Nelson's potential defection could make room in BC Juvenile Turf
The Aidan O’Brien-trained Nelson is entered to race Sunday at Saint-Cloud in the Group 1 Criterium Saint-Cloud, which would preclude a start in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf.
Nelson was pre-entered in the BC Juvenile Turf and had an automatic slot in the race because he won a Breeders’ Cup Challenge Win and You’re In race in Ireland. If Nelson indeed is taken out of the Juvenile Turf it would allow another horse into a race capped at 14 runners that attracted 27 pre-entrants.
The first horse excluded from the field’s main body is My Boy Jack, last-out winner of the Zuma Beach Stakes. The second horse on the excluded list is Snapper Sinclair, last-out winner of the Kentucky Downs Juvenile. O’Brien has two other horses in the BC Juvenile’s main body, U S Navy Flag and Mendelssohn; the latter was entered with first preference for the BC Juvenile, the former with second preference in that race, and one of the two is expected to start in the Juvenile and be taken out of the Juvenile Turf. If that happens and Nelson indeed isn’t shipped to California, My Boy Jack and Snapper Sinclair both get into the Juvenile Turf.
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The next horse on the excluded list after Snapper Sinclair is his Steve Asmussen-trained stablemate, Tap Daddy, who finished second last out in the Bourbon Stakes at Keeneland, a BC Challenge race that was rained from turf onto dirt but retained its Win and You’re In status. Flameway won the Bourbon and has a spot in the Juvenile Turf, where he will make his grass debut.
Tap Daddy is in California and will run in the Juvenile Turf if he can get into the race, Asmussen said. As for Snapper Sinclair, he has been in California since late September and has posted four workouts at Santa Anita, the first three on dirt before working a swift five furlongs in 1:00 over turf on Sunday.
“He’s as talented as can be,” said Asmussen, who moved his Breeders’ Cup runners from Santa Anita to Del Mar on Friday.
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