Breeders' Cup Marathon: Distance the big question for Worldly, nine opponents

ARCADIA, Calif. – After Worldly finished second in the Governor’s Cup Stakes at Remington Park in August, trainer Brendan Walsh needed an autumn goal for the 6-year-old.

The requirements were basic – find a distance race that would not attract the best horses. The objective was found with Friday’s $500,000 Breeders’ Cup Marathon at Santa Anita over 1 3/4 miles, a new distance for Worldly.

“He’s bred to stay and that’s an important factor,” Walsh said. “We won’t know until we try it.”

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

Owned by Chad Schumer, Worldly is part of a field of 10 in the Grade 2 BC Marathon, the first of five Breeders’ Cup races on Friday.[bc_video_id:308738:]

The field includes three 2013 stakes winners – Commander, a four-time stakes winner in Canada this year who was ninth in the 2012 BC Marathon; Blueskiesnrainbows, who won the Ralph Hinds Pomona Invitational at the Los Angeles County Fair last month; and Ever Rider, a stakes winner in Argentina in June.

Other runners are the British import London Bridge; Cease, claimed for $100,000 at Saratoga in July; Old Time Hockey, who was fourth in two turf stakes in California in recent months; and Indian Jones, Pool Play and Suns Out Guns Out, who were second through fourth in the Grade 3 Greenwood Cup at Parx Racing on Sept. 2.

Walsh began training Worldly in the spring. After second-place finishes in the Prairie Meadows Handicap and Governor’s Cup Stakes, Worldly was third behind Fort Larned in the Homecoming Classic over 1 1/8 miles at Churchill Downs on Sept. 28. The competition in that race was too tough, Walsh said. Fort Larned won the 2012 BC Classic and is a contender in that race on Saturday.

“When we ran against Fort Larned, we were chasing him the whole time,” Walsh said. “He’s one of the best horses in the country.”

Walsh is banking on Worldly’s stamina in the Marathon, and was encouraged by the way Worldly closed at Remington Park, finishing a head behind Prayer for Relief.

“It’s hard to prepare a horse for this race,” Walsh said. “The race when he got beat by Prayer for Relief he started to run at the end.”

Worldly’s chances in the Marathon could be helped by the presence of several potential front-runners. Blueskiesnrainbows, Cease, Commander, Ever Rider, London Bridge, and Suns Out Guns Out have shown speed in recent starts.

“There are a few that want to be prominent,” Walsh said. “My guy likes to be up there close but he doesn’t have to.”

Commander, a 5-year-old gelding trained by Troy Taylor, won the Grade 3 Premiers at Hastings in Canada on Oct. 14. Earlier this year, he won three consecutive stakes at Northlands Park, near Edmonton.

Jockey Aaron Gryder, who was aboard for three of those stakes wins, expects an improved race from Commander compared to the 2012 Marathon.

“He’s better than what he showed last year,” Gryder said. “He’s got a big gallop. When he gets into that rhythm, he covers a lot of ground with little effort.

“There is plenty of pace, but he doesn’t need the lead by any means.”

In 2012, the South American import Calidoscopio was the surprise winner of the Marathon. A win by the South American Ever Rider would not be an upset. He may go favored. The 5-year-old horse won the Clasico General Belgrano over 1 9/16 miles in Argentina in June, the same race Calidoscopio won in 2012.

Trainer Maria Munoz brought Ever Rider to Southern California during the summer, and says the additional preparation time has helped.

“When race time comes, he’ll have been here three months,” she said. “I think it’s an advantage. He’s fully acclimated.”

The most successful runner in the field is the 8-year-old Pool Play, who has won 7 of 40 starts and earned $1,313,371. He won the 2010 Valedictory Stakes over 1 3/4 miles at Woodbine, but is winless in seven starts this year. Pool Play was eighth in the 2012 BC Classic.

Pool Play was sixth in the Homecoming Classic at Churchill Downs in September, a loss that disappointed trainer Mark Casse. But the third in the Greenwood Cup the race before and the extra distance of Friday’s BC Marathon gives Casse a reason to be optimistic.

“He doesn’t have the punch he used to have,” Casse said. “His last race wasn’t that good. He just went around there. The race before that at Philadelphia was better.

“He should be midfield. He’s still tough and can throw a good one at you.”