Sadler’s Joy, who has run in each of the past two editions of the Breeders’ Cup Turf, will not participate in that race this year, trainer Tom Albertrani said Sunday.
Albertrani said he was not happy with how Sadler’s Joy came out of his third-place finish in the Oct. 5 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic in which he was beaten a half-length by Arklow.
“It looked like it took something out of him,” Albertani said. “I wasn’t confident enough to go.”
Mr. Buff, one-length winner of Saturday’s $300,000 Empire Classic for New York-breds, could step back into open company in the Grade 1, $600,000 Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs on Nov. 29, trainer John Kimmel said.
Kimmel said the Clark intrigues him because, at 1 1/8 miles around two turns, “it’s one of the only [races] out there at the right distance, right configuration, right time.”
Maximum Security, the multiple Grade 1 winning 3-year-old who was disqualified from first in the Kentucky Derby, won’t be going to the Breeders’ Cup, but he will have a fall campaign that will get started in Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Bold Ruler Handicap at Belmont Park.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Bricks and Mortar, Sistercharlie, Uni, and Maximum Security topped a star-studded workout tab Sunday at Belmont Park.
Bricks and Mortar, the leading turf male in North America, worked five furlongs in 1:00.15 over Belmont Park’s inner turf course. Bricks and Mortar worked in company with Without Parole, a Group 1 winner in 2018, and the pair went their first quarter in 24.86 seconds and their final three furlongs in 35.29 seconds.
“He’s in top form, he breezed great today,” trainer Chad Brown said.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Santa Anita specialist Paradise Woods, among the main challengers to favorite Midnight Bisou in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff, continues to send positive vibes.
Paradise Woods and jockey Abel Cedillo cruised through a six-furlong workout Sunday at Santa Anita, a comfortable solo drill in which she rationed her speed. That was a main objective for a mare with a history of stress. Although Paradise Woods sometimes gets keen, her work went smoothly.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Graded stakes winner Pee Wee Reese sustained a fetlock injury at the conclusion of a Saturday workout at San Luis Rey Downs that will prevent him from running in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint on Nov. 2 and likely will end his racing career.
A multiple stakes winner who scored a sharp comeback victory last month in the Grade 2 Eddie D Stakes at Santa Anita, Pee Wee Reese would have been among the favorites in the BC Turf Sprint. Owner-breeder Nick Alexander was prepared to pay a $100,000 supplemental fee to make him eligible.
ARCADIA, Calif. – With the Breeders’ Cup just a fortnight away, major works were the order of the day Saturday morning at Santa Anita, including one that was concurrent with a major decision.
Shortly after Catalina Cruiser worked five furlongs in 1:00.60, his trainer, John Sadler, said that Catalina Cruiser would likely head to the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at six furlongs after considering both that race and the Dirt Mile, both on Nov. 2.
CHURCHILL DOWNS
TRACK: Fast
WEATHER: HAZY
TEMPERATURE: 45
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A dozen potential Breeders’ Cup starters worked at Churchill Downs over the last two mornings. Five of the 12 came from the potent stable of trainer Brad Cox, two of whom, OWENDALE (Classic) and ARKLOW (Turf), put in their penultimate works for the event on another crisp and at times hazy morning Saturday at Churchill Downs.
ELMONT, N.Y. – It was a chilly 42 degrees early Saturday morning on Long Island, but Come Dancing warmed things up in a hurry with sizzling six-furlong workout in 1:10.19 over Belmont Park’s training track in preparation for a start in the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint on Nov. 2 at Santa Anita.
Trainer Carlos Martin wanted one last serious move in his Grade 1-winning mare, so he put a lead horse, the 4-year-old New York-bred mare Stonefactor, out eight or so lengths ahead of Come Dancing who broke running at the five-eighths pole under Javier Castellano.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Catalina Cruiser looks like he's headed to the Breeders' Cup Sprint.
That was the word early Saturday morning at Santa Anita from trainer John Sadler shortly after Catalina Cruiser, in his penultimate work for the Breeders' Cup, worked a sharp five furlongs in 1:00.60 as dawn broke.
"We're leaning toward the Sprint," Sadler said, though he said he "might cross-enter" at pre-entry time on Monday in the Dirt Mile, too. But everything he said indicated the Sprint is where Catalina Cruiser is headed.
