LEXINGTON, Ky. – Irad Ortiz Jr. has been suspended three days for his role in the disqualification of his mount, Elle’s Town, from the fifth race Friday at Keeneland, but the penalty will not keep the star jockey from riding in the upcoming Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita.
Ortiz, the 2018 Eclipse Award-winning jockey based primarily in New York, will serve his days Oct. 27, 30, and 31. The Breeders’ Cup is set for Nov. 1-2.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Guarana, the two-time Grade 1 winning 3-year-old filly, will not race again this year, thus missing a scheduled start in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint, trainer Chad Brown said Sunday.
“This week in training out of her last work I just wasn’t happy the way she was moving behind,” Brown said. “I’m going to err on the side of caution and make sure she’s all right.”
Sadler’s Joy, who has run in each of the past two editions of the Breeders’ Cup Turf, will not participate in that race this year, trainer Tom Albertrani said Sunday.
Albertrani said he was not happy with how Sadler’s Joy came out of his third-place finish in the Oct. 5 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic in which he was beaten a half-length by Arklow.
“It looked like it took something out of him,” Albertani said. “I wasn’t confident enough to go.”
Mr. Buff, one-length winner of Saturday’s $300,000 Empire Classic for New York-breds, could step back into open company in the Grade 1, $600,000 Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs on Nov. 29, trainer John Kimmel said.
Kimmel said the Clark intrigues him because, at 1 1/8 miles around two turns, “it’s one of the only [races] out there at the right distance, right configuration, right time.”
Maximum Security, the multiple Grade 1 winning 3-year-old who was disqualified from first in the Kentucky Derby, won’t be going to the Breeders’ Cup, but he will have a fall campaign that will get started in Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Bold Ruler Handicap at Belmont Park.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Bricks and Mortar, Sistercharlie, Uni, and Maximum Security topped a star-studded workout tab Sunday at Belmont Park.
Bricks and Mortar, the leading turf male in North America, worked five furlongs in 1:00.15 over Belmont Park’s inner turf course. Bricks and Mortar worked in company with Without Parole, a Group 1 winner in 2018, and the pair went their first quarter in 24.86 seconds and their final three furlongs in 35.29 seconds.
“He’s in top form, he breezed great today,” trainer Chad Brown said.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Santa Anita specialist Paradise Woods, among the main challengers to favorite Midnight Bisou in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff, continues to send positive vibes.
Paradise Woods and jockey Abel Cedillo cruised through a six-furlong workout Sunday at Santa Anita, a comfortable solo drill in which she rationed her speed. That was a main objective for a mare with a history of stress. Although Paradise Woods sometimes gets keen, her work went smoothly.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Graded stakes winner Pee Wee Reese sustained a fetlock injury at the conclusion of a Saturday workout at San Luis Rey Downs that will prevent him from running in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint on Nov. 2 and likely will end his racing career.
A multiple stakes winner who scored a sharp comeback victory last month in the Grade 2 Eddie D Stakes at Santa Anita, Pee Wee Reese would have been among the favorites in the BC Turf Sprint. Owner-breeder Nick Alexander was prepared to pay a $100,000 supplemental fee to make him eligible.
ARCADIA, Calif. – With the Breeders’ Cup just a fortnight away, major works were the order of the day Saturday morning at Santa Anita, including one that was concurrent with a major decision.
Shortly after Catalina Cruiser worked five furlongs in 1:00.60, his trainer, John Sadler, said that Catalina Cruiser would likely head to the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at six furlongs after considering both that race and the Dirt Mile, both on Nov. 2.
CHURCHILL DOWNS
TRACK: Fast
WEATHER: HAZY
TEMPERATURE: 45
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A dozen potential Breeders’ Cup starters worked at Churchill Downs over the last two mornings. Five of the 12 came from the potent stable of trainer Brad Cox, two of whom, OWENDALE (Classic) and ARKLOW (Turf), put in their penultimate works for the event on another crisp and at times hazy morning Saturday at Churchill Downs.
