ELMONT, N.Y. – While Maximum Security won’t make the Breeders’ Cup, his 3-year-old campaign is not complete.
Trainer Jason Servis said he would like to run Maximum Security in a Grade 1 race later this year, potentially the $750,000 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct on Dec. 7 or the $500,000 Clark at Churchill Downs on Nov. 29. Servis said he would like to run him in a prep race before then, perhaps the Grade 3, $200,000 Bold Ruler Handicap at Belmont on Oct. 26.
ARCADIA, Calif. – An untimely setback has knocked California’s top sprinter out of the Breeders’ Cup Sprint.
Cistron, whose victory in the Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes at Del Mar earned a fees-paid berth in the BC Sprint, is out until early next year, trainer John Sadler confirmed on Thursday.
“He tweaked his back, and he needs about 30 days off,” Sadler said.
The Grade 1 Cigar Mile will be run on Dec. 7, a week later than usual, and be part of the Aqueduct winter meet, according to a schedule released Wednesday by the New York Racing Association.
Typically run on the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend, the Cigar Mile has been pushed back in recent years to be run four weeks after the Breeders’ Cup, in early December. However, this year it will be conducted five weeks after the Breeders’ Cup, perhaps making it more enticing for a runner from Breeders’ Cup card to run back.
You might think trainer Chad Brown has won every Grade 1 turf race in North America, but there’s at least one that has eluded the formidable reach of the Brown stable. That’s the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, which Brown will have a have a chance to add to his stuffed résumé this fall with the Palace Malice colt Structor.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer Christophe Clement has won the first three runnings of the Belmont Turf Sprint Invitational, the last two with Disco Partner.
Clement and Disco Partner will look to keep their streaks intact in Saturday’s $150,000 Belmont Turf Sprint, which can be used as a stepping-stone to the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint on Nov. 2 at Santa Anita.
Disco Partner, a 7-year-old New York-bred gelding, is winless in six starts since last year’s Belmont Turf Sprint. He is coming off a third to Shekky Shebaz in the Lucky Coin Stakes at Saratoga.
ELMONT, N.Y. – A Thread of Blue has had mixed success stretching out in distance. Saturday, he will cut back to 1 1/8 miles in the Grade 2, $400,000 Hill Prince Stakes at Belmont Park.
A Thread of Blue won the $1 million Saratoga Derby at 1 3/16 miles in gate-to-wire fashion before fading to fourth trying 1 1/2 miles in the $1 million Jockey Club Derby here on Sept. 7.
Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin said a combination of the distance and soft turf conspired against A Thread of Blue in the Jockey Club Derby.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Last year, Channel Maker won the Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Classic breaking from the outside post in a field of seven.
Channel Maker will again break from the outside post in a seven-horse field in Saturday’s $500,000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic. The only difference is last year, the Joe Hirsch was a Win and You’re In for the BC Turf. This year, it isn’t.
Channel Maker won the Grade 1 Man o’ War here in May but is coming into the Hirsch off a trio of fourth-place finishes in the Manhattan, Bowling Green, and Sword Dancer.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Tiz the Law, who was most impressive winning a New York-bred maiden race on Aug. 8 at Saratoga, joined the field for Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Champagne Stakes here after working an easy half-mile Wednesday morning at Belmont Park.
Tiz the Law, trained by Barclay Tagg for Sackatoga Stable – the connections of 2003 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Funny Cide – drew the outside post in a field of seven entered for the Champagne, one of five stakes on Saturday’s 11-race card.
Does the name Catholic Boy ring a bell?
Catholic Boy came into the summer of 2019 as one of the most exciting horses in North America but came out of it with only one start.
After a sharp win in the Dixie Stakes on the Preakness undercard in May, Catholic Boy finished second to Preservationist in the July 6 Suburban and hasn’t started since.
Vasilika will have to take the circuitous path to the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf.
A winner of 11 of 12 starts at Santa Anita, Vasilika has to go to Keeneland for Saturday’s Grade 1, $400,000 First Lady Stakes to try and get a race in before the Breeders’ Cup. Vasilika is trained by Jerry Hollendorfer, who last June was banned by The Stronach Group from stabling and racing at tracks they own, which includes Santa Anita, site of this year’s Breeders’ Cup on Nov. 1-2.
