ETOBICOKE, Ontario — European shipper Serious Attitude whipped the boys in Saturday’s $508,800 Nearctic Stakes, the first of three Grade 1 turf stakes on Canadian International Day at Woodbine.
Serious Attitude ($48.20), a 4-year-old filly, received a great ride from Garret Gomez, who saved ground on the turn, while having just one horse beaten.
A little less than three weeks from the first of two days of Breeders’ Cup racing at Churchill Downs, the Churchill backstretch has come alive with potential Breeders’ Cup starters working toward their respective races.
Foremost among the Breeders’ Cup hopefuls working Saturday morning at Churchill was First Dude, the runner-up in the Pennsylvania Derby in his last start Sept. 25, who breezed five furlongs in 1:00.20 in preparation for the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
“He did it good, really good,” said trainer Dale Romans. “He was full of energy and within himself.”
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Unzip Me will be pre-entered later this month for the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint against males at Churchill Downs on Nov. 6, trainer Marty Jones said on Friday.
The winner of five turf sprint stakes, Unzip Me, a 4-year-old filly, won the Grade 3 Sen. Ken Maddy Handicap at Hollywood Park on Sept. 30 in her most recent start.
“We’d like to run in the Breeders’ Cup,” Jones said. “I’d say we’re seriously looking at it. It’s where we’d like to go.”
MIAMI – Big Drama worked five furlongs in 1:00.76 seconds on Saturday over a fast but cuppy racetrack at Calder as he continues to prepare for his appearance in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Churchill Downs on Nov. 6.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Where’s the Remote, the runner-up in the Grade 1 Clement Hirsch Turf Championship at Hollywood Park on Oct. 3, may be bound for the Breeders’ Cup after all.
Trainer Mike Mitchell is considering a start in the $500,000 Breeders’ Cup Marathon over 1 3/4 miles on the main track at Churchill Downs on Nov. 6 for the 4-year-old gelding.
“My gut feeling is I will work him twice here and that will tell us what to do,” Mitchell said. “I want to run him in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Marathon, but I don’t want to waste my guy’s money.”
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Edward P. Evans’s Spring Hill Farm has three homebreds pointing for Breeders’ Cup championship races with Quality Road in the Classic, Malibu Prayer in the Ladies’ Classic, and A Little Warm in the Mile.
All three have live chances, but the one everyone will be watching is Quality Road.
OCEANPORT, N.J. – Musket Man is headed to the Breeders’ Cup Classic, even though he failed to complete his latest mission.
Prior to the Monmouth Cup on Oct. 9, trainer Derek Ryan said the 4-year-old Musket Man needed to win that race to earn a spot at Churchill Downs. But from Ryan’s perspective, Musket Man turned in a winning effort while finishing second to Etched. Locked along the rail behind slow fractions, Musket Man angled out for clearance on the final turn and continued strongly to the wire with Eibar Coa aboard.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Three weeks from Sunday, on the clear, cool Kentucky morning of Nov. 7, the racing world will awaken with all matters resolved. Horse of the Year will be decided. The lesser divisions will be nailed shut. Horse racing can safely tuck itself away in its winter cave and wait for the emergence of spring, or the release of “Secretariat” on DVD, whichever comes first.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The stakes winners Acaffella and Bench Points are sidelined with injuries and will be out of training until early 2011, their trainers said.
Acaffella, who won the Angel Island Stakes at Golden Gate Fields on Sept. 11, underwent surgery on Monday after being diagnosed with a hairline fracture of a cannon bone following a fifth-place finish in the Grade 1 Norfolk Stakes on Oct. 2.
NEW YORK – Goldikova is the best horse in the world. In winning the Prix de la Foret at Longchamp on Oct. 3 she set a European record of 11 Group or Grade 1 victories. That is one more than the total racked up by the filly to which she is most often compared, Miesque. No European-trained horse has won as many such races since the group race system was introduced in 1971.