Breeders' Cup Juvenile: Locked following Forte's path after Breeders' Futurity win
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It was a year ago that Forte won a hard-fought stretch battle with Loggins to narrowly win the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland, then came back four weeks later to win the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and be crowned 2-year-old champion.
The connections of Locked – which includes Forte’s trainer, Todd Pletcher – hope the same hard-fought victory their horse earned in last Saturday’s Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland yields the same result in next month’s $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita.
Locked, like Forte, came four-wide in the stretch, hooked up with a ground-saving rival – in this case The Wine Steward – and outlasted him to the wire to win by a half-length. It was Locked’s second straight win following a third-place finish on debut.
“It was great to see him overcome some adversity and significant obstacles in front of him and we hope it goes a long way that he was looked in the eye and got battle-tested and hopefully that will prove beneficial come Breeders’ Cup time,” said Aron Wellman, president of Eclipse Thoroughbreds, which co-owns Locked with Walmac Farm.
Though it looked like a hard race, Wellman said he noticed that Locked “threw his ears forward” near the wire.
“That’s hopefully an indication he wasn’t emptied out and if need be there were more gears to call upon,” Wellman said. “Hopefully we’re reading that right. His energy, appetite, and physical condition since the race has been really, really good.”
Locked will continue to train at Keeneland before he and Pletcher’s other Breeders’ Cup starters ship out to California at a date yet to be determined.
Locked may be Pletcher’s only starter in this year’s Juvenile as both Fierceness, seventh in the Grade 1 Champagne at Aqueduct and Be You, a well-beaten third in the Grade 1 American Pharoah at Santa Anita are, at this time, unlikely to move forward.
The Wine Steward, who ran very well in his first try around two turns, is expected to continue on to the Juvenile, trainer Mike Maker said after the Futurity.
Timberlake and General Partner, the one-two finishers from Saturday’s Grade 1 Champagne, and Muth and Wine Me Up, the one-two finishers from the American Pharoah are also expected make their next starts in the Juvenile.
Muth and Wine Me Up, the latter having to be supplemented to the Juvenile for $100,000, would join stablemate Prince of Monaco to give trainer Bob Baffert three Juvenile starters. Prince of Monaco is 3 for 3, having won the Grade 3 Best Pal and Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity
Raging Torrent, fourth in the American Pharoah, and Dancing Groom, third in the Champagne, are possible for the Breeders’ Cup, their connections said. Nutella Fella, the upset winner of the Grade 1 Hopeful at Saratoga who missed the Champagne with a bruised foot, is doubtful, but not completely ruled out. He was expected to have his foot examined at the New Bolton Center in Pennsylvania on Wednesday, trainer Gary Contessa said.
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