Xtra Heat and Bonapaw will enter the Breeders' Cup Sprint on three-race wins streaks, likely favorite Orientate has won his last four starts, and Gygistar, who is not definite to run, is undefeated in his last five outings. But the horse coming into the Sprint on the biggest roll is Disturbingthepeace, who has won six consecutive races, including three Grade 2 handicaps, the Triple Bend, Bing Crosby, and Pat O'Brien.
ELMONT, N.Y. - After four days of wet racetracks, and with the promise of additional rain on Wednesday, New York horsemen took advantage of ideal conditions Tuesday to work horses.
On a crisp, clear autumn morning, 409 horses were credited with timed workouts at Aqueduct and Belmont. That included 14 horses planning to run in the Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championship at Arlington Park on Oct. 26. Pre-entries for the Breeders' Cup were taken Tuesday and were to be announced on Thursday.
BONSALL, Calif. - The field for the $2 million Breeders' Cup Distaff became a bit clearer on Tuesday with the retirement of Dancethruthedawn and an impressive workout here at San Luis Rey Downs by the expected favorite, Azeri.
Dancethruthedawn, who won the Queen's Plate last year at age 3, was retired after exiting the recent Spinster Stakes with an injury.
"She has a nondisplaced fracture in her right front leg," trainer Mark Frostad said from his barn at Woodbine. "She's going to be retired and bred."
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Although day-to-day racing action on the Kentucky circuit will continue at Keeneland in Lexington through Oct. 26, the most serious morning activity with implications toward the Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships has been taking place 80 miles away at Churchill Downs.
Several major Breeders' Cup contenders had workouts Sunday and Monday at Churchill, led by Orientate, the D. Wayne Lukas-trained colt who figures as one of the favorites for the BC Sprint.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Pleasantly Perfect, the winner of the Goodwood Breeders' Cup Handicap at Santa Anita on Oct. 6, is out of the $4 million Breeders' Cup Classic on Oct. 26 at Arlington Park because he is not in compliance with the rules for bleeders in Illinois.
Pleasantly Perfect was found to have bled from the nose after the Goodwood. Since he also bled last February in a workout, he is considered a second-time offender under Illinois rules and cannot start there for 30 days from the occurrence, preventing his participation in the Breeders' Cup.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Repent, the Travers Stakes runner-up who was regarded as a contender for the Oct. 26 Breeders' Cup Classic, has been diagnosed with a minor tendon strain and will be forced to miss the race, trainer Ken McPeek said Thursday.
McPeek said Repent, a 3-year-old colt owned by the Select Stable of Jerry and Feye Bach, will be sidelined for about 90 days but will race again next year. McPeek said he had been closely monitoring Repent's left foreleg in recent days before a Thursday examination by veterinarian Dr. Foster Northrup revealed slight damage in his tendon.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Maybe it's not a two-horse race after all. For weeks, the $2 million Breeders' Cup Distaff on Oct. 26 at Arlington Park appeared to be a showdown between older fillies Azeri and Summer Colony. But this year's crop of 3-year-old fillies has developed so rapidly in recent weeks that the Distaff now appears to have far more depth.
ARCADIA, Calif. - It took about 18 months longer than originally hoped for Pleasantly Perfect to find his best form, but his timing may be ideal.
In a year when there are concerns about the ability of several of the leading contenders for the $4 million Breeders' Cup Classic to handle 1 1/4 miles, or even their ability to hold form at the end of a long campaign, Pleasantly Perfect is peaking at just the right time.
Only Aidan O'Brien knows for sure, and with just over two weeks until the Breeders' Cup, he isn't telling.
Following the rousing victory by Landseer last weekend in the Shadwell Mile at Keeneland, O'Brien now has the top three candidates for the Breeders' Cup Mile, according to the latest Daily Racing Form rankings: Rock of Gibraltar, Hawk Wing, and Landseer.
Europe will bring one of its strongest contingents to the $2 million Breeders' Cup Turf at Arlington Park on Oct. 26.
As of Wednesday, the leading contenders for the richest turf race in the United States were all based in Europe. The list of expected starters included Marienbard and High Chaparral, the first- and third-place finishers in Sunday's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp; Golan, the winner of the King George VI Stakes at Ascot in July; and Hawk Wing, the winner of the Coral Eclipse Stakes in July.
