Breeders' Cup Juvenile: Win by Well Defined would lift O'Connell's spirits

Personally, these are difficult times for trainer Kathleen O’Connell, whose father died last week at the age of 93.

Professionally, these are good times for O’Connell, who confirmed this week that not only will her talented 2-year-old colt Well Defined run in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, but Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith will ride him. Smith is the all-time winningest jockey in Breeders’ Cup history, with 26 wins and $35.8 million in purse money won.

“I’m trying to look for good news on top of all the bad news I’ve had,” O’Connell said Tuesday.

O’Connell did not grow up in racing, as her father, Joseph O’Connell, was a Detroit policeman and a World War II veteran who served in the Battle of the Bulge.

“Once I made my career choice, he supported it wholeheartedly,” O’Connell said.

O’Connell has been among the most successful female trainers, having surpassed the 2,000 win-plateau on Sept. 12. In 2015, Lady Shipman came within a neck of winning the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Keeneland for her. O’Connell’s only other Breeders’ Cup starter, Scandalous Act, finished sixth in the Juvenile Fillies in 2013 at Santa Anita.

Well Defined, a son of With Distinction owned and bred by Gilbert Campbell’s Stonehedge LLC, won the In Reality division of the Florida Sire Stakes by 7 1/2 lengths on Sept. 29 at Gulfstream Park. He earned a 91 Beyer Speed Figure, the second-highest two-turn figure of any juvenile this year. Game Winner, the probable Juvenile favorite, earned a 97 winning the American Pharoah.

“It was an impressive race,” O’Connell said. “It looked like he won it in a gallop. I couldn’t be happier for anybody more than I am for Mr. Campbell. I’ve had a long association with him. He’s been a rock. He knows the bad and the good and everything that goes with the business.”

O’Connell, who is planning to run Stormy Embrace in the BC Filly and Mare Sprint, said all her Breeders’ Cup preparations will be done at Gulfstream Park West where she is based.

Despite having to miss the Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland due to a temperature, Grade 1 Hopeful winner Mind Control is still being pointed to the Juvenile, trainer Greg Sacco said. Sacco said the colt is back at Monmouth Park doing well and could return to the work tab Monday.

The Brunetti family owns majority interest in Mind Control. They may have another Juvenile starter in King for a Day, who won a maiden race Oct. 4 at Belmont. The time of that 1 1/16-mile race, initially posted as 1:41.66, is in dispute. The Equibase chart now lists no fractions or final time, but the performance was solid. Racing manager Rick Sacco said King for a Day, who is trained by Todd Pletcher, will be considered for either the Juvenile or the Kentucky Jockey Club at Churchill in late November.

The top three finishers from last Saturday’s Breeders’ Futurity – Knicks Go, Signalman, and Standard Deviation – are all scheduled to run in the Juvenile.

Complexity and Code of Honor, the 1-2 finishers in the Champagne at Belmont, are both being pointed to the Juvenile, according to their connections.