LEXINGTON, Ky. – It took the entire length of the stretch, but Got Stormy was up in the final jump to prevail as the odds-on favorite Friday in the 24th running of the Grade 3, $150,000 Franklin County at Keeneland.
With only 100 yards to go in the 5 1/2-furlong turf race, Got Stormy still had plenty of ground to make up – which she did, barely. Her nose was first on the wire, just ahead of Into Mystic, when stopping the timer in 1:02.33 over a course rated good.
ELMONT, N.Y. – After originally planning to run Sistercharlie in Saturday’s Grade 1, $250,000 Flower Bowl at Belmont Park, trainer Chad Brown called an audible and has decided just to train the 6-year-old mare up to the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Keeneland on Nov. 7.
Brown felt running in the Flower Bowl and then coming back in four weeks might be too much for the seven-time Grade 1 winner, who has finished third in both of her starts in 2020.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer Wesley Ward already has the likely favorite in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint in Golden Pal. As he learned last year, when he won the race with Four Wheel Drive, there is strength in numbers.
“The Breeders’ Cup, anything can happen,” said Ward, who ran three in the Juvenile Turf Sprint. “Last year, I won with Four Wheel Drive and Kimari [who finished fourth] was probably the best horse in the race. You want to get as many as you can in there.”
Sharp Samurai will make his next start in a Breeders’ Cup race on Nov. 7 at Keeneland, but a decision on whether the five-time stakes winner runs in the BC Mile on turf or the Dirt Mile has yet to be finalized.
“Everything is on the table,” trainer Mark Glatt said Thursday.
Regular workouts and maintaining fitness are the focus with the stakes-winning fillies Ce Ce and Speech in coming weeks. Specific race plans may not be determined until early November.
Friday at Santa Anita, Ce Ce and Speech worked five furlongs in company for scheduled starts in Breeders’ Cup races on Nov. 7 at Keeneland. Both are likely to be cross-entered in the Distaff at 1 1/8 miles and the Filly and Mare Sprint at seven furlongs, trainer Michael McCarthy said.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Art Collector is back in training following a disappointing run in the Preakness as trainer Tommy Drury ponders a suitable next spot for a colt who incurred his first defeat as a 3-year-old when finishing fourth last Saturday in the final leg of the 2020 Triple Crown.
Drury said the Nov. 7 Breeders’ Cup Classic or BC Dirt Mile are the logical choices for a next race, although he also will consider waiting for the Nov. 27 Clark at Churchill Downs, depending on how the colt trains in the coming days and weeks.
ELMONT, N.Y. – From an allowance race in June, to a listed stakes in July, to a Grade 2 event in September, Civil Union has successfully met the challenge every time.
Saturday, she brings a three-race winning streak into her first foray into Grade 1 company when she runs in the $250,000 Flower Bowl Stakes at Belmont Park. If she takes another step forward, Civil Union could earn her way into the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Keeneland on Nov. 7.
Big Runnuer, who won his graded stakes debut in the Grade 2 Eddie D Stakes on Sept. 25 at Santa Anita, worked a half-mile in 49 seconds on Thursday in preparation for an expected start in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint on Nov. 7 at Keeneland.
ELMONT, N.Y – Tacitus has run well enough to win a Grade 1 race, he just hasn’t done it yet.
Three times second and twice third at this level, Tacitus will likely never have a better chance to get that first Grade 1 victory than in Saturday’s $250,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park.
Tacitus will face only four rivals, who have combined to win two graded stakes. The Jockey Club Gold Cup is a Win and You’re In race for the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic Nov. 7 at Keeneland.
ELMONT, N.Y. – It remains to be seen how far the unbeaten Jackie’s Warrior will ultimately be able to carry his speed. Thus far, it’s carried him to victory in three one-turn races, including the Grade 1 Hopeful last month at Saratoga.
Saturday, while stretching out another furlong for the third straight race, Jackie’s Warrior’s speed should remain an advantage when he meets Reinvestment Risk and four others in the Grade 1, $250,000 Champagne Stakes at Belmont Park.
