Texas Red the bargain baby of Breeders' Cup Juvenile field

Among a Breeders’ Cup Juvenile field that will include a $1.6 million purchase and several others who brought six figures at auction, there is Texas Red, a son of Afleet Alex who sold for a mere $17,000.

Keith Desormeaux, the trainer and part-owner of Texas Red, doesn’t really know why. He thinks it’s the horse’s modest pedigree, noting that Afleet Alex has been “cold” at stud, and the dam is a Chilean-bred mare, Ramatuelle, whose four other foals have not done much.

Otherwise, Texas Red is “a physical masterpiece,” Desormeaux said.

He’s also a live longshot in the $2 million Juvenile, to be run Nov. 1 at Santa Anita. Texas Red is coming off a third-place finish to probable Juvenile favorite American Pharoah in the FrontRunner Stakes at Santa Anita on Sept. 27. That race followed a maiden win at Del Mar in his first try around two turns.

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“I think this horse will only get better with time and distance,” Desormeaux said. “He’s growthy and big and still filling out. The last word that would describe this colt is ‘precocious.’ To have done what he’s done, already we’re over the moon. He’s only going to get better.”

Desormeaux said he likely wouldn’t ship Texas Red out of town to run against the likes of American Pharoah, Daredevil, and Carpe Diem in the Juvenile, but since the Breeders’ Cup is in his own backyard, he’s going to take a shot.

He is hoping to have his brother, Kent Desormeaux, ride the colt. Kent Desormeaux suffered injuries to his rib and lung when he got kicked by a horse in the paddock before a Sept. 28 race at Santa Anita.

“According to Kent, no doubt he’s going to be back by then,” Keith Desormeaux said. “Most athletes have that frame of mind. We’ll see what happens over the next couple of weeks if I need to find a new rider.”

◗ American Pharoah, coming off a 3 1/4-length victory in the Grade 1 FrontRunner, returned to the work tab at Santa Anita on Wednesday, going four furlongs in 47.60 seconds. He worked inside of stablemate Fame and Power.

“Really nice,” trainer Bob Baffert said. “I had him on the inside, getting a little pressure from the outside. He handled it really well. It was a maintenance drill.”

◗ At Arlington on Wednesday, Private Prospect worked seven furlongs in 1:28.40 over the Polytrack. Private Prospect has won two stakes at Prairie Meadows and finished second in the Arlington-Washington Futurity last out.

Jockey James Campbell flew in from Toronto to work the colt for his father, trainer Michael Campbell. Private Prospect worked in company, but the workmate didn’t break away from the pole as sharply as either of the Campbells would have liked.

“I didn’t get quite as thorough a work as I was looking for, but overall, I thought the work was good,” Michael Campbell said. “He got his last eighth in 11 and 1.”

Campbell said Private Prospect is scheduled to leave for Southern California on Tuesday on a flight from Louisville, Ky.

– additional reporting by Brad Free