ELMONT, N.Y. – By electing not to run Tap to It in between her second-place finish in the Grade 1 Spinaway on Sept. 5 and the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies on Oct. 31, trainer Ralph Nicks needs the filly to get in some solid training during the morning.
On Wednesday, Tap to It put in a very solid-looking workout, drilling seven furlongs in 1:23.86 over Belmont Park’s main track under jockey Joel Rosario.
When Beholder tries to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Oct. 31 at Keeneland, it will be an especially big deal since Zenyatta in 2009 remains the only female Classic winner. Females in the Breeders’ Cup Mile? That’s old hat. A filly or mare has won eight of the 31 Miles, and it could happen again in 2015.
The Bret Calhoun trainees Cash Bonus and Better Than Magic ran one-two in the El Joven, with Cash Bonus proving a head best while winning in 1:38.30. Calhoun said both horses are now candidates for the $250,000 Springboard Mile on Dec. 13 at Remington Park.
Cash Bonus, who races for Carl Moore, won an optional-claiming sprint at Remington one start prior to the El Joven. Calhoun said the horse is now being pointed for the $100,000 Clever Trevor, a seven-furlong race Nov. 6 at Remington. The race is designed as a stepping-stone to the Springboard Mile.
Doug Scharbauer and trainer Bret Calhoun appear to have a quality two-turn filly on their hands in More Than Most, who is being considered for next month’s Grade 2 Golden Rod at Churchill Downs. She won her second straight race last Saturday in the La Senorita Stakes at Retama Park, where she covered a mile on turf quicker than her male counterparts in that night’s El Joven Stakes.
“Right now, we don’t know what we’re going to do,” said Calhoun.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – History of a sort will be made Friday with the running of the seventh race, a $64,000 optional claimer for 3-year-olds and up: It’s the first one-mile race on the Keeneland main track.
The race is essentially a road test prior to the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile on Oct. 30. With the 1 1/16-mile circumference of its main track, Keeneland never has contested races at a mile because of the short run into the first turn.
The stakes winners Jakaby Jade and Stays in Vegas are part of a projected field of 11 in Saturday’s $100,000 Surfer Girl Stakes for 2-year-old fillies at a mile on turf at Santa Anita.
The program also includes the $100,000 Zuma Beach Stakes for 2-year-olds over the same course and distance.
The Irish import Jakaby Jade won the Del Mar Juvenile Fillies Turf in her American debut Sept. 7, while Stays in Vegas won the Wine Country Debutante at Santa Rosa in August. Stays in Vegas was later fifth in the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante on dirt.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – If not for running against the great Lady Eli in a $1 million race, Sentiero Italia would be undefeated since the spring. That terrific 4-for-5 streak should be enough to make the Godolphin homebred a solid favorite to knock out her first Grade 1 victory Saturday in the $500,000 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup at Keeneland.
Sentiero Italia enters the 32nd QE II off victories in the Lake Placid at Saratoga and the Sands Point at Belmont Park. Both are Grade 2 races in which the daughter of Medaglia d’Oro won in convincing fashion as the favorite.
The speedy Liam’s Map will be pointed to the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile on Oct. 30 at Keeneland and bypass the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Oct. 31, trainer Todd Pletcher said on Wednesday from Keeneland.
The decision has major implications for the $5 million Classic, as Liam’s Map would have added considerable pace to a race that now might find American Pharoah, the Triple Crown winner, as the controlling speed.
Imperative worked a half-mile in 47 seconds at Santa Anita on Wednesday and might start in the $200,000 Fayette Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on dirt at Keeneland on Oct. 30, the first day of the Breeders’ Cup races.
Trainer Richard Baltas said Imperative worked “very good” and that the 5-year-old gelding is likely to race without blinkers for his next start.
“I don’t think he needs them,” he said.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Shared Belief, the champion 2-year-old male of 2013, will resume training at Golden Gate Fields in early November, moving closer to an expected comeback in early 2016.
Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said on Wednesday that Shared Belief is jogging two miles a day at the Pegasus Training Center in Washington state under the direction of trainer Mike Puhich. Shared Belief has not raced since being pulled up in the Charles Town Classic in West Virginia in April with a hip injury.
