Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf: Bobby's Kitten is sentimental choice

ARCADIA, Calif. – If Bobby’s Kitten turns out to be fractionally as good as the first prominent horse named after the late trainer Bobby Frankel, he will have a great chance to win the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf.

Frankel, the Juddmonte Farms homebred, retired undefeated last year, acclaimed as one of the best racehorses ever. Bobby’s Kitten’s undefeated career went out the window with a third-place finish in his debut at Saratoga, but he has since scored two wins, including a 6 1/4-length blowout in the Oct. 6 Pilgrim Stakes that should make him the favorite Friday in the $1 million Juvenile Turf.

Bobby’s Kitten came to trainer Chad Brown in May with a different name, but owner Ken Ramsey had told Brown he was saving a name honoring Frankel and to alert him when the right horse by Ramsey’s stallion, Kitten’s Joy, came along.[bc_video_id:308736:]

“Around July 4, I called him and said I thought I had the right one,” Brown said.

Brown has done well in the short history of Breeders’ Cup 2-year-old turf races: He won the 2008 Juvenile Fillies Turf with Maram, finished second in that race last year with Dayatthespa, and ran second and third in the 2012 Juvenile Turf with Noble Tune and Balance the Books. Last year’s colts rallied from far back, but with a decent break, Bobby’s Kitten, who has Javier Castellano named to ride, will be on or near the lead, as he was in his second-out maiden win and in the Grade 3 Pilgrim.

“If he can get himself some position, he can stay out of trouble,” Brown said. “It gives his jockey some options.”

[BREEDERS’ CUP 2013: Fields with DRF odds and comments]

Bashart, Poker Player, and Aotearoa look like the best of the other North American entrants. Poker Player won a maiden turf race at Kentucky Downs before upsetting Bashart in the Bourbon Stakes, which was rained from turf onto Polytrack. His lack of positional speed is an issue in a 13-horse field going one mile on a tight course.

Bashart starts from post 13 but has enough speed to secure a decent spot. Aotearoa upset BC Juvenile starter Diamond Bachelor in the Zuma Beach Stakes going a mile on this course and subsequently was made eligible to the Breeders’ Cup with a $100,000 nomination payment, but the Zuma Beach had a short field of questionable depth, and Aotearoa might not be good enough.

It’s fair to assume, though, that one of the four European shippers in the Juvenile Turf will be good enough. An overseas runner has won the race four times in its six years, and trainer Aidan O’Brien brings a two-year win streak and two horses – Giovanni Boldini and Wilshire Boulevard – into Friday’s race. Giovanni Boldini is the shorter price of the two in overseas early betting, is 7-2 on the Santa Anita morning line, and will be ridden by Ryan Moore, who gets more big-race rides for O’Brien than does William Buick, who has the mount on Wilshire Boulevard.

Still, parallels to O’Brien’s 2012 entrants suggest Wilshire Boulevard might be equally qualified. His form – busy, all turf, and with no starts beyond seven furlongs – resembles that of George Vancouver, who won last year’s race.

Giovanni Boldini has made only one start on turf, finishing a one-paced third to the highly regarded Toormore in the National Stakes over firm turf, and he looked better in winning the Star Appeal Stakes on Oct. 11 at Dundalk, a synthetic track in Ireland. The winner of the 2012 Star Appeal was Lines of Battle, who went on to win the rich UAE Derby but could only finish seventh in the 2012 Juvenile Turf.

Shamshon, light on accomplishment and saddled with a poor outside draw, appears an unlikely contender, but the Godolphin homebred Outstrip deserves more attention. Outstrip has had a solid four-start campaign, finishing a close second to Toormore in the Group 2 Vintage Stakes and winning the Group 2 Champagne, albeit over only three foes. He was third, beaten almost three lengths, in the Oct. 12 Dewhurst Stakes, immediately after which trainer Charlie Appleby said Outstrip would be put away for the winter and pointed to a 3-year-old campaign.

A week later – after Outstrip showed that he had bounced out of the Dewhurst in good order, Appleby said Tuesday – Godolphin announced him as a Breeders’ Cup runner, a change of heart that invites skepticism from handicappers, especially considering that Buzzword finished only fifth in the 2009 Juvenile Turf for Godolphin after exiting the Dewhurst.

In the end, the race probably comes down to O’Brien and Brown – and with the Frankel tribute at work, it might be wise to side with sentiment Friday.