Breeders' Cup Juvenile: Gaffalione sitting pretty on East Avenue
?q=100)
Tyler Gaffalione has ridden the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile just three times. The odds on those horses were 94-1, 52-1, and 103-1.
Gaffalione will be on a much shorter-priced horse in this year’s renewal of the Juvenile, to be run Nov. 1 at Del Mar, as he is the jockey of East Avenue. Coming off a dominant 5 1/4-length victory in last Saturday’s Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland, East Avenue figures to vie for favoritism with Chancer McPatrick, a two-time Grade 1 winner.
East Avenue, a son of Medaglia d’Oro, won the Breeders’ Futurity with devastating ease, the manner in which he has always done things to listen to Gaffalione tell it.
“That’s the thing about him, everything comes so easily to him,” Gaffalione said. “In his works, he can go [a half-mile in 47 seconds] and it feels like a gallop. I’ve worked him behind horses, he’s gone inside, outside, nothing fazes him.”
Gaffalione was named to ride East Avenue on July 29 at Ellis Park, but the horse got a cough and had to scratch from the race. East Avenue ultimately debuted on Aug. 24 at Ellis, but Gaffalione was at Saratoga for that track’s Travers Day program. Under Luan Machado, East Avenue galloped to an eight-length debut victory for trainer Brendan Walsh.
In the Breeders’ Futurity, Gaffalione was able to make the lead rather easily, and East Avenue appeared to be mostly on cruise control throughout.
“He broke out of there sharp, set a good tempo up front. He was doing it so easy, it felt like a gallop,” Gaffalione said. “I gave him his head, he kept building on that and even in the gallop-out he wanted to keep going. He was fighting me to pull him up.
“He’s just different, everything about him. I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but I’m really excited about the future.”
East Avenue is owned and bred by Godolphin Racing. Coincidentally, the last time Gaffalione rode in the Juvenile was in 2020 when he rode 94-1 Hot Rod Charlie to a second-place finish behind the Godolphin-owned Essential Quality.
“It’s always good to be on their side,” Gaffalione said.
In the Juvenile, it is expected that East Avenue will again face Ferocious, who finished second as the favorite in the Breeders’ Futurity. Ramiro Restrepo, who represents part of the ownership group of Ferocious, said East Avenue had the trip he envisioned for his horse. He felt Ferocious was compromised by some bumping early on in the race.
“There were 12 strides where he was not moving forward, he’s moving sideways, that’s not ideal,” Restrepo said. “We took the worst of the jostling and the race is over at that point. You’re not going to close into a 1:11 and change with a really talented colt on the lead, that’s not going to happen. Credit to Tyler and the talent of his colt, they put the race away.”
Trainer Chad Summers said Breeders’ Futurity third-place finisher Filoso is “unlikely” for the Juvenile. Dapper Moon, who chased East Avenue early before finishing fourth, is “possible” for the Juvenile, according to trainer Dallas Stewart.
Chancer McPatrick, who improved his record to 3 for 3 with a last-to-first victory in the Grade 1 Champagne at Aqueduct, is likely the only one from that race who will move on to the Juvenile.
Barring a change of heart, trainer Todd Pletcher, winner of the last two runnings of the Juvenile, is not expected to have a starter in this year’s race. Pletcher said Champagne runner-up Tip Top Thomas is unlikely to run. Additionally, Pletcher did not like the way Uncaged was moving the day before the Champagne, so he scratched him from that race.
Trainer Bob Baffert, a five-time Juvenile winner, is expected to send American Pharoah one-two finishers Citizen Bull and Getaway Car in addition to Del Mar Futurity winner Gaming to the Juvenile.
McKinzie Street, third in the American Pharoah, is still under consideration for the race, trainer Tim Yakteen said.
Jonathan’s Way and Owen Almighty, the one-two finishers from the Iroquois Stakes on Sept. 14 at Churchill Downs are still on target. Two American-bred horses who won their maidens in Japan – Shin Believe (Constitution) and Ecoro Azel (Shancelot) are expected for the race.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.