It has been more than 25 years since the celebrated battles between Sunday Silence and Easy Goer, but the memories of what happened in the fall of 1989 are playing into the management of Honor Code as he prepares for his major year-end goal, the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Oct. 31 at Keeneland.
Few American horsemen will watch Sunday’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in Paris as attentively as owner Ken Ramsey and trainer Chad Brown. They will be scouting the potential competition for their Big Blue Kitten ahead of the $3 million Breeders’ Cup Turf at Keeneland on Oct. 31.
Big Blue Kitten was a gritty winner of the Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic at 1 1/2 miles on turf at Belmont Park last Saturday, a victory that makes him the leading domestic contender for the BC Turf, the richest turf race in North America.
Laurel Park will begin offering rolling super high fives on Friday.
Up until now, the super high five has only been offered on the last race each day at Laurel. Beginning Friday, the super high fives will begin on the first race and will have a rolling carryover that will continue race to race until somebody picks the first five finishers in exact order.
If the super high five is not hit by the last race, there will be a carryover to the next day.
The super high five is a 50-cent bet with a 15 percent takeout.
The Breeders’ Cup Distaff historically attracts moderate numbers. The 9.1 average field size is the smallest of the BC races. That will change this fall at Keeneland, where a 14-runner maximum is taking shape pending the final Distaff prep race this weekend.
The Grade 1 Spinster Stakes on Sunday at Keeneland is expected to include four Distaff candidates – Untapable, the 2014 Distaff winner; Lovely Maria, the 2015 Kentucky Oaks winner; Frivolous, a Grade 2 winner; and Got Lucky, a Grade 3 winner.
The 8-year-old Two Notch Road stayed perfect at Laurel Park by scoring a repeat victory in the $60,000 Punch Line Stakes last Saturday.
Two Notch Road won the 5 1/2-furlong turf sprint for Virginia-breds by a length as the 7-10 favorite. The victory was his first of the year from five starts and the second of the year for trainer Glenn Thompson.
As usual, Two Notch Road will winter with Thompson in Aiken, S.C. Two Notch Road, whom Thompson bought for $2,500 as a yearling in 2008, has earned $345,000. The plan is to race him again next season.
Ken Ramsey is known for astutely playing the claiming game. One of his more significant acquisitions came when he picked up Celestial Woods, a winning Forestry mare, for $25,000 out of her career finale, a runner-up effort at Churchill Downs in November 2007.
Sent to the court of the Ramseys’ homebred turf champion, Kitten’s Joy, Celestial Woods has produced four winners from as many starters. Her pair of stakes winners includes Bobby’s Kitten, who last year rallied to victory in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Santa Anita.
Channel Marker could be the first Breeders’ Cup starter for 30-year-old Kentucky native Phil Bauer. The horse’s road to the championship series runs through Keeneland on Saturday in the Grade 3, $150,000 Woodford. The 5 1/2-furlong race is a key prep for the Grade 1, $1 million Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint, which will be run over the same distance and course Oct. 31.
Trainer Mike Stidham is branching out and has set up a stable at Laurel Park.
Stidham has been based at Arlington Park since 2000 and has wintered at Fair Grounds since 1995. Since Sept. 13, he has gone 3 for 8 at Laurel.
“Over the summer, our numbers got pumped up, and I was looking for a place to send some horses,” Stidham said. “I’ve got 40 stalls at Laurel. We’re going to consider leaving some there all winter.”
Stidham credits Tim Ritvo, the chief operating officer of The Stronach Group, which owns the Maryland Jockey Club, for helping with the transition.
Songbird moved to the top of the 2-year-old filly division with her 4 1/2-length win in the Chandelier Stakes at Santa Anita on Saturday and is the likely favorite for the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies – especially since her top rivals from the East, Rachel’s Valentina and Tap to It, will train up to the Oct. 31 race.
Turf milers? Bill Mott’s got ’em this year, and if things break the right way, Mott could have three starters in the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Keeneland.
Tourist and Seek Again race Saturday in the Shadwell Turf Mile, a course and distance prep for the BC Mile, and strong showings by either will lead to a trip to the big dance. Waiting in the wings, and training at Saratoga, is Lea, who exits a second-place finish in the Woodbine Mile on Sept. 13 and will come into the BC Mile a relatively fresh horse.
