McKinzie, Higher Power tune up for Breeders' Cup Classic in Awesome Again

Not long after McKinzie dropped a nose decision in the Santa Anita Handicap on April 6, trainer Bob Baffert opined that McKinzie’s second consecutive loss was not reflective of his actual standing, as Baffert firmly believed he was the best horse in the country.

Since that race, McKinzie romped in the Alysheba at Churchill Downs, was a tough-luck second to the high-class Mitole in the Met Mile at Belmont Park, and won the Whitney at Saratoga – earning Beyer Speed Figures of 107 or better in all three races – putting him back in play for year-end honors.

On Saturday, McKinzie will tune up for the Breeders’ Cup Classic when he faces five rivals – including fellow Grade 1 winners Higher Power and Seeking the Soul – in the Grade 1, $300,000 Awesome Again Stakes going 1 1/8 miles at Santa Anita. It will be McKinzie’s final prep for the 1 1/4-mile Breeders’ Cup Classic five weeks later.

Asked if he still believes McKinzie is the best horse in the country, Baffert replied, “Can I tell you Saturday afternoon?

“He’s just a really, really top horse,” Baffert added. “The way he breezes, he’s one of those kind that just breathes different air. He couldn’t be doing any better than he is right now.”

However, McKinzie is facing a razor-sharp rival in Higher Power, who comes off a dominating victory in the Pacific Classic at Del Mar. Baffert and John Sadler, trainer of Higher Power, often watch workouts in the same vicinity of the Santa Anita box seat section, and Baffert has seen enough in recent weeks to know Higher Power could give McKinzie all he can handle.

“Higher Power, since John got him, he’s really improved,” Baffert said. “It looks like it could be a private little match race.”

Four others are entered in the Awesome Again, which goes as race 10 on an 11-race card that begins at 12:30 p.m. Pacific. The card includes three other stakes, most notably a pair of 1 1/4-mile grass races, the Grade 1 Rodeo Drive for older female turf horses such as Beau Recall, and the Grade 2 John Henry Turf Championship for older horses such as Acclimate and United. The Rodeo Drive is a Win and You’re In toward the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf.

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The Awesome Again is a Win and You’re In for the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Three of the six runners – Higher Power, McKinzie, and Seeking the Soul – already have earned fees-paid berths to the Classic through victories in earlier, significant races for the division. But the other three runners – Draft Pick, Isotherm, and Mongolian Groom – all would get an automatic berth in the Classic with a victory.

McKinzie has finished first or second in 11 of his 12 starts, his only aberration a dreadful performance in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs, which marked his second start following a layoff of more than six months and his first try against older horses.

“Last year, it was too much for him,” Baffert said. “He was not like he is now. He’s fresh. He’s happy, his coat looks good. But Higher Power, he looks good, too.”

Higher Power got a career-best Beyer of 107 for his 5 1/4-length victory in the 1 1/4-mile Pacific Classic. After the race, Sadler’s initial thought was to go straight to the Breeders’ Cup Classic, but Higher Power had other ideas.

“What I had was the option. With the Win and You’re In from the Pacific Classic, I didn’t have to worry about qualifying,” Sadler said Thursday morning. “He’s done so well, the horse has taken us here. It wasn’t me setting the schedule. He’s worked so well, we decided to call an audible.”

McKinzie and Higher Power both carry top weight of 125 pounds and will spot between two to four pounds to their rivals.

Seeking the Soul was seventh last time out in the Pacific Classic, after which trainer Dallas Stewart said he had thumps, in which a horse’s diaphragm spasms, usually owing to an electrolyte imbalance from excessive sweating.

It had never happened before with Seeking the Soul, Stewart said Thursday, and to try and prevent a recurrence, Seeking the Soul was sent to Santa Anita well in advance of the Awesome Again, in time to work last Saturday. And he will remain at Santa Anita through the Breeders’ Cup.

“We got him out there to get him acclimated,” Stewart said. “He’s doing terrific. I think he’ll run terrific and be stone-cold ready for the Classic.”

The others are outsiders. Draft Pick was a distant second in the Pacific Classic, finishing a neck in front of Mongolian Groom, who subsequently was fifth in the Woodward. Isotherm was fourth in the Brubaker at Del Mar last month in his first start since November.