Trainers hope to get off Breeders' Cup duck

ARCADIA, Calif. – Trainers Mark Casse, Christophe Clement, Ken McPeek, John Sadler, and Wesley Ward have won a lot of races in their careers.

Oddly enough, none of the quintet has won a Breeders’ Cup race. It’s not for lack of trying. The five horsemen entered this year’s two-day Breeders’ Cup event a combined 0 for 112 in the series but have many live contenders this year.

Clement, winless with 23 starters, has three horses in this year’s event: Belmont Stakes and Jockey Club Gold Cup winner Tonalist (Classic), Irish Mission (Filly and Mare Turf), and Summer Front (Mile).

Tonalist will be Clement’s third starter in the Classic. He finished third in the 2003 Classic with Dynever and second in 2009 with Gio Ponti.

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“It’s annoying,” Clement said of his Breeders’ Cup record. “I thought Gio Ponti ran a super race, had a great trip, got a great ride from Ramon Dominguez. He took the lead. I thought we had it won until Zenyatta, the champion that she was, came and beat him.”

Clement believes all three of his horses have good chances.

“I think even if Summer Front and Irish Mission are outsiders, I think they’re very live outsiders, and Tonalist is well known,” Clement said.

Sadler, who has won more than 2,100 races on the Southern California circuit, is 0 for 31 in the Breeders’ Cup. His filly Switch had two seconds and a third in the Filly and Mare Sprint.

Sadler has four horses to run this year, including Sweet Swap in Saturday’s Turf Sprint and Candy Boy in the Classic. On Friday, he runs Daddy D T in the Turf Sprint and Iotapa in the Distaff.

“I used to be a little harder on myself than I am this year,” Sadler said. “Do I have anything that is 4-5 or 6-5? No. We haven’t won one, but I feel they have run well on these big days. We haven’t won one, but I feel like as a trainer, knowing the kind of stock I have, I trained them up to get them to this level.”

Ward is 0 for 16 in the Breeders’ Cup, with Judy the Beauty having run second in last year’s Filly and Mare Sprint. Judy the Beauty is one of four program morning-line favorites whom Ward is running this year. That includes No Nay Never in Saturday’s Turf Sprint, a race in which Ward also runs the longshot Undrafted. On Friday, Ward runs Hootenanny in the Juvenile Turf and Sunset Glow in the Juvenile Fillies Turf.

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“It’s everybody’s dream to win the Breeders’ Cup,” Ward said. “You put so much time and effort into it. It would really mean a lot.”

Casse is expected to have four chances to snap his 0-for-19 mark in the Breeders’ Cup. On Saturday, he runs Conquest Eclipse in the Juvenile Fillies and Kaigun in the Mile. On Friday, he runs Conquest Typhoon in the Juvenile Turf and Conquest Harlanate in the Juvenile Fillies Turf.

McPeek, 0 for 23 in the Breeders’ Cup, with 5 seconds and 8 thirds, has Golden Ticket to run in Friday’s Dirt Mile.