ARCADIA, Calif. – Private Zone needed only 45.80 seconds to complete a solo half-mile workout at Santa Anita on Thursday, preparing for the $1.5 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint on Nov. 2.
Fifteen minutes after the workout, jockey Martin Pedroza was still feeling the effects.
“I’m still tired from working him,” Pedroza said, seated on the concrete steps of the Santa Anita grandstand.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Alpha, upset winner of the Grade 1 Woodward at Saratoga on Aug. 31, is being pointed to the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile on Nov. 1 at Santa Anita, trainer Kiaran McLaughlin said Thursday.
Alpha, who at 3 dead-heated for win in the $1 million Travers with Golden Ticket – coincidentally also headed to the Dirt Mile – is coming out of a sixth-place finish in the Jockey Club Gold Cup on Sept. 28.
In its five years of existence, the Breeders’ Cup Marathon has been something of a catch-all for horses who didn’t quite fit the bill for the other championship races and for connections who wanted to test their horses at long-distance racing for a generous purse.
As such, the list of Marathon winners is a diverse group in terms of places of origin, pedigrees, and prestige.
Toronado is set to be the highest-profile – perhaps the only – European shipper to start in the Breeders’ Cup Mile after being taken out of consideration for the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes on Saturday at Ascot in England.
Toronado prefers good or firm turf, and the going at Ascot is expected to be soft for the major set of races there Saturday. Firm turf, on the other hand, is a near certainty for the BC Mile.
Trainer Marty Wolfson has confirmed Gary Stevens as the new jockey for Starship Truffles, his Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint hopeful, while also saying he is “on the fence” as to whether to run My Pal Chrisy in the $1 million race Nov. 2 at Santa Anita.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – If Dank were an American-based horse, some would view her as vulnerable in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf on Nov. 2.
Not having raced since winning the Aug. 17 Beverly D. Stakes at Arlington Park seemingly would put her at a fitness disadvantage. Eleven weeks between races is not customary Breeders’ Cup preparation, as evidenced by other leading Filly and Mare Turf prospects – Tiz Flirtatious, Marketing Mix, and Laughing – all having their final preps five weeks before the Breeders’ Cup.
Since Aotearoa’s upset win over Diamond Bachelor in the $100,000 Zuma Beach at Santa Anita on Oct. 6, trainer Leonard Powell and owner Paul Viskovich have been debating whether to pay the $120,000 it would cost to supplement the homebred gelding to the Grade 1, $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf. Their decision got a little easier when Viskovich hit the pick six at Santa Anita on Monday. The payout of $130,373 is more than enough to cover the entry fees.
While trainer Mark Casse is trying to determine which Breeders’ Cup race My Conquestadory will run in – the $2 million Juvenile Fillies or the $1 million Juvenile Fillies Turf – the list of potential foreign horses pointing for the Juvenile Fillies Turf is firming up.
The connections of Scandalous Act would like the filly who swept the Florida Stallion Stakes last Saturday to advance to the Grade 1, $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Santa Anita on Nov. 2. But trying to coordinate suitable travel arrangements from Miami to Los Angeles has been difficult, according to trainer Kathleen O’Connell.
And then there was one. After recently losing Liaison to retirement and looking to a big 4-year-old season with recent Indiana Derby winner Power Broker, who “just needs to mature a little bit,” Bob Baffert will put all his eggs for the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile in the basket of Fed Biz.
