Pletcher-Baffert matchup looms in Breeders' Cup Juvenile

The landscape of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile field changed over the weekend, but one thing that remained the same is that trainers Bob Baffert and Todd Pletcher once again will be front and center in the $2 million race.

Baffert and Pletcher have combined to win four of the last six runnings of the Juvenile. Baffert, who already has the probable race favorite in American Pharoah, is now considering two recent maiden winners for the race. One Lucky Dane, a son of hard-luck 2009 Juvenile loser Lookin At Lucky, won a one-mile maiden race by 9 1/2 lengths Saturday at Santa Anita. On Sept. 27, Punctuate – the first foal to race out of the 19-for-19 mare Peppers Pride – won a 6 1/2-furlong maiden race at Santa Anita.

Whomever Baffert runs, he will have to be leery of the two-pronged Pletcher threat of Daredevil and Carpe Diem. Daredevil and Carpe Diem both earned fees-paid berths into the Juvenile last Saturday. Daredevil won the Grade 1 Champagne at Belmont, and Carpe Diem won the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland.

:: BREEDERS’ CUP 2014: See DRF’s top contenders

Daredevil earned a whopping Beyer Speed Figure of 107 for his 2 1/2-length victory in the Champagne, run over a sloppy Belmont main track. He never felt the leather of jockey Javier Castellano’s whip and could be the second choice in the Juvenile.

On Monday, Pletcher stopped just short of confirming Daredevil for the race only because he hadn’t had post-race discussions with Kevin Scatuorchio and Bryan Sullivan of Let’s Go Stable, which owns Daredevil.

Though Daredevil only made it to the races Sept. 13, Pletcher said he doesn’t feel that running him in the Juvenile – making it three races in 51 days – is too much too soon.

“I don’t get the impression it would based on the way the horse ran and the way he’s come out of it so far,” Pletcher said. “Just want to make sure everybody’s on the same page as far as the disadvantage of having to go to California and compete against the horses that are based there and stabled there. The performance was very impressive, and he came out of it well enough to go that way if we decide that’s what we want to do.”

After discussion with Elliott Walden, president of owner WinStar Farm, Pletcher did confirm Carpe Diem for the Juvenile. Carpe Diem, a son of Giant’s Causeway who was the co-sale-topper at $1.6 million at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co. March sale, won the Breeders’ Futurity by 6 1/4 lengths. He was stretching out around two turns off just one 5 1/2-furlong maiden win at Saratoga on Sept. 1.

“He handled the two turns very well,” Pletcher said. “We felt like he would, but it was good to see just the same.”

Carpe Diem, owned by WinStar Farm and Stonestreet Stables, was due to return to Pletcher’s New York barn Tuesday.

Mr. Z likely earned his shot in the Juvenile by finishing second to Carpe Diem in the Breeders’ Futurity. This son of Malibu Moon is trained by D. Wayne Lukas, who has won the Juvenile five times. Mr. Z is owned by Zayat Stables, which owns American Pharoah. Zayat also owns El Kabeir, who is likely to skip the Juvenile after finishing a well-beaten fourth in the Champagne.

Others who fell out of consideration for the Juvenile based on their performances in weekend preps were I Spent It, who finished last in the Champagne, and Bold Conquest, who finished a well-beaten third in the Futurity.

Upstart, the runner-up in the Champagne, is still under consideration for the Juvenile, per trainer Rick Violette, but is by no means a definite starter.

Among those considered definite to run are Calculator and Texas Red, second and third to American Pharoah in the FrontRunner Stakes at Santa Anita; Lucky Player, the winner of the Iroquois Stakes at Churchill Downs; and Souper Colossal, the winner of the Sapling Stakes at Monmouth.