Ruis confident Union Strike will be ready for Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies

ARCADIA, Calif.- Union Strike will have a gap of nine weeks between starts when she runs in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Santa Anita on Nov. 5.

Owner Mick Ruis insists the break is not an issue. Union Strike will be ready, he said.

The winner of the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante on Sept. 3, Union Strike worked seven furlongs in 1:27.80 at Santa Anita on Sunday in company with a stablemate. Sunday’s workout was the fourth for Union Strike since the Debutante. Union Strike was held out of the Grade 1 Chandelier Stakes on Oct. 1 because of a sore shin detected in mid-September.

Sunday, Ruis downplayed the lack of a recent race from Union Strike.

“She didn’t have them really bad,” Ruis said of Union Strike’s shins. “I don’t have to put her in a race I don’t want to.”

Union Strike was trained by Ruis’s daughter, Shelbe, for her first two starts, including the Del Mar Debutante. Mick Ruis, who owns Union Strike with his wife, Wendy, transferred the filly to Craig Dollase earlier this month. Mick Ruis said on Sunday that he plans to begin training Union Strike and the other horses he owns by the end of the year.

In Sunday’s workout, Union Strike worked in company with The Strip, beginning about three lengths behind. Ridden by jockey Martin Garcia, who was aboard for the win in the Debutante, Union Strike caught The Strip in early stretch and finished in front. Ruis timed the workout in 1:27.

“It looked super, especially the gallop-out,” Ruis said.

Union Strike has been entered in the Fasig-Tipton November Sale, but Ruis said she will not be offered.

Union Strike was one of several prominent hopefuls to work at Santa Anita on Sunday for Breeders’ Cup races.

Trainer Phil D’Amato had an active morning, working five Breeders’ Cup prospects – Bowies Hero, Metaboss, Obviously, Toowindytohaulrox, and Vyjack.

Bowies Hero, winner of the Del Mar Juvenile Turf last month, worked a half-mile on the training track in 50.60 seconds. He will start in the BC Juvenile Turf on Nov. 4.

Metaboss, fourth in the John Henry Turf Championship here Oct. 2, worked six furlongs on the training track in 1:16.20 in preparation for the BC Turf on Nov. 5. Obviously, who could start in the BC Turf Sprint or BC Mile, breezed a half-mile on the training track in 48.80 seconds.

D’Amato said he prefers to work some turf horses on the training track, particularly if they have a European background, such as Obviously.

“It’s more conducive to grass horses,” he said. “It’s a different surface. Europeans tend to acclimate well on it. Horses stay sound.”

On the main track, Toowindytohaulrox worked five furlongs in 59.40 seconds, while Vyjack was timed in 1:01.60.

Toowindytohaulrox, the winner of two stakes in the last year, will be pre-entered for the BC Turf Sprint. He was fourth in a division of the Grade 3 Eddie D Stakes on the hillside turf course here on Sept. 30.

“He came out of his race very well,” D’Amato said. “To me, he’s a dark horse.”

Vyjack worked alone in his first major exercise since a win in the City of Hope Mile on turf on Oct. 8. Vyjack set a course record of 1:31.69 in that race. He is a candidate for the BC Dirt Mile on Nov. 4 or the Mile on turf the following day.

“I want to see how everything will play out,” D’Amato said of a race choice. “He’s racing fit.”

In other works, Gun Runner, who was third in the Kentucky Derby in May, worked five furlongs in 1:00.40. Trained by Steve Asmussen, Gun Runner is being considered for the BC Dirt Mile or BC Classic on Nov. 5.

Ashleyluvssugar, winner of the Del Mar Handicap in August and the John Henry Turf Championship, worked five furlongs in 1:02.20. Trainer Peter Eurton timed Ashleyluvssugar galloping out six furlongs in “1:14 and change.”

Ashleyluvssugar will start in the BC Turf.

“He’s not a horse we need to press on,” Eurton said. “He’s not a big horse. The key is to keep him happy.”