ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Impossible Time won her third race in a row and her fifth race of the Woodbine meet on Wednesday night in the $126,200 Classy ‘n Smart, a mile and a sixteenth stakes for Ontario-sired females.
Jono Jones rode Impossible Time, who raced near the back of the eight-horse field on the backstretch, as Krz Exec set a lively pace, with Interregnum in close proximity.
Just over four weeks out, the prospective field for the Turf Sprint remains very much in flux.
Gilt Edge Girl earned an automatic starting berth when she posted a 53-1 upset over 20 rivals in last Sunday's Win and You're In Prix de l'Abbaye at Longchamp, and provided the first Group 1 wins for trainer Clive Cox and 21-year-old jockey Luke Morris. It appears doubtful, however, that she will cross the pond.
The Grade 1, $300,000 Frizette at Belmont Park on Saturday is a key Breeders' Cup prep for trainer Todd Pletcher.
Pletcher said he intends to run four of his horses in the Frizette, a Win and You're In race for the $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies at Churchill Downs on Nov. 5. R Heat Lightning, winner of the Grade 1 Spinaway at Saratoga, and Valiant Passion, who was third in the race, are on deck for the Frizette, while Maple Forest, the runner-up in the Sorority at Monmouth Park, and Tap for Luck, who won her maiden with a Beyer Figure of 90, are also a go for Saturday.
Last Saturday's Grade 3 Pilgrim Stakes at Belmont Park produced at least two likely starters for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf in victorious Air Support and second-place Soldat.
This weekend Keeneland could very well showcase even more potential starters to that race, though perhaps from different preps. Both the Grade 1 Breeders' Futurity on Saturday and Sunday's Grade 3 Bourbon Stakes serve as launching pads into the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf.
Dubai Majesty is no glamour mare. A one-time $25,000 claimer with 32 lifetime starts, Dubai Majesty has clawed her way toward the top of the filly-mare sprint ranks by churning out one big effort after another.
"She's one of those mares that brings her game every time," said her trainer, Bret Calhoun.
Eldaafer was a 29-1 outsider in the Breeders' Cup Marathon at Santa Anita one year ago, and ran accordingly. Eldaafer finished seventh of 10, beaten more than 24 lengths. This year, it is a new story.
"He's a different horse this year," trainer Diane Alvarado said. "I get on him every day, and he's really come into himself."
It shows in his recent races. A 5-year-old gelding by A.P. Indy, Eldaafer won a turf allowance in August at Laurel, followed by the Grade 3 Turfway Park Fall Championship at 1 1/2 miles. The victory, his eighth from 23 starts, was better than it looks.
A yielding turf course at Belmont Park for the Grade 1 Flower Bowl Invitational last Saturday did little to clarify the East Coast’s best hopes for the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf on Nov. 5.
Race winner Ave, who finished a head in front of Changing Skies, is bound for the Queen Elizabeth II Commemorative Cup over 1 3/8 miles on turf in Kyoto, Japan, on Nov. 13, trainer Roger Attfield said on Wednesday.
The Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile is a race that will often have some overlap with the Breeders’ Cup Classic, and this year is no different. Crown of Thorns and Dakota Phone, the two-three finishers in last Saturday’s Goodwood, have a license to eye either race. But while the Classic has a purse five times that of the $1 million Dirt Mile, the distance of the Dirt Mile makes the race a better spot for many horses. And at this point in time, at least, the distance of the Dirt Mile might make it a better fit for Crown of Thorns and Dakota Phone.
After a sudden, abrupt departure from a scheduled meeting with Zenyatta in the Lady’s Secret Stakes last Saturday at Hollywood Park, Rinterval has returned to Keeneland, where she will attempt to secure a start in the Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic by competing in the Grade 1, $500,000 Spinster Stakes at Keeneland on Sunday.