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Vexatious, True Timber Work Toward Breeders’ Cup Assignments At Keeneland

Calumet Farm's Vexatious, winner of the Personal Ensign (G1) at Saratoga over champion Midnight Bisou, continued working toward a probable start in the $2 million Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) on Nov. 7 with a half-mile breeze in :50.20 Saturday morning shortly after the track opened for training.

“She always goes at 5:30,” trainer Jack Sisterson said. “She wants to go early and loves being outside. When the weather is nice, she will spend a lot of time out in the paddock.”

Saturday's work was the fifth half-mile breeze for Vexatious since finishing fifth behind champion Monomoy Girl in the La Troienne (G1) last month at Churchill Downs.

Sisterson also worked Calumet's True Timber, who is under consideration for the Big Ass Fans Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) on Nov. 7. True Timber worked 5 furlongs in company in 1:02.60 over the fast main track.

Sisterson took over the training of True Timber following Kiaran McLaughlin's retirement from training. True Timber has run three times for Sisterson, beginning with a third-place finish behind top Breeders' Cup contender C Z Rocket going 6½ furlongs here in July.

A millionaire, the 6-year-old True Timber has eight graded stakes placings on his resume but no graded victories.

“He's a horse that deserves to win a big race; he tries hard every time,” Sisterson said. “He's probably not a three-quarters horse and it was my mistake to run him in the (6-furlong) Vosburgh (G1) and he drew the rail. He had run so well in the (7-furlong) Forego (G1) beaten a little more than a length when he was third.”

Also working toward a possible Breeders' Cup engagement was Southern Equine Stable's Keepmeinmind.

Runner-up in the Claiborne Breeders' Futurity (G1) here on Oct. 3, Keepmeinmind worked a half-mile in :49.20 with jockey David Cohen aboard.

“He worked fantastic,” trainer Robertino Diodoro said of the work at 7:30 a.m. following the first track maintenance renovation break. Keepmeinmind is targeting the $2 million TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) Presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance on Nov. 6.

At The Thoroughbred Center in Lexington, Shadwell Turf Mile (G1) winner Ivar (BRZ) worked a half-mile in preparation for the Fan Duel Breeders' Cup Mile (G1) Presented by PDJF.

“He went a half in an easy :50 like we planned,” trainer Paulo Lobo said via text about Ivar, who is owned by the partnership of Bonne Chance Farm and Stud RDI.

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NYRA Releases Jockey Protocols For Aqueduct’s Fall Meet

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) announced Saturday COVID-19 health and safety protocols for jockeys during the 18-day Aqueduct fall meet, which will open on Friday, Nov. 6 and run through Sunday, Dec. 6. The Aqueduct fall meet will be highlighted by 29 stakes, including 11 graded events, worth $3.41 million in purse money.

Opening weekend of the Aqueduct fall meet, which coincides with the Breeders' Cup set for Nov. 6-7 at Keeneland Race Course, begins with the $100,000 Tempted for juvenile fillies and $80,000 Atlantic Beach for juvenile turf sprinters on Nov. 6. Following opening weekend, live racing will be conducted Thursday through Sunday with the exception of Thanksgiving Week, when live racing will not be offered on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 26.

Members of the Aqueduct jockey colony who travel to ride at any other racetrack during the Aqueduct fall meet will be required to provide two negative COVID-19 tests taken within a 5-day window in order to return to ride at Aqueduct. Jockeys traveling out of state who have completed the required testing will then be physically isolated in the jockey quarters for three additional calendar days.

Jockeys not currently riding at NYRA who wish to join the Aqueduct jockey colony for the beginning of the Aqueduct fall meet must contact NYRA's Senior Vice President of Racing Operations Martin Panza or Aqueduct Racing Secretary Keith Doleshel by Wednesday, Nov. 11. Newcomers to the NYRA jockey colony will be required to provide two negative COVID-19 tests taken within the 5-day window preceding that jockey's first mount at Aqueduct.

In order to mitigate risk and reduce the spread of COVID-19, Aqueduct will be closed to out-of-town jockeys not considered members of the regular NYRA jockey colony.

All testing must be performed in New York state.

In addition to race day safety protocols which include standard health screening and temperature checks, the jockey quarters at Aqueduct have been substantially altered to provide maximum social distancing and reduce density. All areas accessed by jockeys during the regular course of a race day are closed to outside personnel, including credentialed media, and are cleaned and disinfected throughout the day.

