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.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Hollywood Park canceled its eight-race Wednesday program after a significant downpour in late morning led to erosion in two places on the backstretch.
The decision to cancel races was made at 1:34 p.m., a half-hour after the scheduled start to the program.