ARCADIA, Calif. – The role of Breeders’ Cup Distaff favorite will solidify after the Grade 1 Spinster Stakes on Sunday at Keeneland, but in the meantime there is no doubt about the identity of the hometown favorite.
Adare Manor scored her sixth Santa Anita victory last Sunday, wiring the Grade 2 Zenyatta Stakes in a virtual public workout over three rivals. It gets tougher for Adare Manor on Nov. 4 in the BC Distaff at Santa Anita.
The only virtual certainty in trying to forecast the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint is that the race should have a full field – and that the picture for that starting gate should begin coming into focus following four stakes this coming weekend.
Mage, the Kentucky Derby winner, worked five furlongs in 1:03 on Sunday at the Thoroughbred Training Center in Lexington, Ky., the first step toward what his connections hope is a start in the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 4 at Santa Anita.
The work was the first for Mage since his disappointing last-place finish in the Travers Stakes on Aug. 26 at Saratoga.
Shuwari is the solid early favorite to beat seven rivals and run her career mark to 3 for 3 in the Group 2 Rockfel Stakes on Friday at Newmarket Racecourse.
The seven-furlong, straight-course Rockfel, for 2-year-old fillies, is part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series and thus offers the winner automatic fees-paid entry into the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf and travel expenses to Santa Anita this fall.
One could imagine Shuwari making that long trip if she runs to expectations in the Rockfel.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -- In the pantheon of horses he has ridden in his Hall of Fame career, jockey Javier Castellano ranks Ghostzapper, the 2004 Horse of the Year, as the best. In Arcangelo, this year’s Belmont Stakes and Travers winner, Castellano sees the ability to achieve those heights.
“He’s climbing the ladder,” Castellano said.
No Nay Mets, winner of last Saturday’s Rosie’s Stakes at Colonial Downs, gives trainer George Weaver a third candidate for the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint on Nov. 3 at Santa Anita, joining Royal Ascot winner Crimson Advocate and Amidst Waves.
“It’d be nice to have three live horses for three different categories instead of three live horses for the same race, but it’s better than having no live horses,” Weaver said Wednesday.
Arcangelo, the pro-tem leader of the 3-year-old division, worked a half-mile in 47.62 seconds Tuesday morning over Saratoga’s main track, his first breeze since his victory in the Grade 1 Travers on Aug. 26.
It was the first of what is expected to be five breezes Arcangelo will have leading up to the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita on Nov. 4.
Exaulted, the winner of the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile in May but second in the Grade 2 Del Mar Mile on Sept. 2, will have his next start in the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Santa Anita on Nov. 4.
After the recent loss, trainer Peter Eurton said the Grade 2 City of Hope Mile at Santa Anita on Sept. 30 would be considered. Eurton said on Friday that is no longer the plan after conferring with owner Lee Searing.
The Breeders’ Cup Challenge series will continue to be structured partially along regional lines for the second year in a row, the organization said on Wednesday when announcing the schedule for the series, which awards winners with automatic, fees-paid berths in the event’s races.
The 2024 Breeders’ Cup two-day event will be held at Del Mar, marking the third time the seaside track will have served as the host, the Breeders’ Cup announced on Thursday.
The selection of Del Mar for the 2024 event will create a two-year swing through Southern California, a location where the weather is generally mild in the fall. This year’s Breeders’ Cup will be held at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif., approximately 120 miles north of Del Mar, on Nov. 3-4.
