Potential BC Classic field swells with additions of Prayer for Relief, Noble Moon

The ranks of prospective pre-entrants for the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 1 at Santa Anita now include Prayer for Relief and Noble Moon, bringing to at least 16 the number of horses expected to be pre-entered Monday.

A maximum field of 14 can run in the 1 1/4-mile Classic. If more than that are pre-entered, a multitiered process would be used to determine the field. Initial spots go to those – like Shared Belief – who captured Win and You’re In races, followed by those with the most points under the system used by the Breeders’ Cup, and, finally, the remainder of the field is ranked according to preference by the Breeders’ Cup selection committee.

Pre-entries will be announced Oct. 22. Final entries are taken, and posts drawn, Oct. 27.

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The likely starting field should be closer to 14, since a horse like Tapiture – who is expected to also be pre-entered Monday in the BC Dirt Mile – could opt for another race. If 16 are pre-entered, two at that point would be on the outside looking in. Prayer for Relief and Noble Moon could be those two.

Prayer for Relief has not won a race in eight starts this year. He was third in the Woodward at Saratoga in his last start Aug. 30. He was scheduled to run in the Jockey Club Gold Cup last month but was a late scratch after getting loose in the paddock.

Prayer for Relief was sent from Kentucky to Santa Anita on Tuesday by trainer Dale Romans, who on Wednesday said it will be up to owner Ahmed Zayat and Zayat’s son and racing manager, Justin, as to whether Prayer for Relief runs.

“The horse is doing as good as a horse can do,” Romans said from Kentucky. “It’s up to Mr. Zayat and Justin to handicap the race and decide if they want to run. The final decision is up to them.”

Noble Moon, who finished in a dead heat for fourth behind Bayern in the Pennsylvania Derby last month, also is training toward a start in the Classic, trainer Leah Gyarmati said Wednesday.

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On Tuesday, Noble Moon breezed six furlongs in 1:15.47 over the Belmont Park main track. Irad Ortiz Jr., who would ride Noble Moon in the Classic, worked the colt.

“He went nice and relaxed and finished up good,” Gyarmati said. “Irad thought he went great. Walking home after breezing like that, he was rearing and bucking and kicking.”

Noble Moon, a son of Malibu Moon, began the year with a victory in the Jerome at Aqueduct on Jan. 4. Foot issues plagued the colt throughout most of the spring and early summer. After a sixth-place finish in the Wood Memorial in April, Noble Moon did not run again until August, when he finished fourth in the King’s Bishop going seven furlongs at Saratoga.

Though beaten 6 1/2 lengths by Bayern in the Pennsylvania Derby, Noble Moon was beaten only three-quarters of a length for second and finished in front of Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner California Chrome, who was sixth.

Gyarmati said one of the allures of running in the Classic is the 1 1/4-mile distance.

“It’s what we wanted to do all along before the foot thing happened,” Gyarmati said. “We were pointing to the classic races because of the distance. We never got a chance to get there. This is the first time we’ve been able to string his races together and his works together.”

– additional reporting by David Grening