Palace on track for Breeders' Cup Sprint

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Coming off two Grade 1 victories at Saratoga, Palace will be aimed toward the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Santa Anita on Nov. 1 with the potential of running in the Grade 1 Vosburgh at Belmont Park on Sept. 27, trainer Linda Rice said Sunday.

After winning the Grade 1 Vanderbilt here Aug. 2 by one length, Palace returned four weeks later to win Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Forego Stakes by 3 1/2 lengths over fellow New York-bred Big Business. The win earned Palace a fees-paid berth into the Sprint.

“I’ve had horses go to the Breeders’ Cup before, but he’s the right kind of horse,” Rice said Sunday. “He’s got enough talent. He rates beautifully. He’s got enough speed to sit right behind the front end. He’s the kind of horse you’d want to go to the Breeders’ Cup with especially when he’s in this kind of form.”

In his last four starts, Palace has three wins – he also captured the Grade 2 True North – and finished second to Clearly Now in the Belmont Sprint Championship. Palace earned a 101 Beyer Speed Figure for his Forego victory.

Rice said Palace would ship back to Belmont Park on Wednesday and will train toward the $400,000 Vosburgh on Sept. 27.

“Based on how he’s training going into the race, we’ll decide if we want to use the race or pass it and go straight to the Breeders’ Cup,” Rice said. “It’s a prep. It’s the right spacing, if as I’m training him towards it, things aren’t just right … you never know when you’re going to have a hiccup – we’ll pass.”

Meanwhile, trainer Brian Lynch said he could not find anything amiss with the Forego favorite Clearly Now, who finished eighth as the 4-5 favorite. Lynch said Clearly Now would be sent to a clinic in Canada for a nuclear scan this week, the results of which will dictate what course of action to take for the fall.

No plan yet for Stonetastic

Trainer Kelly Breen said Stonetastic came out of her blowout 8 1/2-length victory in Saturday’s Grade 2 Prioress Stakes in good order, but no definitive plan has been made for the 3-year-old filly’s fall campaign.

Breen said if the decision is made to point to the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Santa Anita, Stonetastic could prep in the Grade 2, $200,000 Thoroughbred Club of America against older fillies and mares Oct. 4 at Keeneland. If the decision is made to skip the Breeders’ Cup, the Grade 2, $250,000 Raven Run Stakes for 3-year-old fillies Oct. 18 at Keeneland is a possibility.

“We’ll let the horse tell us,” said Breen, who trains Stonetastic for Jim Stone’s Stoneway Farm.

Stonetastic earned a 108 Beyer Speed Figure for her Prioress performance.