ARCADIA, Calif. – The longest shot in the Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic field posted the day’s fastest half-mile workout Sunday at Santa Anita.
Class Included blazed in 47 seconds under Joe Steiner, fastest of 65 works at the distance. Afterward, trainer Jim Penney and assistant Kay Cooper confirmed the Emerald Downs-based filly will enter the $2 million Ladies’ Classic rather than the Filly and Mare Sprint.
[BREEDERS' CUP WORKOUTS: Full DRF coverage, Mike Welsch video reports]
ARCADIA, Calif. – Game On Dude, the likely favorite for the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic on Saturday, completed his serious training for the race with an eye-catching workout on Sunday morning at Santa Anita, a day when his trainer, Bob Baffert, put seven other BC runners through the final drills.
“Today I had a really good day,” Baffert said.
Four other Classic candidates worked around the country – Flat Out, Ron the Greek, and To Honor and Serve at Belmont Park, and Fort Larned at Churchill Downs.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Jockey Rosie Napravnik said Sunday she is unlikely to ride more then the meet’s opening day at Churchill Downs unless stakes mounts arise late in the meet.
She heads to California on Thursday in advance of the Breeders’ Cup, where her top mount is expected to be Shanghai Bobby in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. Then following the Breeders’ Cup, she and husband Joe Sharp, an assistant for trainer Mike Maker, will honeymoon in South Africa prior to the start of the Fair Grounds meet.
As much as Carla Gaines knows about equine pedigrees, she might know more about white Labrador retrievers – or at least the specific bloodlines of her constant companion, a lovable dog named King Louie II.
“Are you kidding me?” she asked after watching her BC Dirt Mile longshot, John Scott, breeze early Saturday in preparation of the most demanding task of his life. “Of course I do.”
Penn National-based apprentice jockey Andrew Wolfsont has accepted an invitation to compete in the Sheikh Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival to be held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, from Nov. 8-12.
Wolfsont, a 24-year-old native of Saratoga Springs, NY, is currently eighth in the jockey standings at Penn National with 59 wins in 496 starts.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Cornhusker and Whitney Handicap winner Fort Larned completed his final work for Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Classic by breezing five furlongs in a bullet 1:00.40 seconds on a fast track at Churchill Downs on Sunday.
Working in company with Indiana Derby winner Neck ‘n Neck, Fort Larned started approximately five lengths behind his workmate, and the pair finished together through the lane, trainer Ian Wilkes said.
“Everything went to plan,” Wilkes said. “He did it very easily and galloped out nicely.”
ELMONT, N.Y. - The final works are in. Now, it’s a matter of getting the horses out of New York for next week’s Breeders’ Cup races at Santa Anita.
With Hurricane Sandy on the way, New York horsemen scurried about Belmont Park early Sunday morning with a dozen Breeders’ Cup-bound horses putting in workouts over three tracks in about a 75-minute period from 7 to 8:15 a.m.
Rylees Boy came barreling late to catch Llano Teller near the wire for a half-length win in Saturday night’s Grade 1, $353,500 Challenge Championship for Quarter Horses at Prairie Meadows. It was another nose back in third to Ethics Aside.
The Championship was the centerpiece of a $1.1 million card of 11 stakes that made up the 20th running of the Challenge Championships. There were five graded races on the program, and horses earned their spot in the gate for those stakes by winning regional qualifiers.
Jockey Cliff Berry won the 4,000th Thoroughbred race of his career Saturday night at Remington Park, when he guided Brown Okie to a front-running victory in the third race. Overall, the rider has won more than 4,100 races in a total that includes victories aboard Quarter Horses. He hit the 4,000 career-win plateau this past spring at Oaklawn Park.
Lee’s Spirit swept past a line of pacesetters into the stretch and went on to a 2 3/4-length win over Populist Politics in Saturday night’s $100,000 Gold Cup at Delta Downs.
“I tell you what, the race set up perfect,” said John Jacinto, who rode Lee’s Spirit.
