ELMONT, N.Y. - Grade 1 winners Complexity and Wow Cat led a group of nine potential Breeders’ Cup starters who put in workouts Saturday morning at Belmont Park.
Despite some light early morning rain, the Belmont main track was fast and harrowed following the 8:45 a.m. renovation break.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Battle of Midway will not defend his title in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile on Nov. 3 at Churchill Downs, trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said Saturday morning at Santa Anita.
Instead, Battle of Midway will run in the $75,000 Comma to the Top Stakes at Santa Anita on Oct. 28. That race is a two-turn mile like last year's BC Dirt Mile at Del Mar. This year's Dirt Mile is around one turn.
But one turn or two, the decision, Hollendorfer said, was made to give Battle of Midway "in theory an easier race."
ELMONT, N.Y. – Audible, the Grade 1 Florida Derby winner and third-place finisher in the Kentucky Derby, could return to the races in the $200,000 Cherokee Run Stakes on Nov. 3 at Churchill Downs, trainer Todd Pletcher said Friday.
The Cherokee Run is restricted to 3-year-olds and run at seven furlongs.
“It might not be his ideal distance, but it might be a good starting point,” Pletcher said.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Pure Sensation, beaten one length in each of the past two runnings of the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint, will not run in that race this year, according to trainer Christophe Clement.
Clement said Pure Sensation did not come out of his third-place finish in the Belmont Turf Sprint Invitational as well as he would have liked, and the 7-year-old gelding will be given time off.
“If I want him to last, I need to look after him,” Clement said.
Clement is still planning to run Disco Partner in the Turf Sprint, provided the turf course is not soft.
ELMONT, N.Y. – It has been 17 years since Shug McGaughey has started a horse in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. If the Hall of Fame trainer was waiting for the right one to bring to that race, perhaps he’s found it in Code of Honor.
On Friday, Code of Honor gave the look of a major player in the $2 million Juvenile on Nov. 2 by working a sharp half-mile in 48.79 seconds over the Belmont Park main track. Not only did he get his final quarter in 23.54 seconds, Code of Honor galloped out five furlongs in 1:00.82 and six furlongs in 1:13.46.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Bellafina and Game Winner, the projected favorites in Breeders’ Cup races for 2-year-olds on Nov. 2 at Churchill Downs, had their penultimate workouts Friday at Santa Anita.
Bellafina, who has won three graded stakes, worked five furlongs in 1:00 in company with the 3-year-old Kazan, who was timed in 1:00.60.
Game Winner, who has won two graded stakes, worked six furlongs in 1:13 in company with the 3-year-old stakes winner Ax Man, who was timed in 1:13.40.
As decision time looms for Mind Your Biscuits, he continues to work toward the Breeders’ Cup at host track Churchill Downs, going six furlongs in 1:15 on Friday.
Mind Your Biscuits, trained by Chad Summers, worked in company with Imperative, a multiple graded stakes winner trained by Anthony Quartarolo. With Mind Your Biscuits on the outside, the duo turned in splits of 13.40 seconds, 26.60, 39.40, and 51.80. They galloped out seven furlongs in 1:28.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Ben Colebrook doesn’t have anything against winning with logical horses, but the results from his first 19 starts at the Keeneland fall meet argue otherwise.
Colebrook’s $10.22 return on investment for every $2 win bet was highest among all trainers (minimum six starts) through the first 10 cards of this 17-day meet and stems from three winners that paid hefty mutuels – Knicks Go ($142) in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity on opening weekend, followed by K Choice ($26) and Examiner ($26.20) on Thursday.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Less than 24 hours after enjoying the greatest day of his nascent training career, John Ortiz got a quick humbling.
“I was missing a groom when I got to the barn this morning,” said Ortiz, who notched his first graded victory Thursday when saddling Zulu Alpha to win the Grade 3 Sycamore at Keeneland.
“I wound up mucking five stalls, galloping four, and cooling out three. This game will bring you back to earth pretty quick.”
ARCADIA, Calif. – In her first two starts in the United States, Lady Prancealot finished second in $100,000 turf stakes for 2-year-old fillies at Del Mar and Santa Anita.
For her third U.S. start, trainer Richard Baltas is aiming for the top of the division. Baltas hopes to run Lady Prancealot in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, a $1 million race at a mile on Nov. 2 at Churchill Downs.
