SANTA ANITA
Track: Fast
Weather: Cloudy
Temp: 67
ARCADIA, Calf. - A relatively quiet Sunday at Santa Anita, where only seven potential Breeders’ Cup starters worked, all pretty much in maintenance mode with less than a week to go before the main event.
The main track was tight and fast with cloudy skies prevailing throughout the morning.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Coasted, a Labor Day weekend stakes winner at Saratoga, will have Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith aboard for the first time in the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Santa Anita on Friday.
Trainer Leah Gyarmati said the decision was finalized on Sunday. Jose Lezcano had been riding Coasted, who is by Tizway.
“I consider that to be a huge improvement,” Gyarmati said.
ARCADIA, Calif. – They’re getting the band back together.
Shortly after Dortmund had his final work Sunday morning for the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile on Friday at Santa Anita, trainer Bob Baffert said that jockey Martin Garcia – who has been working Dortmund in recent weeks – would be reunited with Dortmund in the Dirt Mile.
That is one of three mounts Baffert is giving to Garcia in the Breeders’ Cup after a thawing in the icy relationship they had had since April. Garcia will also ride Drefong in the Sprint, and Enchanting Lady in the Filly and Mare Sprint.
ARCADIA, Calif. – On paper, Gloryzapper probably wasn’t supposed to make the early lead at Santa Anita in the Oct. 9 LA Woman Stakes, a 6 1/2-furlong race that the 4-year-old filly wound up winning to stamp her ticket to the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint.
Gloryzapper was exiting the John Mabee, a 1 1/8-mile turf race.
“She’s a jack of all trades, I’m telling you,” said Phil D’Amato, who trains Gloryzapper for the partnership of Hebert Bloodstock, Richard Leggio, and Peter Peluso. “She’s got a lot of versatility.”
ARCADIA, Calif. – The favorites for the Breeders’ Cup Distaff were home early after training in the dark Sunday morning at Santa Anita. All were back in their stalls before sunrise.
“The early bird gets the worm,” Songbird trainer Jerry Hollendorfer joked Sunday at 5 a.m. “I like those old sayings.”
Hollendorfer also likes what he sees from Songbird, likely to open as an 8-5 favorite on the Daily Racing Form odds line after post positions are drawn Monday. A field of eight is expected.
ARCADIA, Calif. - As far as Graham Motion can tell, the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies “is a wide-open race,” which gives his recently minted Grade 1 winner, Dancing Rags, as good a chance as any of the 12 expected starters.
“The thing about our filly is she keeps improving,” Motion said after Dancing Rags breezed five furlongs Sunday morning in 1:02 at his Fair Hill base in northern Maryland. “She’s improved every time she’s run, and I think perhaps she’s even improved since she won at Keeneland. I’m quite happy with her.”
SANTA ANITA
Track: Fast
Weather: Overcast
Temp.: 68
ARCADIA, Calif. - A hectic morning on the Breeders’ Cup workout watch Saturday at Santa Anita, with defending Sprint champion Runhappy the first horse out on the racetrack when it opened at 5 a.m. Potential Juvenile favorite Not This Time put a punctuation mark on the busy session with a very-impressive-looking breeze approximately 4 1/2 hours later.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Runhappy was the earliest and most prominent of the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile contenders to work Saturday morning at Santa Anita, and later in the morning, both Accelerate and Vyjack tuned up for the race, too.
Accelerate, the winner of the Los Alamitos Derby in his last start, was timed by Daily Racing Form's Mike Welsch going five furlongs in 1:00.95 under jockey Tyler Baze, who has ridden him in all six of his starts and has the mount in the $1 million Dirt Mile on Friday.
