ELMONT, N.Y. – Mr. Buff has won six of his last 10 starts going back a year. Two of those losses have come to Pat On the Back. As fate would have it, Mr. Buff will have to face Pat On the Back again Saturday in the $300,000 Empire Classic at Belmont Park.
The Empire Classic, at 1 1/8 miles, is the richest of eight stakes on an 11-race program that begins at 12:20 p.m. The Empire Classic drew a field of only five and will be run as the fifth race on the program.
ARCADIA, Calif. – At six furlongs or a mile and one-quarter, Breeders’ Cup options remain open for Omaha Beach, whose first work since his sparkling comeback victory went smoothly Wednesday morning at Santa Anita.
Omaha Beach worked by himself at 7:55, an easy half-mile under Mike Smith in 48.20 seconds. Smith and trainer Richard Mandella hoped for a mellow workout, which was not a certainty in the wake of his sizzling 1:08.79 time for six furlongs in his comeback race, the Santa Anita Sprint Championship.
A second-place finish in the Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic at Belmont Park on Oct. 5 marked the sixth consecutive race in which Channel Maker has finished in the first four of a Grade 1 or Grade 2 race since early March. The consistent streak is enough for trainer Bill Mott to start Channel Maker in the $4 million Breeders’ Cup Turf at Santa Anita on Nov. 2.
Channel Maker was beaten a half-length by Arklow in the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic. Channel Maker led in the stretch, but could not sustain the advantage. Mott said earlier this week he considered the result to be a positive.
The list of candidates for the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf on Nov. 1 at Santa Anita has been a fast-changing group in the last week.
With the prep races completed, decision time has arrived. The people behind Ask Bailey, Jazzique, Mind Out, Powerful Breeze, and Witek said their runners would pass the one-mile turf race.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Gentle Ruler will be looking to run her 2019 record to a remarkable 6 for 7 as part of a sizable field of filly-mare turf marathoners Sunday in the Grade 3, $125,000 Dowager Stakes. Entries for the 1 1/2-mile race were to be drawn Thursday.
Trained by Ian Wilkes, Gentle Ruler was still a maiden when the calendar turned Jan. 1, having lost her first 11 starts. But the dark bay filly has turned into a win machine at 4 when accounting for three stakes, most recently the $469,000 Ramsey Farm at Kentucky Downs.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Throw out a couple of races when Bell’s the One was out of her element, and suddenly it looks like she might be capable of pulling an upset Saturday at Keeneland in the Grade 2 Raven Run.
“The good news is she’s coming into this exceptionally well,” said Neil Pessin, who trains Bell’s the One for Lothenbach Stables. “We’ve got no excuses on this side of the race.”
Jockey Florent Geroux, injured in an accident during training hours Sunday morning at Keeneland, is still hopeful of riding in the Breeders’ Cup in 2 1/2 weeks, with his most prominent mount being Owendale in the $6 million Classic on Nov. 2.
Geroux suffered a fractured sternum when thrown from Air Strike while completing a workout Sunday morning. On Wednesday, Geroux saw a specialist in Kentucky, and, according to Geroux’s agent, Doug Bredar, the “doctor liked what he saw.”
Pee Wee Reese, who returned from a layoff to win the Grade 2 Eddie D Stakes last month at Santa Anita, faces his final hurdle this weekend as owner-breeder Nick Alexander prepares to write a big check in order to start him in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint.
Tucked away in relative anonymity at Monmouth Park, trainer Luis Carvajal Jr. has tried to pay little attention to all the recent talk and speculation about who may or may not be running in this year’s Breeders’ Cup Sprint. What Carvajal does know for certain is that he’s sending Imperial Hint back to the Sprint for the third consecutive year while he’s doing as well as ever – maybe better than ever.
Castle Lady, the Irish-bred filly who finished second to Cambier Parc in the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup at Keeneland last Saturday, will run back in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf on Nov. 2 at Santa Anita, trainer Henri-Alex Pantall confirmed Wednesday.
Castle Lady saved all the ground in the Queen Elizabeth, and in the stretch made a menacing run at Cambier Parc, who held her at bay late. Cambier Parc is not running in the Breeders’ Cup.
