Trainer Wayne Catalano has used the Alcibiades at Keeneland as a stepping-stone to the Breeders’ Cup for some of his best 2-year-old fillies, and in Friday’s renewal of the 1 1/16-mile race he’ll send out La Song, his hope for the Grade 1, $2 million BC Juvenile Fillies at Santa Anita on Nov. 2.
Will Kauai Katie run? That may be the week’s most compelling question regarding this division. After driving her undefeated record to three with a facile 7 1/2-length triumph in the Grade 2 Matron Stakes at Belmont on Sept. 30, Kauai Katie probably grabbed the role of morning-line favorite for the Juvenile Sprint.
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But, will she run?
Barclay Tagg said this week that the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile is “all systems go” for his resurgent stable star, Jersey Town, whose surprisingly easy 3 1/2-length victory last weekend in the Grade 2 Kelso Mile at Belmont Park might well have earned the 6-year-old horse one of the favorite’s roles in the Nov. 3 race at Santa Anita.
The Godolphin-owned Certify romped in the latest Win and You’re In stakes, the Group 1 Shadwell Fillies’ Mile at Newmarket on Sept. 28, but her connections have indicated that the unbeaten filly will likely be put away for the year.
Certify was reluctantly loaded into the gate with a blindfold, and then broke slowly before closing along the rail to win going away over a straight course.
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The Beldame Stakes romp by Royal Delta confirmed the 4-year-old filly as clear favorite for the 2012 Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic, a race that will crystallize after the Spinster Stakes on Sunday at Keeneland.
Tiz Miz Sue will use the Spinster to prep for the Ladies’ Classic. The status of 3-year-old fillies In Lingerie and Disposablepleasure will be evaluated after they face older for the first time in the Spinster.
[BREEDERS' CUP 2012: DRF top 10 lists, video replays, latest news]
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Darley Alcibiades Stakes often has proved a tongue-twister for newcomers to Keeneland, so trainer Al Stall Jr. has come up with a simpler name – at least as it applies to the 61st Alcibiades, which helps to open the 17-day fall meet Friday.
“It’s the United Nations,” said Stall. “It’s a melting pot of fillies from everywhere. It’s really hard to figure this one out.”
LEXINGTON, Ky. – There was a crowd at the entry booth Tuesday morning, and it had nothing to do with the usual back-slapping reunions of horsemen, jockey agents, and backstretch types that invariably take place leading up to a Keeneland meet.
ARCADIA, Calif. – A first-level allowance sprint Thursday at Santa Anita has Breeders’ Cup implications for two of the fastest juvenile fillies in California.
Beholder and Mechaya, two-three finishers last month in the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante, shorten to six furlongs Thursday in race 4. A good effort in the $50,000 allowance could lead to a shot next month at $500,000.
“I may end up thinking about the Breeders’ Cup Sprint for 2-year-olds,” Beholder’s trainer Richard Mandella said. “But there are some good fillies in there. She’s not the only one.”
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – A three-member panel headed by Rod Seiling, chair of the Ontario Racing Commision, on Tuesday morning denied an appeal by trainer Carolyn Costigan regarding the result of the Sept. 15 Natalma Stakes.
The decision followed more than two hours of testimony at the nearby Ontario Racing Commision offices.
Costigan had contended that Nancy O, who is owned by her father, Bob Costigan, and Harry Dobson, had been interfered with shortly after the start of the Natalma, which Spring Venture won by 1 3/4 lengths.
