OZONE PARK, N.Y. – War Like Goddess’s narrow defeat in the Grade 2 Flower Bowl at Saratoga remains a painful memory for trainer Bill Mott.
“Ouch, it really hurts,” Mott said. “I’ve been limping ever since.”
Saturday, War Like Goddess will attempt to make her trainer feel better as well as establish her rank in the Breeders’ Cup Turf division when she faces males for the first time in the Grade 1 $500,000 Joe Hirsch Stakes at Aqueduct.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Pick a colt, any colt.
It’s not blind luck, like drawing a card, and yet there’s a certain element to the Breeders’ Futurity that might lead handicappers to throw up their hands in frustration after trying to settle on a firm pick.
Going to Vegas, the former $50,000 claimer turned three-time graded stakes winner, will in all likelihood have her last start in California in the Grade 1 Rodeo Drive Stakes at Santa Anita on Saturday.
On Nov. 6, Going to Vegas is scheduled to be sold as Hip No. 293 at the Fasig-Tipton November sale in Kentucky. There is a significant chance the 5-year-old mare will be retired and bred in early 2023.
ARCADIA, Calif. – An uninspiring group of California 2-year-old fillies gets a welcome boost Saturday at Santa Anita in the form of flashy debut winner Justique. She just might save the division from its current state of mediocrity.
Seven entered the Grade 2 Chandelier Stakes, a 1 1/16-mile race that offers the winner a fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. Usually at this time of year, divisional leadership is secure and the question is whether the winner of the seven-furlong Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante can stay two turns in the Chandelier.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Though the Grade 2, $250,000 Vosburgh offers a berth into the Breeders’ Cup Sprint next month at Keeneland, the seven-furlong race drew a field of only five.
Jalen Journey was supplemented to the field after running third in a minor stakes at Parx on Monday.
The 8-year-old Drafted, a three-time stakes winner this year, is coming off a fifth-place finish behind winner Cody’s Wish in the Grade 1 Forego at Saratoga.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Grade 1 stakes winners Gufo and War Like Goddess both suffered a narrow loss in their most recent start. Saturday, they both get a chance to get make amends when they face each other for the first time in the Grade 1, $500,000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic at Aqueduct.
The Turf Classic is one of three stakes on an 11-race card that includes the Grade 2, $250,000 Vosburgh for sprinters and the Grade 3, $150,000 Matron for juvenile fillies on turf.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Mark Casse was hoping to wheel his impressive 2-year-old debut winner Eyes On the King back in the Armed Forces Stakes around two turns over the Tapeta surface here late last month. But when Casse was unable to get a key final work into Eyes On the King due to inclement weather, he scratched his horse from the Armed Forces and switched to Plan B, Friday’s $51,000 main event at Gulfstream Park.
The entry-level allowance and optional-claiming dash lured seven juveniles to go six furlongs over the main track.
Last year, Mira Mission was a 3-year-old gelding who had yet to start in a stakes and had won a $50,000 claimer for maidens at Gulfstream Park in 2020. This fall, Mira Mission is on the verge of a start in the nation’s leading grass race, the $4 million Breeders’ Cup Turf at Keeneland on Nov. 5.
