Nezwaah, the winner of the Group 1 Pretty Polly Stakes in Ireland in July, is likely to start in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Del Mar on Nov. 4, and not the BC Turf against males the same day, trainer Roger Varian said in a text message on Thursday.
Varian described the Filly and Mare Turf as “plan A” for Nezwaah, who has won 5 of 11 starts and earned $299,387.
:: BREEDERS’ CUP 2017: Pre-entries, odds, comments, and more
ARCADIA, Calif. – Sol Kumin’s Head of Plains Partners has purchased a 25 percent interest in Fatale Bere, who has been pre-entered for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Del Mar on Nov. 3.
Kumin and trainer Leonard Powell said the transaction was finalized earlier this week. Ownership of the filly includes Mark Mathiesen, Gerald Benowitz, and Mathilde Powell, the trainer’s wife.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Imperative will be making his first start in more than six months when he starts in the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile here at Del Mar on Nov. 3.
The layoff was necessitated by a minor leg fracture, according to trainer Bob Hess Jr., and the race has plenty of depth, but Hess was satisfied enough with the way Imperative worked here Thursday morning to believe he’ll run well off the layoff.
“He can fire his best shot fresh,” Hess said after watching the workout. “It’s a brutally tough race, but it’s a good setup.”
After the multiple graded stakes-placed Petrov won a salty allowance-optional event at Keeneland on Oct. 18, trainer Ron Moquett was quick to name his colt’s next target, saying he would jump back into stakes company in the $200,000 Steel Valley Sprint at Mahoning Valley.
“That gives me 200,000 reasons to go to Mahoning Valley,” Moquett said.
Ribchester will travel from England to have his career finale in the Breeders’ Cup Mile, his owner, Godolphin, announced Thursday morning. Ribchester was one of 21 pre-entrants in the BC Mile, but his connections did not immediately commit him to the race, as trainer Richard Fahey monitored the way Ribchester had exited a second-place finish Saturday in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot.
:: BREEDERS’ CUP 2017: Pre-entries, odds, comments, and more
Blackjackcat was part of the Breeders’ Cup show at Santa Anita last year. About 40 minutes after Beholder and Songbird finished a nose apart in the BC Distaff, Blackjackcat was third by a half-length in the Grade 2 Twilight Derby in the day’s final race.
A year later, Blackjackcat has a greater role in the Breeders’ Cup program Nov. 4 at Del Mar. The 4-year-old gelding has gone from a bit player in a supporting race to California’s leading hope in the BC Mile.
The Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf will be contested in Southern California with a very European feel.
Eight of the 14 horses in the race’s main body are European shippers, and overseas horses figure to rule the top of the betting market. U S Navy Flag is the 3-1 favorite on Daily Racing Form handicapper Brad Free’s early line for the race, and Euro shippers also occupy the next five positions on Free’s line. Behind U S Navy Flag on the line come Masar, Nelson, James Garfield, Beckford, and Mendelssohn.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Frank Mirahmadi, who has called races across the country in a career spanning more than two decades, has been hired by the New York Racing Association to be its backup track announcer during the winter at Aqueduct. Mirahmadi replaces Travis Stone, who earlier this month announced he would not be returning to NYRA.
Mirahmadi will call the races at Golden Gate Fields until that Northern California track’s fall meet ends Dec. 10. Mirahmadi will not be returning to Golden Gate in 2018.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Miss Sky Warrior, a multiple graded stakes-winning 3-year-old filly, returns from a lengthy layoff as part of a seven-horse field entered in Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Turnback the Alarm Handicap at Belmont Park.
Miss Sky Warrior, who won the Tempted and Demoiselle at Aqueduct at 2 and the Gazelle this year, hasn’t run since finishing eighth in the Kentucky Oaks on May 5. Her objective for the fall is the Grade 3, $250,000 Comely on Nov. 24 at Aqueduct.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Seymourdini, who has won his three races this year by a combined 36 1/4 lengths, returns to graded stakes company for the first time in 16 months when he heads a field of 11 entered for Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Bold Ruler Handicap at Belmont Park.
Seymourdini has not run since winning the State Dinner Stakes by 10 1/2 lengths July 3 at Belmont. Trainer Linda Rice didn’t see a suitable race at Saratoga for Seymourdini, and he needed a month on the farm to deal with a small physical issue.
