Breeders' Cup Marathon: Long distance should suit Worldly

The roster of horses pointed toward the Breeders’ Cup Marathon continues to grow, with the addition of Grade 2-placed stakes winner Worldly.

Owner Chad Schumer confirmed that the 6-year-old Worldly, a son of A.P. Indy, will target the $500,000 Marathon, to be run Friday, Nov. 1 at Santa Anita, noting that the horse’s breeding leans toward stamina and the North American racing calendar does not offer an abundance of longer-distanced races at high levels.

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“He’s clearly a horse that wants a route of ground,” Schumer said. “He’s going very well, and here in the U.S., there are very few opportunities to go beyond a mile and an eighth, which is where we think he is probably best suited, so we’re going to take our chance.”

Worldly is a winner of 3 of 27 career starts for earnings of $372,319. Though winless in six starts this year, he has finished in the money three times, including his most recent start, a third-place effort behind Fort Larned in the Homecoming Classic Stakes on Sept 28 at Churchill Downs.

While Worldly has never raced at a distance beyond 1 1/4 miles, he has performed respectably when given the task. In three starts at the classic distance, Worldly has won the 2011 Prairie Meadows Handicap, and finished second in the 2013 edition.

Worldly was acquired by Schumer over the summer, having previously been owned by Samantha Siegel’s Jay Em Ess Stables. However, if things had gone to plan, Schumer would not be pointing the horse toward the Marathon, and in fact would not have the horse at all.

“It’s kind of a strange story,” he said. “We purchased him and had no intention of racing him here in the U.S. I had bought him for a client overseas, and it was just kind of a tough situation. We had vetted the horse and made the deal, and they were expecting their payment. I checked with my people overseas, and everything was good. I was catching a plane to Europe and I thought, ‘Well, if I don’t pay for the horse, they’re not going to want to sell him to us and if I do pay for the horse and the guy doesn’t pay me, then I’m in bad shape,’ so I was between a rock and a hard place.

“I went ahead and thought, ‘Okay, they’re always good. I’ve bought probably hundreds of horses overseas for these people,’ so I went ahead and paid for the horse, finished the deal, and thought when I got back from Europe, the wire would be in and I’d be all set,” he continued. “Unfortunately, it was not and the deal did not go through, and I got stuck with the horse, so to speak.”

From a racing perspective, the deal has worked out fairly well for Schumer. Worldly has finished in the money in all three of his starts for his new owner, earning $73,936.

Since the acquisition, Brendan Walsh has trained the horse, taking over for Paul McGee. Walsh, a former assistant to Eddie Kenneally, hung his own shingle as a trainer in October 2011.

“Brendan is, I think, a future force to be reckoned with in the training world,” Schumer said. “He’s just done an outstanding job with this horse. I think this horse, for whatever reason, has blossomed a little bit with Brendan.”

Worldly has been based at the Churchill Downs Training Center in Louisville, Ky., where he last posted a timed workout on Sept. 20, completing five furlongs in 1:01.80. It was the fourth fastest of 10 horses to work at the distance.

Bred in Kentucky by Samantha Siegel and Mace Siegel, Worldly is out of Grade 1-winning Citidancer mare Urbane, who is the dam of six winners from eight foals to race. Worldly is a full brother to multiple Grade 2 winner Suave.