells on” as she tries to win the BC Filly and Mare Sprint for a second straight year.

◗ Amelia’s Wild Ride, a 14-1 winner of the Grade 3 Woodford in the mud Saturday, will run back on what is presumed to be his preferred surface in the BC Turf Sprint. Amelia’s Wild Ride led throughout the spill-marred Woodford to win by 2 1/2 lengths.

◗ On Monday, trainer Todd Pletcher confirmed that the BC Distaff is next for Got Lucky, who caught Untapable and Yahilwa on the wire to win the Grade 1 Spinster in a three-way photo Sunday. Untapable, the 2014 BC Distaff winner, also will run back.

◗ Casse said he is “really excited” about Airoforce, who drew clear from a bulky field of 2-year-old turf horses to win the Grade 3 Bourbon on Sunday over a fast-closing Camelot Kitten. Those two will run back in the BC Juvenile Turf.