Breeders' Cup workouts: Flat Out, Chriselliam make impressions

ARCADIA, Calif. – The gang’s all here! Well, almost.

As of Tuesday, the majority of Breeders’ Cup horses were on the grounds at Santa Anita with more and more new faces hitting the track each morning. First sightings on Tuesday included all Breeders’ Cup starters trained by the New York based trio of Bill Mott, Chad Brown and Shug McGaughey. All the European contenders, save for the five trained by Aidan O’Brien, have been released from quarantine and had a chance to train the last two mornings although their activity, for the most part, has been limited pretty much to easy jogs and canters.

There were no official workouts recorded by any of the Breeders’ Cup runners on Tuesday although, as his style, trainer Doug O’Neill allowed all nine of his starters to stretch their legs by open galloping down the lane and into the clubhouse turn. Private Zone caught the eye going three-eighths of a mile from the quarter pole in 41 and change.

[bc_video_id:308734:]While the majority of Mott’s Breeders’ Cup horses arrived on Monday and did little more than jog once around the one-mile oval the wrong way – including Royal Delta and Ron the Greek – Flat Out had the luxury of getting to town one day earlier. As a result, he was sent out for a routine gallop following the third and last renovation break on Tuesday, making an awesome appearance as he prepares for his third consecutive appearance in the Classic.

The turf course was opened a couple of hours earlier than usual on Tuesday, shortly before 7:45 a.m., with only two horses, Chriselliam and Dank, taking advantage of the opportunity to train on grass. Chriselliam really caught the eye galloping strongly but well in reserve while kept out past the center of the course. That first impression stamps her as a major player in the Juvenile Fillies Turf. Dank was not as active, but the robust filly made a good appearance while nearly scraping the outer rail as she just cantered down the stretch.

Dance to Bristol looked a bit tentative and uncomfortable during a routine jog here Monday in her first visit to the track after arriving from Maryland the previous day. But she was much smoother and happier once able to stretch her legs and gallop on Tuesday. Her chief rival in the Filly and Mare Sprint, defending champ Groupie Doll, appears to have bounced out of Saturday’s work in good order from the looks of her impressive-looking training session.

Another member of the Filly and Mare Sprint field to have a very good morning was Dance Card, who turned in a high-spirited and eye-pleasing gallop shortly after the first renovation break.

Fast Bullet has been handled carefully by trainer D. Wayne Lukas since his arrival in Southern California. He has not worked since leaving Churchill Downs, and simply jogged over the training track on Monday. He returned to the main track for a routine gallop on Tuesday and was striding out the best I’ve seen this past week.