Palace, Zivo work for Breeders' Cup

ELMONT, N.Y. – Empire Showcase Day didn’t just pertain to Saturday afternoon at Belmont Park. On Saturday morning, two of the possible 10 New York-breds who could be pre-entered Monday for the Breeders’ Cup, to be held in two weeks at Santa Anita, put in workouts for their respective races.

Palace, the multiple Grade 1-winning sprinter, drilled six furlongs in 1:11.75 over the Belmont training track in preparation for the $1.5 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint. About 30 minutes later, Zivo, the Grade Suburban winner and Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup runner-up, worked five furlongs in 1:01.07 over the Belmont main track in preparation for the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic. Both races are Nov. 1.

Palace, working by himself under jockey Cornelio Velasquez, broke off at the quarter pole and went his first quarter in 23.66 seconds, hit the wire in 47.14, and then continued on through another quarter in 24.61 seconds around the turn.

For Palace, the move was similar in style to his move Oct. 11, when he again broke from the half-mile pole and galloped out six furlongs in 1:12.91. That day, he was officially credited with a half-mile move in 48.91 seconds.

“I want to make sure we got enough hard work done here,” trainer Linda Rice said. “It is the Breeders’ Cup Sprint; they’re going to have to run 1:08 and change or 1:09 and change.”

Palace won the Alfred G. Vanderbilt and Forego, both Grade 1 races at Saratoga, before finishing third in the Grade 1 Vosburgh here Sept. 27. Rice said she felt Palace had gotten a little heavy on her and that he ran a little flat in the Vosburgh.

“I had dieted him pretty heavy because he was getting pretty heavy, but that’s also part of the reason I set him down good,” Rice said. “Now his weight is perfect.”

Rice is booked to ship Palace to Southern California on Tuesday, but she said Saturday she might postpone the trip a week, now that it appears the temperatures are starting to moderate in Southern California after a bit of a heat wave.

Rice said either way, Palace’s next work will be an easy half-mile.

Zivo worked shortly after the main track opened following the midmorning renovation break.

Zivo, working in company with the filly Endless Chatter, went his first quarter in 24.83 seconds, three furlongs in 36.37, and got his final quarter in 24.70. Zivo galloped out six furlongs in 1:14.23 and seven-eighths in 1:28.28.

“Zivo has never been a real flashy work horse. I wanted him to go in 1:01, and that’s what he did,” trainer Chad Brown said. “He came back good. Just want to maintain where he’s at right now.”

Brown put Zivo inside of Endless Chatter, a 4-year-old filly pointing to next Sunday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Turnback the Alarm Handicap.

“With that particular matchup – a big colt and a small filly – I want to let him be in charge,” Brown said. “I’ve worked him inside, and I’ve worked him outside. It depends on who he’s working with.”

Zivo is scheduled to have one more work at Belmont before shipping to Southern California on Oct. 27.