Sistercharlie looks good breezing five furlongs for BC

ELMONT, N.Y. - Trainer Chad Brown is expected to pre-enter 11 horses on Monday in the two-day Breeders’ Cup event to be held Nov. 2-3 at Churchill Downs. On Sunday, led by potential race favorites Sistercharlie and Newspaperofrecord, nine of those horses put in workouts with seven of them at Belmont Park.

Sistercharlie, a three-time Grade 1 winner, breezed five furlongs in 1:00.78 over the good Belmont inner turf course. She worked inside of Uni, and got her last three furlongs in 34.85 seconds with a strong wind at the horses’ backs in the stretch.

Brown is trying to bring Sistercharlie into the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf off a 2 1/2-month layoff since she won the Grade 1 Beverly D. at Arlington Park on Aug. 11. Brown held her out of the Flower Bowl on Oct. 7 after Sistercharlie bruised a hind foot and missed some training time.

“It took longer to resolve than I liked,” Brown said. “But after we got that resolved and moved her back to Belmont, she’s been in a nice rhythm galloping and breezing, moving as sound as ever. Her work today was really a signal how well in fact she’s doing.”

Brown could have as many as four in the Filly and Mare Turf. Fourstar Crook, the Grade 1 Flower Bowl winner, and A Raving Beauty, winner of the Grade 1 First Lady at Keeneland, worked a half-mile together in 48.72 seconds over the Belmont turf.

Irad Ortiz Jr. had a stranglehold on A Raving Beauty, who Brown described as “a keen, sharp workhorse. She did breeze well and I’m happy to see her normal breeze.”

Fourstar Crook continues to do well and while she is likely to be overshadowed by Sistercharlie, Brown said, “she’s got as much chance to win that race as anyone in there. She’s doing great.”

Brown also plans to pre-enter Thais in the Filly and Mare Turf. Thais, who shares common ownership with Sistercharlie, worked four furlongs in 49.45 seconds at Saratoga.

Robert Bruce, the Arlington Million winner, worked five furlongs in 1:00.78 in company with Instilled Regard as he prepares for the Breeders’ Cup Turf.

While pleased enough with the move, Brown said he is hoping for firmer ground for the Breeders’ Cup for Robert Bruce.

“He’s dependent on firmer ground,” Brown said. “Can he handle a touch of cut in the ground, normal autumn-type conditions without rain? Yes. Is he effective on soft ground? I’m going to say no.”

Newspaperofrecord, the Miss Grillo winner and probable Juvenile Fillies Turf favorite, worked a half-mile in 48.65 seconds over the main track shortly after 7 a.m. Sunday. Last week, Brown worked Newspaperofrecord on the dirt out of necessity when turf works were canceled and liked what he saw, so he put her back on the main track again with Significant Form.

“I liked how she exited the work, so I did it again,” Brown said. “I really liked what I saw again.”

Brown plans to pre-enter both Analyze It and Almanaar in the Breeders’ Cup Mile. Those two finished fourth and eighth, respectively, in the Grade 1 Shadwell Turf Mile at Keeneland. Brown said their performances in that race were too bad to be true. They worked a half-mile in company in 49.12 seconds over the turf course.

“I’m going to do something that I normally don’t do, and draw a line through that race and go into an even bigger race off of it,” Brown said.

“Anyone who knows me knows that’s not my normal way of managing my horses. I wanted to see these horses breeze and I know it’s only a maintenance half-mile, but they’re moving so sound and strong I just don’t trust anything about the Shadwell Mile.”

At Keeneland, Standard Deviation worked a half-mile in 48.60 seconds in preparation for the Juvenile. Brown said Standard Deviation, third in the Breeders’ Futurity last out, worked in blinkers, equipment he will wear for the first time in the Juvenile.

Brown will also run Complexity in the Juvenile. He worked a half-mile in 49.23 seconds on Saturday. Wow Cat, Brown’s runner in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff, worked a half-mile on Saturday in 49.28 seconds.

Backtohisroots works for Turf Sprint

Backtohisroots, second to Uncle Benny in the Futurity, worked a half-mile in 48.93 seconds over the Belmont turf course in preparation for a start in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint.

Backtohisroots worked in company with Broadway Run and while he came into the lane several paths wide, trainer John Terranova said that was due to exercise rider Simon Harris seeking “better ground to work over.”

Terranova said Harris told him Backtohisroots “felt great.”

Ricardo Santana Jr. will ride Backtohisroots.