Mon, 10/06/2014 - 15:31

Her Emmynency bona-fide contender for Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf

Benoit & Associates
After winning the Surfer Girl under Joe Talamo, Her Emmynency will be pointed to the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf.

Her Emmynency stamped herself as a serious contender for the Grade 1, $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf with an impressive win in the $100,000 Surfer Girl at Santa Anita on Sunday. With Joe Talamo aboard, she stalked the early pace while sitting behind horses along the rail, and when a hole opened up at the top of the stretch, she burst to the lead with an eye-catching move.

Mon, 10/06/2014 - 15:26

Wise Dan finds himself in familiar role of Breeders' Cup Mile favorite

Coady Photography
Wise Dan drives to yet another Grade 1 score in the Shadwell Turf Mile Saturday at Keeneland.

Wise Dan has been favored in his last 17 starts and an odds-on favorite in 15 of them, and after winning the Shadwell Turf Mile by one length Saturday, he will be favored again when he tries to win the Breeders’ Cup Mile for the third straight year.

Wise Dan had his head turned when the gate sprang in the Shadwell, but that was the last anxious moment he had. He won comfortably without having to run especially hard or escape trouble and seems to have bounced out of his race in great shape.

Mon, 10/06/2014 - 15:00

Nevin enjoys graded stakes double over weekend

Tom Keyser
By the Moon splashes to an upset victory under Jose Ortiz in the Grade 1 Frizette.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Michelle Nevin doesn’t have as many 2-year-olds as trainer Todd Pletcher – nor does just about anyone else – but last weekend, Nevin won just as many graded stakes for 2-year-olds as did Pletcher.

On Saturday, Nevin won the Grade 1 Frizette with By the Moon, and she came right back Sunday to take the Grade 2 Matron with Paulassilverlining.

“Best weekend ever,” Nevin said when asked to describe the feeling of winning those two stakes in 24 hours.

Mon, 10/06/2014 - 14:48

Pletcher flaunts stable's 2-year-old strength

ELMONT, N.Y. – Todd Pletcher’s talented 2-year-old roster was on display for all to see the last 2 1/2 weeks, as the six-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer won 11 races with his juveniles from south Florida to Southern California, New York to Kentucky.

While Grade 1 stakes winners Angela Renee (Chandelier), Daredevil (Champagne), and Carpe Diem (Breeders’ Futurity) are likely Breeders’ Cup bound – as is Frizette third-place finisher Feathered – Pletcher is making plans for several of his other impressive winners.

Mon, 10/06/2014 - 14:43

Sims to run at Santa Anita for first time with Don’t Tell Sophia

Keeneland/Coady Photography
Don't Tell Sophia wins the Spinster on Sunday at Keeneland.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Phil Sims now can lay claim to two of the most prestigious races at his home track, and that’s all right with him.

Sims, based at Keeneland since 1980, won the Grade 1 Spinster on Sunday with Don’t Tell Sophia, bookending his 2009 win in the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup with Hot Cha Cha.

“Yeah, we just keep chugging along, picking up a nice one every now and then,” Sims, 52, said Monday. “I really appreciate all the well-wishes I’ve been getting. It makes all the time and effort you put into this game worthwhile.”

Mon, 10/06/2014 - 14:04

Deceptive Vision leaning toward E.P. Taylor over BC Filly and Mare Turf

Michael Burns
Deceptive Vision wins the Grade 2 Canadian Stakes on Sept. 14 at Woodbine.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Deceptive Vision earned a fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf by virtue of her victory in the Grade 2 Canadian Stakes on Sept. 14 at Woodbine, but trainer Malcolm Pierce and owner Sam-Son Farm are leaning toward keeping her at Woodbine for the Grade 1, $500,000 E.P. Taylor Stakes on Oct. 19.

“That’s our plan,” Pierce said. “We think with the traveling and all of that stuff, [the E.P. Taylor] is a Grade 1 race where we have to walk over half a mile from her stall to run her.”

Mon, 10/06/2014 - 13:55

Loss doesn't tarnish Goldencents's status for Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile

Benoit & Associates
Rich Tapestry (with blinkers) earned a berth in the Breeders' Cup Sprint with his win in Saturday's Grade 1 Santa Anita Sprint Championship.

Although narrowly beaten for the second straight year in the $300,000 Santa Anita Sprint Championship on Saturday, defending Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile titlist Goldencents seemed to solidify his status as the one to beat again this year.

Goldencents pressed a strong pace of 21.98 and 44.25 seconds in the six-furlong race and drew off through midstretch beneath Rafael Bejarano but was caught at the wire by the Hong Kong-based Rich Tapestry as the 4-5 favorite.

Mon, 10/06/2014 - 13:35

Top three from Prix de l'Opera likely to pass

For all the drama and excitement of Sunday’s Group 1 Prix de l’Opera at Longchamp – in which the top four finishers were three necks apart – the race, at least in the immediate wake of the running, seemingly did little to alter the European cast expected to participate in the Nov. 1 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Santa Anita.

Mon, 10/06/2014 - 13:24

Longshots enter the picture in Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies

Keeneland/Coady Photography
Peace and War, making her first start in the United States after three races in England, wins the Alcibiades under Julien Leparoux.

The final major preps for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies were held last weekend, with longshots taking both the Alcibiades and Frizette over rain-soaked tracks.

British shipper Peace and War paid $48.20 after rallying from far back to take a fast-early, slow-late running of the Alcibiades by a half-length, while By the Moon was prominent every step of the way while rolling to a 2 1/4-length victory in the Frizette. She paid $50.50.

Mon, 10/06/2014 - 12:20

Flintshire is early Breeders' Cup Turf favorite

The European contingent for the $3 million Breeders’ Cup Turf strengthened on Sunday when Flintshire ran second to Treve in the $6.2 million Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

While Treve was retired Monday, Flintshire has emerged as the future-book favorite for the BC Turf, the richest turf race in the United States. Taghrooda, who finished third in the Arc, has been mentioned as an outside possibility for the BC Turf, with the Champion Stakes at Ascot on Oct. 18 a more likely possibility for her final career start.