Young horses make mistakes. It’s just part of the process of learning to race. Terrapin Station and Mitty’s Griddy both made some in their respective career debuts last month at Churchill Downs. They each won, too, making them interesting prospects for the $200,000 Bowman’s Mill on Saturday at Keeneland.
Two Octobers ago, Hit Show won his career debut as the favorite in a Keeneland maiden race. Saturday, Hit Show makes his second Keeneland start as the favorite in the Grade 2, $350,000 Fayette Stakes.
That he starts as the favorite for trainer Brad Cox carries a huge amount of weight.
DEL MAR, Calif. – For the last month, trainer Doug Cowans has been looking for any reason not to send Next to Southern California for the Breeders’ Cup. Unable to find anything, Next on Monday will be bound for California, where on Nov. 2 he will run in the $7 million Classic at Del Mar.
In the off-chance that he finds something amiss between now and Monday, Cowans on Thursday listed Next’s participation in the Classic at “99.5 percent.”
The City of Hope Mile on Sept. 28 at Santa Anita served as an inflection point for the 3-year-old turf miler Trikari. Win or come close and it would be on to the Breeders’ Cup Mile.
Trikari didn’t run poorly, finishing fourth while facing older rivals for the first time, beaten 1 1/2 lengths by California kingpin Johannes. But instead of a return trip to California, Trikari starts Saturday at Keeneland, facing fellow 3-year-olds in the Bryan Station Stakes.
An easier race than the Breeders’ Cup Mile? Sure. A slam dunk for Trikari? Not so much.
From a relatively small number of foals produced each year, Ohio-breds have produced some strong performances against open company. Less than a week before a statebred runner gets a chance on one of the biggest stages of all at the Breeders’ Cup, other leaders of the Buckeye State’s program will be showcased at home in the fall Best of Ohio card Saturday at Mahoning Valley.
ARCADIA, Calif. – The best 3-year-old grass horse in California? He is Formidable Man, recent winner of the Grade 2 Del Mar Derby.
The most durable and consistent? None match four-time stakes winner Stay Hot, runner-up in the Del Mar Derby and the one to beat Saturday in the Grade 2 Twilight Derby at Santa Anita.
Coming off a neck defeat to division leader Thorpedo Anna in the Grade 1 Cotillion at Parx last month, Gun Song certainly would not have been out of place in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Distaff on Nov. 2 at Del Mar.
There was a discussion about it, ever so brief, between owner Lee Lewis and trainer Mark Hennig, but in the end they opted for a more conservative route. Saturday, Gun Song, 44-1 when she faced Thorpedo Anna, will be among the betting favorites in the Grade 2, $250,000 Mother Goose Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at Aqueduct.
If the early returns mean anything, in Top Gunner trainer Brad Cox and owner Michael Dubb might have found themselves a useful prospect for New York’s sprint stakes this the fall and upcoming winter.
Claimed for $62,500 out of a key race at Saratoga in August, Top Gunner made quite the first impression, rallying along the inside in near darkness to win the $100,000 Parx Sprint, the last of 14 races on the Pennsylvania Derby Day card on Sept. 21.
Saturday, Top Gunner will seek a second straight stakes victory in the Grade 3, $175,000 Bold Ruler Stakes at Aqueduct.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – A year ago at this time, trainer Rick Dutrow was preparing the 16th-place finisher from the 2022 Kentucky Derby to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Saturday, Dutrow will try to get the 15th-place finisher from the 2022 Kentucky Derby to win Saturday’s Grade 3, $250,000 Forty Niner Stakes at Aqueduct.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Tito’s Calling will be looking to get back on track under what should be favorable conditions in Saturday’s $100,000 Eternal Search Stakes at Woodbine.
A 4-year-old trained by Mike DePaulo, Tito’s Calling was never better than when she won the $250,000 Wonder Where Stakes in September of last year, after which she ran fifth in the Breeders’ Stakes, the anchor leg of the Canadian Triple Crown. She was given the winter off after placing in two Ontario-sired stakes late in the fall.
