LEXINGTON, Ky. – With one sustained swoosh, Rushing Fall might well have run herself into favoritism for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf with an eye-catching victory Wednesday at Keeneland.
Ridden by Javier Castellano, Rushing Fall went from 12th to the lead with frightening ease in the 27th running of the Grade 3, $150,000 Jessamine Stakes, the ninth and final Win and You’re In event of the fall meet.
In a race where a couple of fringe players generally come out of the woodwork at the last moment, the nucleus for this year’s Breeders’ Cup Sprint field is now set. A core group that is fast, talented, and well-matched is led by defending Sprint winner Drefong.
There were seven Breeders’ Cup Challenge races for the Sprint decided over the past three months, each won by a different horse.
Although the Win and You’re In Breeders’ Cup Challenge races have all been completed, the possibility exists for more horses to join the fray for the Nov. 4 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Del Mar after running in Grade 1 stakes at Keeneland and Woodbine this weekend.
Mor Spirit ran one of the best races of the year in the Metropolitan Handicap on June 10 at Belmont. If he repeats the performance next month in the Grade 1, $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, he will be tough to contain. The race is Nov. 3 at Del Mar.
:: BREEDERS’ CUP 2017: See DRF’s top contenders
Mor Spirit dogged Sharp Azteca in the Met Mile, put that rival away, and won by 6 1/4 lengths. He covered the one-turn mile in 1:33.71
Flameaway has a fees-paid berth plus shipping expenses to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf on Nov. 3 at Del Mar, despite having never run in a turf race.
Flameaway won the Bourbon Stakes last Sunday at sloppy Keeneland, and though the race was rained off the turf and onto the dirt, Breeders’ Cup officials elected to allow it to maintain its status as a Breeders’ Cup Win and You’re In qualifier.
A rain-off is nothing new for Flameaway.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Advantage, home team. Seven fillies and mares from California and three from Kentucky and New York are among a projected field of 10 for the Breeders’ Cup Distaff on Nov. 3 at Del Mar.
Though they are outnumbered, the shippers will arrive with fitting credentials – Romantic Vision, Forever Unbridled, and Elate all won Grade 1’s last out.
It can be hard for an Indiana-bred to find respect south of the Ohio River, but Bucchero proved his talent reached beyond the Hoosier State with an upset victory in the Grade 2 Woodford Stakes at Keeneland. Next, the Kantharos horse aims to test his mettle against global competition in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Del Mar.
The Woodford was a groundbreaking victory not only for Bucchero, but for owner Ironhorse Racing Stable, a partnership that earned its first graded stakes victory last weekend and would have its first Breeders’ Cup starter.
Sue-who? That’s what a lot of American horseplayers and racing fans were wondering before last Saturday. Suedois is who, and after a convincing win in the Grade 1 Shadwell Turf Mile at Keeneland, he will come into the Breeders’ Cup Mile with a legitimate shot to win.
The Shadwell was a BC Challenge Win and You’re In race offering an automatic berth plus travel expenses to the Mile, and England-based trainer David O’Meara said Tuesday that Suedois’s connections plan on running.
“Hopefully, we’ll be coming back for the Breeders’ Cup,” said O’Meara.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Gun Runner arrived in California nearly two weeks ago in advance of the Breeders’ Cup, and he brought a whole advance team with him.
Steve Asmussen’s top assistant, Scott Blasi, is overseeing Gun Runner’s daily preparation at Santa Anita toward the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 4 at Del Mar. Exercise rider Angel Garcia, groom Gabino Gutierrez, and hotwalker Juan Gonzalez also have temporarily relocated to California. And the horse Gettysburg was brought along as a workmate for Gun Runner in his next two drills, both at Santa Anita.
Debby Oxley sells many of the horses she breeds as part of her business model. But when her Grade 1-placed mare Darling My Darling, then 18, delivered a Malibu Moon filly two years ago, she strategically elected to retain the filly as a future member of the family for the broodmare band.
“I sell a lot, but Darling’s getting older,” Oxley said.
There was another reason she wanted to see the filly run in her colors.
“Sometimes, you’ve just gotta have fun,” she said.
