The participation of the longshot Casino Host in the $3 million Breeders’ Cup Turf at Santa Anita on Nov. 3 depends on his condition in coming weeks, trainer Ron Ellis said Wednesday.
Casino Host was vanned off after a fifth-place finish behind Slim Shadey in the Grade 2 John Henry Turf Championship at Santa Anita last Sunday. A subsequent nuclear scan revealed a minor strain in one of Casino Host’s shoulders, Ellis said.
[BREEDERS' CUP 2012: DRF top 10 lists, video replays, latest news]
Still basking in the glow of three stakes wins Saturday, trainer Bob Baffert expressed confidence that Contested will not need a prep race in order to bring her “A” game to the seven-furlong Filly and Mare Sprint, which has been shifted to the Saturday, Nov. 3, program this year.
Contested is a perfect 5 for 5 on fast dirt tracks, including her seasonal bow at Santa Anita off a layoff and Grade 1 wins in the Acorn and Test. The Test victory came off a two-month break following a last-place finish when she raced on a dead rail in the Mother Goose.
The Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series spans 10 countries and includes 73 races that qualify the winner for an automatic berth into a corresponding Breeders’ Cup race. Of those 73 races, only two are designated as qualifiers for entry into the 2012 Breeders’ Cup Marathon – the Greenwood Cup at Parx Racing and the General Belgrano, a Grade 2 race contested over 1 9/16 miles in Argentina.
Back in July, riding a six-race win streak and with a high cruising speed that never seemed to slacken, the 3-year-old turf horse Silver Max had a future where the sky seemed like the limit. Turns out something like 1 1/8 miles is his limit.
Not only win bettors who backed Dream Peace to favoritism lost when she finished third, beaten a half-length, in last Saturday’s Grade 1 Flower Bowl at Belmont Park. Her defeat also likely cost the Breeders’ Cup a leading contender for the Nov. 2 Filly and Mare Turf at Santa Anita.
[BREEDERS' CUP 2012: DRF top 10 lists, video replays, latest news]
This is a big weekend for the Juvenile Turf with three Win and You’re In races on Sunday – the Qatar Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere on the Arc de Triomphe undercard at Longchamp, which might produce a European starter or two; the Pilgrim Stakes at Belmont Park, and the Bourbon Stakes at Keeneland. Another upcoming prep for the Juvenile Turf is Monday’s Zuma Beach Stakes at Santa Anita.
The versatility of Dullahan has afforded his connections the opportunity to run him on dirt, turf, and Polytrack, yet, as far as the Breeders’ Cup goes, there is nothing that is truly perfect for him. The Mile on turf might be too short, the 1 1/2 miles of the Turf might be too far, and though 1 1/4 miles is certainly right up his alley, as proven by his victory in the Pacific Classic at Del Mar, Dullahan never has rolled a strike on dirt.
Trainer Wayne Catalano has used the Alcibiades at Keeneland as a stepping-stone to the Breeders’ Cup for some of his best 2-year-old fillies, and in Friday’s renewal of the 1 1/16-mile race he’ll send out La Song, his hope for the Grade 1, $2 million BC Juvenile Fillies at Santa Anita on Nov. 2.
Will Kauai Katie run? That may be the week’s most compelling question regarding this division. After driving her undefeated record to three with a facile 7 1/2-length triumph in the Grade 2 Matron Stakes at Belmont on Sept. 30, Kauai Katie probably grabbed the role of morning-line favorite for the Juvenile Sprint.
[BREEDERS’ CUP 2012: DRF top 10 lists, video replays, latest news]
But, will she run?
Barclay Tagg said this week that the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile is “all systems go” for his resurgent stable star, Jersey Town, whose surprisingly easy 3 1/2-length victory last weekend in the Grade 2 Kelso Mile at Belmont Park might well have earned the 6-year-old horse one of the favorite’s roles in the Nov. 3 race at Santa Anita.
