Brilliant Speed, whose biggest win came in the 2011 Blue Grass Stakes, will make the final start of his career in the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita on Nov. 3, trainer Tom Albertrani said Tuesday.
[BREEDERS' CUP 2012: DRF top 10 lists, video replays, latest news]
ELMONT, N.Y. – Equipped with a new set of bar shoes to help deal with his chronic foot issues, two-time Jockey Club Gold Cup winner Flat Out breezed a half-mile in 48.88 seconds Monday morning at Belmont Park as he works toward a start in the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 3 at Santa Anita.
[BREEDERS' CUP 2012: DRF top 10 lists, video replays, latest news]
ETOBICOKE, Ontario — Joshua Tree and Siyouma, winners of the Grade 1 Canadian International and Grade 1 E.P. Taylor Stakes here at Woodbine on Sunday, will be returning to England on Thursday and will not be back in North America this season.
The 5-year-old Joshua Tree had earned a berth in Santa Anita’s $3 million Breeders’ Cup Turf for his victory in the Canadian International while Siyouma had punched her ticket to the $2 million Filly and Mare Turf with her E.P. Taylor tally.
Monday at Santa Anita, trainer Doug O’Neill worked three of his top prospects for the Breeders’ Cup – the 2-year-old Know More, the 3-year-old Handsome Mike, and the 7-year-old Richard’s Kid.
Know More, the winner of the Grade 2 Best Pal Stakes at Del Mar in August in his debut, is bound for the Juvenile. Second in the Frontrunner Stakes on Sept. 29, Know More worked five furlongs in 1:01.80 on Monday.
Handsome Mike, who won the Pennsylvania Derby on Sept. 22, worked six furlongs in 1:13.40. He is a candidate for the BC Dirt Mile.
MIAMI – Things didn’t start out too well as far as Saturday’s Festival of the Sun program was concerned. First, early morning downpours forced both turf stakes, the Frances Genter and Tropical Park Derby, to be taken off the grass and moved to the main track. Then word was received that Gourmet Dinner, perhaps the most recognizable name on the entire card, was going to be scratched out of the Grade 3 Spend a Buck Handicap.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Next Question, with his game half-length victory in the $501,200 Nearctic Stakes, was the only winner of the three Breeders’ Cup Challenge races at Woodbine on Sunday with designs on exercising that option.
The Grade 1 Nearctic, a six-furlong race for 3-year-olds and upward, was a Win and You’re In race for the Grade 1, $1 million Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint over 6 1/2 furlongs at Santa Anita on Nov. 3.
[BREEDERS' CUP 2012: DRF top 10 lists, video replays, latest news]
ETOBICOKE, Ontario — The world traveler Joshua Tree captured the $1.5 million Canadian International for the second time Sunday at Woodbine, giving jockey Frankie Dettori a record-tying third victory in the Grade 1 turf fixture.
Joshua Tree won the International in 2010, and he finished a troubled second in the race last year. This time, he went right to the front and set soft fractions en route to becoming just the second wire-to-wire winner of the 12-furlong race since it was switched to the turf in 1958. Over good ground, the final time was 2:30.89.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario — Siyouma, patiently handled by regular rider Gerard Mosse, came from just off the pace to score by 1 3/4 lengths in Sunday’s Grade 1, $1 million E.P. Taylor Stakes.
The E.P. Taylor, a 1 1/4-mile turf race for fillies and mares, is a Win and You’re In race for the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf.
[BREEDERS' CUP 2012: DRF top 10 lists, video replays, latest news]
ARCADIA, Calif. – Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert has a growing list of Breeders’ Cup candidates.
Sunday at Santa Anita, Baffert worked several notable prospects for the Breeders’ Cup races on Nov. 2-3, including Game On Dude, the likely favorite for the BC Classic, and the highly-promising 2-year-old Power Broker, a leading candidate for the BC Juvenile.
Baffert may have a surprise starter for the BC Sprint in Fast Bullet, a 4-year-old colt who has not raced since last November.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario — The longshot Next Question punched his ticket to the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint with a victory in his stakes debut Sunday at Woodbine in the $501,200 Nearctic, a BC Win and You’re in event.
With Ramon Dominguez up, Next Question raced up front in the two-path beside Bear Tough Tiger. They dueled through moderate fractions in the six-furlong dash, before Next Question edged away to score by a half-length over a closing Night Carnation. Bear Tough Tiger held off favored Big Band Sound for third in the diverse 11-horse field.
