Before and after the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp Racecourse in Paris on Sunday, there are six Group 1 races for Thoroughbreds, some of which could produce runners for Breeders’ Cup races at Santa Anita this fall.
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DRF Past Performances
Some horseplayers analyzing the past performances or the video replay of Bold Conquest’s last race in the Grade 3 Iroquois at Churchill Downs – in which he was outgamed a neck by a less-heralded stablemate – might be inclined to underestimate him when he faces 11 rivals in Saturday’s Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland. But that could prove a costly mistake.
He did well simply to be in position to contend in the stretch. Normally quick from the gate, he broke a length or two slowly, and with a short run to the first turn, he ended up getting stacked up wide and shuffled back.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Autumn has proven to be the best season for Secret Circle.
Four of his seven career wins have come at this time of year, including the 2011 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Sprint at Churchill Downs and the Breeders’ Cup Sprint last November. It would be no surprise if Secret Circle added another stakes win in Saturday’s $300,000 Santa Anita Sprint Championship.
The Grade 1 Sprint Championship is run over six furlongs and is part of the Breeders’ Cup Win and You’re In program, offering a fees-paid berth to the BC Sprint here on Nov. 1.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Besides 22 races and nearly $7 million, Wise Dan also has won the collective heart of racing fans. The popularity of the 7-year-old gelding goes no deeper than right here in the Bluegrass State, where on Saturday, he will be the center of attention against seven other older horses in the $1 million Shadwell Turf Mile, the richest race in the 78-year history of Keeneland Race Course.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Coincidence or not, there has been a strong correlation in recent years between who wins the Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes and who wins the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint four weeks later.
Four of the past five TCA winners over Polytrack went on to win the Filly and Mare Sprint, and it is difficult to say whether a synthetic surface played a role. Likewise, four of the past five winners of the Presque Isle Masters over Tapeta have won the Filly and Mare Sprint.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Stopshoppingdebbie has been the darling of Emerald Downs for the last 18 months, winning eight consecutive stakes at the Washington track and going unbeaten in her nine career races. Trainer Tom Wenzel admits that that might not be suitable preparation for her California debut in Saturday’s $100,000 L.A. Woman Stakes for fillies and mares at Santa Anita.
“These horses down here will test her,” he said.
Rock Me Baby is at his best going anywhere from 6 1/2 furlongs down the hillside turf course at Santa Anita to a middle distance. His performance Saturday in the Grade 2, $200,000 City of Hope Mile at Santa Anita will determine where he heads next for the Breeders’ Cup, to either the Turf Sprint down the hill, in which he finished sixth last year, or the Mile on turf.
The North American racing schedule is largely void of major preps this weekend for the $2 million, Nov. 1 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf, but in France on Sunday there is a significant race that could produce some Filly and Mare Turf starters: the Group 1 Prix de l'Opera at Longchamp on Arc day.
Tapestry, Tarfasha, Ribbons, Shamkala, and Chiquita are among the leading contenders among the 18 horses in the race as of Wednesday, with Tapestry and Tarfasha appearing the most likely to continue on to the Breeders’ Cup provided they run well.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Wise Dan drew post 6 in the field of eight older horses entered in the Grade 1, $1 million Shadwell Turf Mile on Saturday at Keeneland.
Wise Dan, the two-time reigning Horse of the Year, will have John Velazquez aboard when going for his 14th victory in his last 15 starts in the Shadwell, which had a purse increase from last year and will be the first seven-figure race in track history.
Todd Pletcher has won two of the past four runnings of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, and a month ago it appeared as though the trainer would have one of the favorites for this year’s race after Competitive Edge won the Grade 1 Hopeful impressively at Saratoga.
In subsequent training, however, Competitive Edge suffered an injury that will sideline him for the remainder of the year. Now, entering the final week of major preps for this year’s 31st Breeders’ Cup, Pletcher’s hopes of returning to the Juvenile rest with a pair of lightly raced, though seemingly very talented runners.