Rosario says BC Juvenile distance no problem for Jackie's Warrior

ELMONT, N.Y. - The big question surrounding Jackie’s Warrior entering the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile will be his ability to get two turns and 1 1/16 miles. His rider, Joel Rosario, seems to be confident it won’t be a problem for the undefeated 2-year-old.

“He has all kinds of gears,” Rosario said. “If you want to go fast, you can go fast. Obviously, going that far you don’t want to go too fast so you can have something for the end, but it seems like he’s carrying his speed. With two turns, it’s a different scenario, but it seems like he’ll have no problem but we won’t know til we go and try it.”

Uncle Mo (2010) and Shanghai Bobby (2012) are the last two Champagne winners to also win the Breeders’ Cup. The last five Champagne winners to run in the Juvenile all lost, including Complexity in 2018, though that horse came out of the race with sore shins. Tiz the Law, last year’s Champagne winner, did not run in the Juvenile.

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Jackie’s Warrior, a son of Maclean’s Music owned by Kirk and Judy Robison and trained by Steve Asmussen, on Saturday added a Champagne Stakes victory at Belmont to a resume that includes the Grade 1 Hopeful and Grade 2 Saratoga Special.

Jackie’s Warrior was scheduled to ship directly to Keeneland to prepare for the Juvenile.

Reinvestment Risk, the Champagne runner-up, is also possible for the Juvenile, trainer Chad Brown said.

“I’m going to watch him train a little bit; he ran a really solid race,” Brown said. “Disappointed he didn’t move forward at the mile distance. It could be Belmont’s track. I thought his two races at Saratoga, he was moving better. I may want to give him a crack at Keeneland on a fast track.”