The $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup on Saturday at Belmont Park is the final Win and You’re In race toward the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 5 at Santa Anita. Thus, it should help solidify the field and provide immediate clarity on at least one of trainer Kiaran McLaughlin’s two top prospects.
On Wednesday at Santa Anita, California trainer Peter Eurton glanced through the race record of the Irish filly Found and shook his head in amazement.
Eurton focused on Found’s campaign last October, when she made three starts, finishing ninth in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in Paris and second in the Champion Stakes at Ascot in England before winning the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Keeneland on the final day of the month.
A similar campaign is possible after Found won the Arc de Triomphe at Chantilly Racecourse north of Paris last Sunday.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Tepin has been assigned post 2 as the heavy favorite for the Grade 1 First Lady, one of five graded stakes set for a blockbuster Saturday card at Keeneland.
With Julien Leparoux riding for trainer Mark Casse, Tepin will be making her final start before trying for a repeat victory in the Nov. 5 Breeders’ Cup Mile at Santa Anita. The 5-year-old Tepin is unbeaten in six starts in three countries this year.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Secret House will have another chance at an October stakes after having been declared a nonstarter in the Grade 1 FrontRunner Stakes last Saturday at Santa Anita. Secret House is a candidate for the $100,000 Zuma Beach Stakes for 2-year-olds at a mile on turf here Monday, trainer Doug O’Neill said.
California Chrome, the easy winner of the Grade 1 Awesome Again Stakes last Saturday, returned to the racetrack for a one-mile jog at Los Alamitos on Wednesday.
“With three days off, he was fired up a little bit,” trainer Art Sherman said.
The 2014 Horse of the Year, California Chrome is the future-book favorite for the Breeders’ Cup Classic here on Nov. 5. Sherman said he intends to take it easy with California Chrome.
Longtime West Virginia horseman James W. Casey certainly is staying busy at age 86. He has trained 45 winners this year and is only four away from 1,000. He also operates Taylor Mountain Farm in Charles Town, which stands four stallions.
On Saturday night, Casey will attempt to win the $450,000 West Virginia Breeders’ Classic with Charitable Annuity for the second straight year. His recently retired 10-year-old Russell Road is scheduled to lead the post parade for the Classic, a race he won three times for owner Mark Russell, who also races Charitable Annuity.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Ohio, a troubled fifth in the second division of the Eddie D Stakes last Friday at Santa Anita, will get a break and return during the winter meet. Ohio, 3.80-1 second choice, steadied repeatedly in deep stretch and missed by three lengths.
“Horrible luck,” trainer Paulo Lobo said. “I think I could have finished second. I’m going to give him a little break.”
The Grade 3 Daytona, a turf sprint early in the Santa Anita winter meet, is a potential target for 6-for-13 Ohio, who was Grade 2-placed this summer at Del Mar.
The last two preps for the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint are set for this weekend, with the Grade 2 Thoroughbred Club of America on Saturday at Keeneland and the Grade 3 L.A. Woman on Sunday at Santa Anita.
Stonetastic could be favored in a competitive field in the six-furlong TCA, which offers a Win and You’re In berth in the seven-furlong Filly and Mare Sprint. The speedy 5-year-old mare will be returning from a 10-week layoff after earning a 104 Beyer Speed Figure in winning an ungraded stakes at her home base, Monmouth Park, in late July.
The top four finishers from the Grade 1 Chandelier Stakes last Saturday at Santa Anita are under consideration for the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies on Nov. 5.
Noted and Quoted and With Honors battled from start to finish in the Chandelier, with Noted and Quoted prevailing by a half-length. The victory signaled a return to form for Noted and Quoted, who seemed flat when finishing fourth in the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante. She had won a Del Mar maiden race by 9 1/2 lengths prior to the Debutante.
Spain Burg gained attention around Europe when she won three of her first four starts, all at small tracks in southwest France from April to August.
When Spain Burg won her English debut in the Group 2 Rockfel Stakes at Newmarket on Sept. 23, a wider audience took notice – and her value soared. Last Saturday, Spain Burg was purchased by Dean Reeves of Suwanee, Ga., for approximately $1.68 million at the Arqana Arc sale in France.
