Bob Baffert and Todd Pletcher are perennially the most successful trainers with 2-year-olds, and rarely does talk about the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile not include either or both. The two have combined to win four runnings of the Juvenile, three of the last five.
The prospects of either trainers’ participation in this year’s $2 million Juvenile, to be run Nov. 2 at Santa Anita, will hinge on the key final preps to be run the next two weekends.
It really isn’t that surprising that a horse based in California hasn’t won the Grade 1, $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf. First off, there are no Win and You’re In races in California for the Juvenile Turf and there aren’t any graded turf races for 2-year-olds leading up to the race.
The Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint has only a five-year history, brief in comparison to some of the bigger Breeders’ Cup races. But a noticeable trend has still surfaced in the three Turf Sprints that were run over the about 6 1/2-furlong downhill course at Santa Anita. Prior success on the unique downhill course seemed a major advantage in these Turf Sprints, something to keep in mind with the event to be run at Santa Anita again on Nov. 2.
For much of September there were few developments leading up to the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf, with most of the leading contenders training but not racing.
Saturday things finally get interesting with a pair of Grade 1, Win and You’re In races, the Flower Bowl at Belmont and the Rodeo Drive at Santa Anita, which collectively drew the cream of the older U.S.-based fillies and mares being pointing for the 1 1/4-mile Filly and Mare Turf to be run at Santa Anita Nov. 2.
Princess of Sylmar gets her first dose of Royal Delta on Saturday.
Once might be enough.
Though it’s unlikely Princess of Sylmar would be nominated for $100,000 to the Breeders’ Cup, Todd Pletcher and owner Ed Stanco will wait until after the Beldame Stakes on Saturday at Belmont Park before deciding if she has done enough for one year.
Little Mike has one more chance this weekend to earn a trip to California to defend his title in the $3 million Breeders’ Cup Turf at Santa Anita on Nov. 2.
After losing all four of his starts in 2013, Little Mike starts in Saturday’s $600,000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic at Belmont Park in need of a strong performance.
“If he wins or is competitive in the Joe Hirsch, we’ll take him back to California,” said Carlo Vaccarezza, who bred Little Mike.
When a horse sets a track record it normally implies radical exertion. A couple minutes of extreme speed should, in the typical course of events, lead to a couple extra weeks’ rest.
But “normal” and “typical” aren’t adjectives that stick to Wise Dan – there is nothing normal about the heights to which he has ascended the last two seasons, and a typical Wise Dan performance has become breathtaking spectacle. Wise Dan set a course record of 1:31.71 in the Sept. 15 Woodbine Mile, but all it took to see how easily he had won was a nominally functional set of eyes.
The 2-year-old fillies pecking order on the West Coast should come into sharp focus Saturday, when She’s a Tiger and a promising trio from trainer Bob Baffert all make their two-turn debuts in the Grade 1, $250,000 Chandelier at Santa Anita.
Todd Pletcher could potentially stage a three-ply assault on the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile with Graydar, Shanghai Bobby, and Verrazano.
Graydar rose meteorically to prominence last winter when he wired the Grade 1 Donn Handicap in his stakes debut and fourth start overall, and followed with a pace-pressing score in the Grade 2 New Orleans Handicap.
