Trainer Joe Petalino doesn’t have to speak much for Pleasant Storm heading into Friday night’s $175,000 Oklahoma Classics Night Classic at Remington Park. The horse said all he needed to say about the race a week and a half ago, when he worked six furlongs in a dazzling 1:11.
“He worked with two other horses, he needs something to run at, and he worked good,” said Petalino.
Rustler Hustler, coming off a turf breeze last week at Aqueduct in which he outworked Grade 1 winner Court Vision, will not be supplemented to the Nov. 6 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf and will pointed toward other races, trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. said Wednesday.
Owned for his first four races by Blazing Meadows Farm and Mark Stanley, Rustler Hustler was purchased privately by owner Paul Pompa after the colt won the Continental Mile at Monmouth Park on Aug. 14. Dutrow has trained him since the purchase was finalized, although the horse has not raced under him.
Fillies made most of the news last week.
The connections of all Turf Sprint hopefuls breathed a collective sigh of relief after watching Serious Attitude ($48.80) explode through the stretch to win last Saturday’s Grade 1 Nearctic and then learning she’s not in.
The lack of a standout in the BC Filly and Mare Sprint is leading the connections of quite a few horses to try their horses in the $1 million race if they can, rendering a full field of 14 a real possibility.
“They’re telling us this race is wide open, so we think we’ll give it a shot,” said Eric Reed, trainer of Rinterval.
The Breeders’ Cup Sprint may wind up with a full field after all. The prospective starting lineup grew by as many as three this past week when the connections of defending champion Dancing in Silks, Ancient Title runner-up Supreme Summit, and the speedster Atta Boy Roy all announced their interests in competing in the event.
Harmonious, winner of two Grade 1 races for 3-year-olds fillies on turf in California and Kentucky this year, is considered a probable starter for the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Churchill Downs on Nov. 5, trainer John Shirreffs said Wednesday.
Harmonious won the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup at Keeneland last Saturday by 4 1/4 lengths, stalking the pace and pulling clear.
Breeders’ Cup fever is contagious and leading to curious decisions regarding the Grade 3, $500,000 BC Marathon.
Despite finishing 16th in his most recent start Oct. 16 at Newmarket, European long-distance specialist Precision Break will run in the 1 3/4-mile Marathon, his connections said. It will be his first start on dirt.
Blind Luck and Havre de Grace have emerged as the nation’s leading 3-year-old fillies, but lurking not far behind them, based on her close third-place finish in the Alabama Stakes, is Acting Happy, who continues to move forward toward the Nov. 5 Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic, albeit with trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. keeping close tabs on her fickle constitution.