ARCADIA, Calif. – As with laundry, produce, and princes of Bel Air, the two trainers of this year’s top three contenders for the Breeders’ Cup Classic have decided that fresh is best.
Arrogate, Collected, and Gun Runner all will come into the $6 million Classic on Nov. 4 at Del Mar off layoffs of at least two months. If any of those three win, it will mark the third straight year the Classic will have been won by a horse trained in that fashion.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Ayacara is proven on dirt, with a maiden race win at a mile at Del Mar in his second start on Aug. 25. Whether he has a future in stakes on dirt or will be switched to turf will be better known after Saturday’s Grade 1 FrontRunner Stakes for 2-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles on dirt at Santa Anita.
The winner of the FrontRunner receives a fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Del Mar on Nov. 4. Ayacara is owned by Charles Marquis and trained by Keith Desormeaux, who may consider sending him to the BC Juvenile Turf on Nov. 3, pending Saturday’s outcome.
Trainer Mark Casse could be the “Mile Man” of this year’s Breeders’ Cup. He has candidates for all four championship races being run at the distance, including Awesome Slew for the $1 million Dirt Mile on Nov. 3 at Del Mar.
Casse also has World Approval on deck for the $2 million Mile on Nov. 4, while Flameaway could develop into a $1 million Juvenile Turf starter Nov. 3, and Wonder Gadot and/or Miss Mo Mentum could land in the $1 million Juvenile Fillies Turf the same day.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Unique Bella, unbeaten in three starts this year but unraced since March, continues to work quickly in advance of a comeback in the Grade 3 L.A. Woman Stakes for female sprinters at Santa Anita on Oct. 8.
Wednesday, Unique Bella worked six furlongs in 1:11.60, the fastest of 10 works at the distance. Unique Bella has had fast works all through September.
“She’s doing it pretty easy, too,” trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said. “We’ll have another work and we’ll be set.”
Among world-class races in France and New York and to a lesser extent California, the field for the $4 million Breeders’ Cup Turf on Nov. 4 at Del Mar will be better known by Sunday evening.
Judging from very recent history, the results of the Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic at Belmont Park on Saturday deserve as much respect as Sunday’s Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Chantilly, France, Europe’s top flat race with a purse of approximately $5.89 million.
Both Nero and St Patrick’s Day came into the summer at Del Mar with hopes of making the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile for trainer Bob Baffert, but the highly regarded pair both will miss the race, as neither has worked since his most recent start.
St Patrick’s Day, a full brother to 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, ran twice at Del Mar, with a victory on Sept. 2 following a second-place finish on Aug. 20.
“I’m going to hold off on him,” Baffert said. “He’s a bit immature.”
ARCADIA, Calif. – Here come the 3-year-olds, just in time.
While the 5-year-old mares Stellar Wind and Forever Unbridled remain early favorites for the Breeders’ Cup Distaff, the dwindling number of older fillies and mares has opened the door for the next generation.
Paradise Woods and Elate face older runners for the first time Saturday in Grade 1 races at Santa Anita and Belmont, trying to join Champagne Room, It Tiz Well, and Abel Tasman as leading 3-year-old contenders for the $2 million Distaff on Nov. 3 at Del Mar.
The group stakes winner Nyaleti, the unbeaten Gavota, and the stakes-placed Butterscotch are three leading contenders for Friday’s Group 2 Rockfel Stakes at Newmarket Racecourse in England, a race with implications for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf on Nov. 3 at Del Mar.
The winner of the $146,000 Rockfel Stakes at a straightaway seven furlongs receives a fees-paid berth in the BC Juvenile Fillies Turf at a mile.
The Rockfel has several contenders but lacks a heavy favorite.
John Jones, a son of Smarty Jones, began his career by going 3 for 14 over a 15-month period. In his second incarnation, he went 5 for 6 in five months. In the near future, John Jones will begin his third act.
When trainer Lacey Gaudet claimed him for $25,000 in July 2016 on behalf of Matt Schera, John Jones was not a hot commodity. Sent off at 9-2 in that Laurel Park race, he finished fourth.
Gaudet brought John Jones back in the Mister Diz Stakes, a six-furlong turf sprint for Maryland-breds at Laurel. He turned heads with a wire-to-wire score at 43-1.
As Breeders’ Cup season draws near, horsemen must look at the cards in their hand and decide how they’re going to play them.
For the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint, Frank and Patricia Generazio hold a pair of potential aces in Pure Sensation and Disco Partner. The former won a major prep for the Turf Sprint in his most recent start, the Grade 3 Turf Monster Handicap at Parx Racing, while the latter set the world record for six furlongs on turf in the Grade 3 Jaipur Invitational Stakes earlier this year. Both are homebreds for the Generazios and are trained by Christophe Clement.
