Fast Anna, Little Alexis work towards Breeders' Cup

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainers Kathy Ritvo and Carlo Vaccarezza were all smiles after watching their respective Breeders’ Cup candidates Fast Anna and Little Alexis work over a very quick main track Saturday morning at Gulfstream Park.

Ritvo sent out Fast Anna to go five furlongs from the half-mile pole in 57.32 seconds shortly after the first renovation break. With regular exercise rider Nick Petro Jr. aboard, Fast Anna wasted little time putting his ample speed on display, posting a 21.79 split for the opening quarter-mile. He completed four furlongs to the wire in 44.31 while still well within himself before continuing out around the turn, while easing up slightly nearing the mile marker.

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Fast Anna worked in blinkers and will wear them when he competes in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Santa Anita on Nov. 1. Fast Anna raced in blinkers when finishing second in the Grade 1 King’s Bishop at Saratoga, but did not wear them when second again in the Grade 3 Gallant Bob last month at Parx.

“It was a little faster than I’d have liked this morning, but the track was on the fast side and he did it very easily,” said Ritvo, who won the Breeders’ Cup Classic last year with Mucho Macho Man. “I’m putting the blinkers back on him because I thought he lost his focus a bit in the race at Parx.

“I can slow his works down by taking the blinkers off or speed them up, if I wanted to, by putting him in company. The important thing is that we just let him do it on his own. He’s a smart horse and he knows what he can handle, which is exactly the way we did things out there before the Breeders’ Cup with Mucho Macho Man.”

Fast Anna was scheduled to leave Sunday for California, where he will have two more works prior to the Breeders’ Cup. He will be reunited with jockey John Velazquez in the Sprint. Velazquez rode him in the King’s Bishop but not the Gallant Bob.

Vaccarezza waited until after the second break to breeze Little Alexis, who is being pointed for the Filly and Mare Sprint, also on Nov. 1. Little Alexis had Edgar Zayas aboard for her work and, like Fast Anna, began at the half-mile pole and worked to the mile pole on the point of the clubhouse turn. Little Alexis posted splits of 11.50, 23.15, and 46.62 to the wire, and then was nudged just slightly finishing five-eighths in 58.97 seconds into the turn before galloping out six furlongs in a sharp 1:11.97.

Vaccarezza said Zayas called Little Alexis “something special” after the work.

Little Alexis finished a troubled third in the Grade 1 Test and fourth in the grade 1 Cottilion. She will be ridden by Joel Rosario in the Filly and Mare Sprint.

“She will have two maintenance works at Santa Anita,” Vaccarezza said. “She doesn’t have to prove anything more. Ninety percent of the work was done this morning. If she can runs back to her race in the Test, I’ll think she’ll be very competitive in the Breeders’ Cup.”

The Vaccarezza-trained Little Daddy worked seven furlongs from the five-eighths pole in 1:24.06 under Zayas here Saturday. Sixth last out in the Albany at Saratoga, Little Daddy will run next Saturday at Gulfstream Park West in the $75,000 Showing Up Stakes for 3-year-olds going a mile on turf.

◗ Ritvo will send out one of the favorites, Silver Menace, in Monday’s $40,000 feature, a second-level optional $50,000 claimer at Gulfstream Park West. Silver Menace is coming off a second-place finish under similar conditions last month at Gulfstream. Other contenders include recent allowance winner Balthazar, Argosy, and the multiple stakes-placed Megamove.