Jimmy Jerkens has ventured outside of New York on two occasions to run highly regarded horses in the Breeders' Cup. But those stabs at racing glory were both on behalf of his father, Hall of Fame trainer Allen Jerkens, under whose name Devil His Due and Sky Beauty both finished unplaced in back-to-back runs in 1993 at Santa Anita and 1994 at Churchill Downs.
Trainer James Cassidy will spend much of the final week before the Breeders' Cup in England, hoping to pick out future Breeders' Cup prospects at the Newmarket sales. But before departing on Friday afternoon, he was able to watch Katdogawn breeze five furlongs at Santa Anita in her final prep for the Filly and Mare Turf.
And Cassidy liked what he saw.
Balto Star, the speedy gelding who has earned more than $2.3 million and was pre-entered in two Breeders' Cup races, is out with a tendon injury, leaving no more than 10 starters for the BC Turf.
Based at Belmont Park, Balto Star was found this week to have a slight tear in his right front tendon and will get 90 to 120 days away from the racetrack, according to trainer Todd Pletcher.
"It's small enough where we should be okay to come back," said Pletcher. "Time is the only way to heal it."
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Gold Storm gets to stay home for the biggest race of his career, the $1 million Breeders' Cup Sprint. He will be racing in his own backyard for the first time since July after vanning from his Lone Star Park base for stakes at Arlington Park and Keeneland in his last two starts.
Gold Storm has won three of of his four starts at Lone Star, making him an interesting prospect in a highly contentious Sprint.
Trainer Tom Albertrani believed Balletto could be special before she ever ran. When Balletto overcame a nine-length deficit to win a 5 1/2-furlong maiden race at Belmont Park last July, he was proven right.
Balletto has continued to improve and now that she is running in distance races, she has developed into a Grade 1 winner. If Balletto can translate her one-turn success at Belmont around two turns at Lone Star, she figures to be in the mix in the $1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies on Oct. 30.
The curse of the Bambino was lifted when the Boston Red Sox beat the New York Yankees in the playoffs. Can the end of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile jinx be far behind?
No winner of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile has come back the following spring to win the Kentucky Derby. It is only a 20-year sampling, and only 11 Juvenile winners have even run in the Derby. Moreover, three horses that competed in the Juvenile but didn't win won the next year's Derby.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - It worked for the Belmont Stakes. And it worked for the Travers Stakes. So with Birdstone preparing to compete in the richest race of his life, trainer Nick Zito was not about to change a thing for the $4 million Breeders' Cup Classic next Saturday at Lone Star Park.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - From darling, to discard, back to darling again. So has been the story arc of Funny Cide, who was embraced during his Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes victories in the spring of 2003, cast aside after a disastrous second half of 2003, but has gained renewed, overdue appreciation thanks to a productive 4-year-old campaign, including his recent victory in the Jockey Club Gold Cup.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - There are things in life that simply do not make sense. Eating snails and passing it off as a delicacy by renaming them escargot, for instance. Calling a show with a camera in a contestant's face "reality television."
Racing also has plenty of nonsensical items. How about handicappers who make a case for a runner because he has a "race over the track," even though the horse beat just one rival? Or how about Allen Jerkens never winning a Triple Crown race or a Breeders' Cup race?
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Some of the best sprinters in the Midwest will put in their final works for the $1 million Breeders' Cup Sprint this weekend at Churchill Downs.
Champali, winner of the Grade 3, $250,000 Phoenix Breeders' Cup, was to work on Friday or Saturday; Clock Stopper's drill is set for Saturday; and Cuvee will have his workout on Monday. All three horses are scheduled to fly to Texas on Tuesday.