Jockeys are not permitted access to the barn area at Belmont Park. In order to work a horse in the morning, the jockey must meet the horse in the paddock and may then proceed to the main track for as long as the main track remains open.

Jockey agents arriving from outside of New York must produce a negative COVID-19 test in order to gain access to the barn area at Belmont Park. Races will continue to be drawn via Zoom.

All valets must provide a negative COVID-19 test taken any time after Nov. 2 in order to access the jockey quarters on opening day, Nov. 6. Valets who choose to only saddle horses in the paddock and not enter the jockey quarters will be allowed in the Belmont Park barn area.

America's Day at the Races will present daily television coverage of the Aqueduct fall meet on FOX Sports and MSG Networks.

For the complete stakes schedule for the Aqueduct fall meet, please visit https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/stakes-schedule

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Kameko To Tweenhills In 2021

This year’s G1 2000 Guineas scorer Kameko (Kitten’s Joy) will retire to Tweenhills Stud upon conclusion of his 3-year-old campaign this year.

In addition to the 2000 Guineas, Kameko won last year’s G1 Vertem Futurity Trophy. He was fourth in three consecutive Group 1s this summer before besting older horses in the G2 Joel S. and is set to run in the Breeders’ Cup.

Sheikh Fahad Al-Thani, chairman of Qatar Racing, said, “My brothers and I are delighted to own another superstar in Kameko, whose record-breaking 2- and 3-year-old campaigns will live long in our memory. We cannot wait to unveil him to breeders.”

Trainer Andrew Balding added, “Kameko is without doubt the best horse I’ve trained. He has all the attributes of a top-class miler and is a striking horse to look at. I feel very honoured to have had the opportunity to train a horse of such class.”

Kameko was a first British Classic winner for jockey Oisin Murphy, who said, “I felt from the very beginning that this could be a special horse. He’s the perfect model–he has size, durability and a great character. To ride, he has super balance, a great turn of foot and a good mind–you can put him anywhere in a race. He’s a machine.”

Kameko will run at the Breeders’ Cup and on his return will be paraded for breeders, along with other Tweenhills stallions, at Longholes Stud in Newmarket during the Tattersalls December Mare Sale. His 2021 stud fee and syndication plans will be announced in due course.

The post Kameko To Tweenhills In 2021 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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2,000 Guineas Winner Kameko Will Retire To Tweenhills After Breeders’ Cup Run

QIPCO 2,000 Guineas winner Kameko will be retired to stand at Tweenhills, home of the Qatar Racing stallions, at the end of his 3-year-old campaign in 2020.

Kameko was the fastest ever winner of the 2,000 Guineas and Qatar Racing's third European Gr.1 Classic winner after Simple Verse and Just The Judge. He was also an impressive winner of the Gr.1 Vertem Futurity Trophy Stakes at two and successfully gave weight to world-class older horses in the Gr.2 Joel Stakes.

The son of Kitten's Joy – the same sire as Qatar Racing's late world champion Roaring Lion – joins Zoustar, Champion First-, Second- and Third-Season Sire in Australia, Gr.1-winning sire Havana Gold and champion older miler Lightning Spear at Tweenhills for the 2021 breeding season.

Looking back on Kameko's success, Sheikh Fahad Al-Thani, Chairman of Qatar Racing, said: “My brothers and I are delighted to own another superstar in Kameko, whose record-breaking two- and three-year-old campaigns will live long in our memory. We cannot wait to unveil him to breeders.”

Trainer Andrew Balding added: “Kameko is without doubt the best horse I've trained. He has all the attributes of a top-class miler and is a striking horse to look at. I feel very honored to have had the opportunity to train a horse of such class.”

Kameko was a first British Classic winner for jockey Oisin Murphy, who said: “I felt from the very beginning that this could be a special horse. He's the perfect model – he has size, durability and a great character. To ride, he has super balance, a great turn of foot and a good mind – you can put him anywhere in a race. He's a machine.”

Kameko will run at the Breeders' Cup and on his return will be paraded for breeders, along with other Tweenhills stallions, at Longholes Stud in Newmarket during the Tattersalls December Mare Sale. His 2021 stud fee and syndication plans will be announced in due course.

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