Eight Rings, Improbable, Mirth work for Breeders' Cup

ARCADIA, Calif. – Eight Rings has behaved in such a positive manner in races and workouts in recent weeks to suggest his antics on Labor Day in the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity are behind him.

Eight Rings won the Grade 1 American Pharoah Stakes at 1 1/16 miles by six lengths at Santa Anita on Sept. 27 for his first stakes win. Monday, Eight Rings worked five furlongs in 1:01, moving closer to a start in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile here on Nov. 1.

“He looked great,” Baffert said. “He looks happy and healthy. He sat next to a horse and didn’t get rank. He’s not messing around.”

Eight Rings unseated jockey Drayden Van Dyke after ducking to the inside shortly after the start of the Del Mar Futurity on Sept. 2. The incident kept Van Dyke on the sidelines until late September with a minor arm injury.

John Velazquez rode Eight Rings in the American Pharoah Stakes and has the mount in the $2 million Juvenile at 1 1/16 miles. Baffert has won the BC Juvenile four times, most recently last year with Game Winner, who was later named champion 2-year-old male.

On Monday, Baffert worked Improbable five furlongs in 1:01.20 in preparation for the BC Dirt Mile on Nov. 2. A three-time stakes winner, Improbable finished a troubled fourth in the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby at Parx Racing on Sept. 21. The 6-5 favorite, Improbable was unprepared at the start and was beaten 1 1/4 lengths by Math Wizard.

Mirth, the winner of the Grade 1 Rodeo Drive Stakes for fillies and mares on turf here on Sept. 28, worked a half-mile on the infield training track Monday in 50.80 seconds. The workout was the first for Mirth since her win in the Rodeo Drive, a prep for the BC Filly and Mare Turf on Nov. 2.

“It was a nice, strong half on her own,” trainer Phil D’Amato said. “She’ll have two more works.”

Mirth led throughout the Rodeo Drive Stakes at 1 1/4 miles under jockey Mike Smith. In the BC Filly and Mare Turf, Smith is likely to employ the same strategy, though D’Amato said a stalking trip is not out of the question.

“The great thing is I’ll have a Hall of Famer up who has won on her and I’ll leave it up to him,” he said.