Coach Pope moves to two turns as heavy Breeders' Futurity favorite

The best 2-year-old maiden race this year reverberates from New York to Kentucky on Saturday afternoon.

Gaudreau, who won the first race Aug. 8 at Saratoga, and U. S. S. Valor, who ran third in it, are the favorites in the Grade 1 Champagne at Belmont. A little more than an hour after the Champagne, Coach Pope, second in the salty Saratoga sprint maiden, starts as an odds-on morning-line favorite in the Grade 1, $650,000 Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland.

Gaudreau hasn’t run since his half-length debut victory, but U. S. S. Valor returned a month later with a 13 1/4-length maiden romp at Saratoga, earning a division-best 105 Beyer Speed Figure. Coach Pope showed up Sept. 12 at Churchill and put forth his own standout performance. Jose Ortiz plunked Coach Pope down on the fence just behind the leader until go time came past the half-mile pole. Coach Pope, demonstrating unusually sharp acceleration, slipped between rivals, took the lead in an instant, and drew clear under little urging to post a 12 1/2-length score in a one-turn mile. His Beyer came back 86. His performance looked better.

“He’s got a great mind on him,” trainer Kenny McPeek said. “He looks like a next-level horse.”

Ortiz has a return call and breaks the 4-5 morning-line favorite from the rail in this two-turn, 1 1/16-mile contest that’s part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series. The winner earns automatic fees-paid entry into the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, which comes up a mere 27 days later at Keeneland.

Handicappers casting a cold eye on a short favorite might note that even while running up his margin of victory facing 11 overmatched Churchill maidens, Coach Pope steadily decelerated. The quarter-mile splits from his win: 22.85 seconds, 23.19, 24.62, and 25.11. To some extent, that’s American dirt racing – fast early, slow late. By Tapit out of Gamble’s Ghost, by Ghostzapper, Coach Pope is bred to stay a route of ground.

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“He’d shown serious talent before his first race, he ran well first out, and we sat on him waiting on that mile. He’s going to relish a mile and a sixteenth,” McPeek said.

Coach Pope faces no more than five foes, and Q B Rocket, a colt trainer Brad Cox seems to really like, figures a strong second choice.

A $1.9 million auction purchase by Gun Runner out of Ginja, by Quality Road, Q B Rocket did all the training for his debut at Churchill, but Cox shipped the colt to Saratoga for his first start. Q B Rocket went off the 6-5 favorite in an Aug. 15 maiden sprint, and if you watch video of his Aug. 1 breeze, you can understand why.

Working a fast five furlongs from the gate, Q B Rocket was paired with a colt named National Forest who debuted Aug. 21 at Ellis Park, finished a good second with a 73 Beyer, and figured to go off favored Friday in a Keeneland maiden. Q B Rocket appeared to be in a totally different league and ran like it at Saratoga. Under Junior Alvarado, Q B Rocket broke sharply, took an early lead, and never came close to relinquishing control of a six-furlong contest. A long, strong gallop-out looked intentional.

“He has the pedigree to go long, and he trains like he’ll go long,” Cox said. “We’ve been pointing for this since he broke his maiden. We’ll see if he’s good enough.”

American History, third choice on the line at 4-1, could slip through the cracks despite posting a 6 1/2-length debut victory Aug. 22 at Saratoga. He was sent off at a surprisingly high price of 9-1, given his high-profile connections. American History lacked early speed, circled wide on the turn, and sustained a 3 1/2-furlong run to win going away, a good, steady gallop-out punctuating his actual race. The Beyers did not love the performance, which earned just a 76, but American History should handle two turns, and a fast, taxing pace could boost his chances.

Phone Booth leaves Southern California after three starts there and thus gets away from the West Coast’s leading 2-year-old colt, Hughes, who thumped him in a pair of sprint stakes. Title Worthy has started his career with two wins, both sprinting, and almost certainly will prove a pace factor. Jaded’s winning debut over 6 1/2 furlongs at Kentucky Downs came with a long eye-catching run between horses. Trainer Mark Casse said Jaded trains well on dirt and that he had this race in mind since Jaded won on Aug. 30.

“Obviously, this is a different kettle of fish,” Casse said. “But this is the time of year where you’re trying to figure out where they fit in.”

Three juveniles from the same Saratoga maiden race apparently fit in at the head of their class. By Saturday evening, we figure to know if that’s truly the case.

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