ARCADIA, Calif. - King of Speed has become predictable in turf stakes for 2-year-olds in Southern California. He rallies from off the pace on the rail and takes the lead in the final strides to win at a price.
King of Speed won the Del Mar Juvenile Turf against nine rivals at 15-1 on Sept. 2. In Monday’s $101,035 Zuma Beach Stakes at Santa Anita, King of Speed’s backers had to settle for 5-1 in a field of eight.
The last time trainer John Gosden brought a Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner to the Breeders’ Cup Turf it just wasn’t all that fun for the man.
Golden Horn won the 2015 Arc and shipped three weeks later to Keeneland, where Gosden, upon arrival, spent a lot of time staring balefully up into dismal rain-filled skies. Golden Horn was a fast-ground horse forced to race over rain-sodden autumn turf. He failed to show his best over the going and was defeated by the filly Found.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Sippican Harbor, the Grade 1 Spinaway winner, worked a solid six furlongs in 1:13.81 Monday morning over Belmont Park’s training track as she continues preparations for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies on Nov. 2 at Churchill Downs.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Travers winner Catholic Boy skipped a workout this weekend, owing to a temperature that trainer Jonathan Thomas said shouldn’t prevent the 3-year-old from making the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 3 at Churchill Downs.
“It’s very minor in the grand scheme of things,” Thomas said Monday. “He had a mild temperature, which has since rectified. We just didn’t want to take any chances. I’m anticipating being able to breeze him this weekend. I’m glad it’s a month out and not a week out.”
ELMONT, N.Y. – Wow Cat, the 3 1/4-length winner of Saturday’s Grade 1 Beldame, likely will run in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Churchill Downs on Nov. 3, trainer Chad Brown said Sunday.
In the Beldame, Wow Cat sat a perfect outside trip under Jose Ortiz, cruised to the leaders three to four wide, took over leaving the three-eighths pole, and gradually pulled away, beating Divine Miss Grey handily. Wow Cat, a Chilean-bred daughter of Lookin At Lucky, covered 1 1/8 miles in 1:47.75 and earned a 93 Beyer Speed Figure.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Complexity, the sharp winner of Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Champagne Stakes at Belmont Park, and Standard Deviation, third in Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland, both will be pointed to the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on Nov. 2 at Churchill Downs, trainer Chad Brown said Sunday morning.
Godolphin, trainer Charlie Appleby, and jockey William Buick won the 2017 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Del Mar with Wuheida, and the same connections will have one of the favorites for the 2018 Filly and Mare Turf at Churchill Downs after Wild Illusion took down the Group 1 Prix de l’Opera on Sunday at Longchamp.
Royal Marine won the Group 1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere for 2-year-olds after Lily’s Candle launched Sunday’s Arc de Triomphe card at Longchamp with a narrow victory in the Group 1 Prix Marcel-Boussac.
Both races were contested over one mile and are part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Win and You’re In series, offering the winners fees-paid berths plus travel expenses to Louisville, Ky., for the BC Juvenile Turf (Lagardere) and BC Juvenile Fillies Turf (Boussac).
In midwinter, Enable began stretching her legs, taking small steps toward her 4-year-old season, her campaign eagerly anticipated following a brilliant 3-year-old year capped by a win in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. Winter turned to spring, and Enable’s luck turned south. Injured, she was taken out of training as her connections took a wait-and-see approach toward the rest of the year.
The star on the last big Saturday of Breeders’ Cup prep races was, for me, Complexity.
Complexity didn’t take down the day’s biggest purse or earn anywhere near the highest speed figure. But his very impressive victory in the Champagne Stakes at Belmont did more than set up an attractive East vs. West showdown in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile with American Pharoah Stakes and Del Mar Futurity winner Game Winner, which is plenty in itself. Complexity’s performance also set off reverberations that could have a major impact well into next year.
