Wed, 10/20/2021 - 14:36

2021 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf: Diamond Wow presses ahead after tough beat

Coady Photography
California Angel (left) scores a head victory over Diamond Wow in the Grade 2 Jessamine Stakes at Keeneland.

Diamond Wow lost a very expensive photo when she finished second by a head in the Grade 2 Jessamine Stakes on turf on Oct. 13 at Keeneland.

California Angel rallied late to win narrowly, earning $120,000 of the $200,000 purse. Diamond Wow earned $40,000. Of that second-place prize money, $30,000 will be devoted to pre-entry and an entry fee to put Diamond Wow in the gate for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf on Nov. 5 at Del Mar.

“We were happy with the race,” trainer and co-owner Patrick Biancone reflected Wednesday. “We wish her head was a little longer.

Wed, 10/20/2021 - 14:36

2021 Breeders' Cup Juvenile: McPeek says Rattle N Roll is a go

Coady Photography
Rattle N Roll wins the Grade 1 Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland by six lengths.

Provided he works to expectations over the weekend, Rattle N Roll will make his next start in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on Nov. 5 at Del Mar, trainer Ken McPeek said Tuesday.

“The horse is doing well right now,” McPeek said. “We’re making arrangements to go.”

In the immediate aftermath of Rattle N Roll’s authoritative six-length victory in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland, McPeek had discussed possibly bypassing the Breeders’ Cup to await the Grade 2, $400,000 Kentucky Jockey Club on Nov. 27 at Churchill Downs.

Wed, 10/20/2021 - 14:36

2021 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf: Audarya on course to defend title

Barbara D. Livingston
Audarya wins last year's Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Keeneland. She is 0 for 4 this year, but several of her races have come over soft ground and she prefers firm turf.

While trainer James Fanshawe stopped just short of confirming it, all indications are Audarya will return to the U.S. to seek a repeat victory in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Del Mar on Nov. 6.

“We’re very hopeful that she’ll make it,” Fanshawe said by phone from Newmarket on Tuesday. “She’s nice and bright. The climate is very different here than what it is at Del Mar, but she looks good in her coat. I just don’t want to confirm 100 percent until we really know for sure.”

Wed, 10/20/2021 - 14:16

2021 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile: Ginobili has home-court advantage

Benoit Photo
Ginobili earns a fees-paid berth in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile with this victory in the Grade 2 Pat O'Brien at Del Mar.

Nick Cosato was sitting around one night with his son Ryan, watching basketball highlights on TNT, when Charles Barkley started launching into one of his animated shout outs to Manu Ginobili

“GINOBILI!”

“To me, it’s the funniest thing in the world,” Cosato said Wednesday.

As the head of a partnership he named Slam Dunk Racing, Cosato obviously is partial to basketball. “I love it damn near as much as racing,” he said.

Wed, 10/20/2021 - 14:10

2021 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint: One Timer has dazzled since early training

Emily Shields
One Timer put away Forbidden Kingdom on the lead in the Speakeasy, then held on by three-quarters of a length under E.T. Baird.

One Timer made his career debut June 26 at Arlington Park, but the youngster had strongly advertised his ability beforehand when he first hit the work tab the prior month. That ability has come to fruition as One Timer is one of the leading hopefuls for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint on Nov. 5 at Del Mar.

Wed, 10/20/2021 - 14:00

2021 Breeders' Cup Mile: Del Mar's tight turf course custom-made for Got Stormy

Debra A. Roma
Got Stormy wins the Fourstardave at Saratoga on Aug. 14, her first Grade 1 win since 2019.

It seems like six years ago that the fillies Uni and Got Stormy finished one-two in the 2019 Breeders’ Cup Mile at Santa Anita. A global pandemic, we’ve come to find, will do that – stretch and bend time outside the ticking of clocks and turning of calendars.

It really was six years ago that trainer Mark Casse won the BC Mile with a filly, Tepin, heroine of the 2015 renewal at Keeneland. And at Del Mar’s only Breeders’ Cup, in 2017, it was Casse again, taking the Mile with World Approval.

Wed, 10/20/2021 - 13:36

2021 Breeders' Cup Turf: Astronaut an improving longshot

Emily Shields
Astronaut (No. 10) earned a berth in the BC Turf with this 24-1 win in the Del Mar Handicap.

As recently as 2003, the 1 3/4-mile San Juan Capistrano Handicap at Santa Anita was a Grade 1 worth $400,000. Times sure have changed.

The race is no longer a handicap and was run in June this year as a Grade 3 stakes worth $100,000. The decline is a reflection of fewer stakes-quality turf marathoners over the last two decades in California.

Still, the San Juan Capistrano may have had a revival of sorts this year. The first two finishers – Acclimate and Astronaut – may start in the $4 million Breeders’ Cup Turf at Del Mar on Nov. 6.

Wed, 10/20/2021 - 12:56

2021 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf: Annapolis runs to his looks

Barbara D. Livingston
Annapolis (3) wins the Pilgrim Stakes earlier this fall at Belmont.

Once you see him out on the track, you understand it better, why Annapolis has been such a darling of the bettors in his two-start career.

Wed, 10/20/2021 - 12:36

2021 Breeders' Cup Classic: Maxfield declared out, along with Dr Post, Happy Saver

Emily Shields
Monmouth Cup winner Dr Post is among eight expected for the Pacific Classic at Del Mar.

The defections of Dr Post, Happy Saver, and Maxfield in recent days from the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 6 at Del Mar mean that the prospective field could barely reach double digits after at one time looking as though it could be a capacity crowd of 14 for the 1 1/4-mile race.

Wed, 10/20/2021 - 12:26

2021 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint: Strong European contingent looking for repeat win

Barbara D. Livingston
Glass Slippers wins the 2020 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint at Keeneland.

Last year, Glass Slippers became the first European-based winner of the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint when she scored at Keeneland. Perhaps emboldened by that success, this year’s European possibilities for the upcoming renewal on Nov. 6 at Del Mar look like a strong lot.