A lot can go wrong in three months – especially in racing. Mike Puype considers himself very fortunate that not only has Turbulent Descent flourished in her training toward the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint since she won her last start, the Aug. 6 Test at Saratoga, but also that the competition for his star 3-year-old filly in this upcoming seven-furlong race could have been considerably stronger than what appears to be materializing.
Separate Fire, winner of the Ed Burke Million Futurity at Los Alamitos in June, is among 10 qualifiers for the $1.2 million Golden State Million Futurity on Oct. 30 after time trials Sunday.
For the second time this year, the filly will go into a final as the favorite, but without the fast qualifying time.
ELMONT, N.Y. – New York-breds who have cleared their first two restricted allowance conditions usually have little choice but to take on open company next.
Some races are easier than others and the field that the New York-bred Thunder Chief meets on Friday at Belmont Park does not look overly daunting, making him a legitimate value play in the day’s feature race, which goes as the third.
ELMONT, N.Y. – New York-breds who have cleared their first two restricted allowance conditions usually have little choice but to take on open company next.
Some races are easier than others and the field that the New York-bred Thunder Chief meets on Friday at Belmont Park does not look overly daunting, making her a legitimate value play in the day’s feature race, which goes as the third.
ARCADIA, Calif. -- Zazu, the winner of three graded stakes this year, will not start in the Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic at Churchill Downs on Nov. 4 after inflammation was detected in a shoulder, trainer John Sadler said on Wednesday.
"We're going to bypass the Ladies' Classic," Sadler said. "She came out of her work a little off. We put her in the nuclear scan, and it revealed a little inflammation. The timing is lousy, but the prognosis for next year is 100 percent."
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Savethethought seeks her third win in a row in Ontario-sired company Friday at Woodbine in the featured allowance for fillies and mares, which will be run over nine furlongs for a purse of $62,300.
Savethethought, a Chiefswood Stable homebred, closed for second after a tardy start when she debuted in a nine-furlong turf route July 9. Nearly six weeks later, she graduated after racing forwardly in a 1 1/16-mile maiden special, earning a 70 Beyer Speed Figure.
Jockey Ramon Dominguez is a man in demand for the Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic Nov. 4 at Churchill Downs. He is the regular rider of Havre de Grace, and though she is far more likely to run against males in the Classic on Nov. 5, his assignment for this race is not nailed down. And it’s getting more complicated.
ARCADIA, Calif. – It’s not too late to earn a trip to the Breeders’ Cup at Churchill Downs next month.
If the 6-year-old Atta Boy Roy runs a big race in a $58,000 allowance race over a mile at Santa Anita on Friday, trainer Valorie Lund says the $1 million BC Dirt Mile on Nov. 5 is a possibility.
“He would have to really, really shine,” she said.
Though he remains focused primarily on the Breeders’ Cup Classic, trainer Todd Pletcher said Wednesday that he would likely pre-enter Uncle Mo in the $1 million Dirt Mile as well.
“We will probably pre-enter in the Mile as a second choice,” said Pletcher, who trains Uncle Mo for Mike Repole. “I suppose just as an insurance policy. There’s no harm in pre-entering him.”
Uncle Mo came out of his five-furlong breeze in 58.42 seconds on Sunday in good order, according to Pletcher.
The unbeaten Juvenile Fillies favorites My Miss Aurelia and Grace Hall are established, professional Grade 1 winners who are training well.
Others are longshots, with work to do.
Miss Netta has starting-gate issues that became evident when she missed the break and finished nine lengths behind My Miss Aurelia in the Grade 1 Frizette.
Rocket Twentyone will try to win the first two-turn race of her career while starting for the first time in 55 days.
