2021 breeders' cup | Horse Racing Free Tips

NTRA Stakes Rundown: Breeders’ Cup ‘Win And You’re In’ Races Take Center Stage

Santa Anita takes center stage this weekend with six Breeders' Cup “Win and You're In races,” while the nation's top-rated horse, Knick's Go, preps at Churchill Downs for an anticipated start in the $6 million Longines Breeders' Cup Classic in November. Belmont Park and Paris' Longchamp also host important weekend racing, including “Win and You're In” qualifying races to the Breeders' Cup, as top horses in virtually every division begin their final preparations for the World Championships Nov. 5-6 at Del Mar in California.

Races in this weekend's rundown are listed in chronological order (all times Eastern). Full previews, when available, can be found through the link for each race.

TVG will feature racing from Santa Anita, Gulfstream Park, Laurel Park, Woodbine and more. Fans can tune in on TVG, TVG2 and the Watch TVG app which is available on Amazon Fire, Roku and connected Apple TV devices. TVG will also be covering the full card from Longchamp on Sunday morning featuring five Breeders' Cup “Win and You're In” Challenge Series races – the Prix de L'Abbaye de Longchamp Longines (Turf Sprint), Qatar Prix de L'Arc de Triomphe (Turf), Qatar Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere (Juvenile Turf), Qatar Prix Marcel Boussac (Juvenile Fillies Turf) and Prix de L'Opera Longines (Juvenile Fillies Turf).

“America's Day at the Races” will be broadcasting live from Belmont Park on Friday, Oct. 1 on FS2 from 12:30 – 5:30 pm; on Saturday, Oct. 2 on FS2 from 12:30 pm – 6:30 pm; and on Sunday, Oct. 3 on FS2 from 12:30 – 4:30 pm., FS1 from 4:30 – 5:30 pm and on FS2 from 5:30 – 6:00 p.m. Sunday's “America's Day at the Races” will include special coverage of the Qatar Pris de l'Arc de Triomphe on FS2 from 8 – 10:30 am.

Friday, October 1

6:30 PM ET – $200,000 Chandelier Stakes (Grade 2-Breeders' Cup “Win and You're In”) at Santa Anita on TVG
Grace Adler looks to keep her perfect two for two record intact as the daughter of Curlin takes on six rivals in this Breeders' Cup “Win and You're In” qualifying race for the $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. The Bob Baffert-trained filly won the seven-furlong Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante last out. Indiana-bred Electric Ride, trained by John Sadler, exits an impressive 8 ½ length maiden special weight score in her August 28 debut at Del Mar.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/SA100121USA6-EQB.html

7:00 PM ET – $200,000 Eddie D Stakes (Grade 2T) at Santa Anita on TVG
Racing returns to the Camino Real Hillside Turf Course on Santa Anita's Autumn Meet opening day card with a field of nine in this Grade 2 turf stake. Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen ships in Bloom Racing Stables' Snapper Sinclair from the Midwest to face eight rivals, including the lone distaffer and multiple stakes-winning mare Charmaine's Mia.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/SA100121USA7-EQB.html

7:30 PM ET – $300,000 American Pharoah Stakes (Grade 1, Breeders' Cup “Win and You're In”) at Santa Anita on TVG
A Breeders' Cup “Win and You're In” qualifying event for the $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile, the American Pharoah features the Bob Baffert-trained Rockefeller, who is one for one after breaking his maiden in a six-furlong sprint at Del Mar on August 28. The Medaglia d'Oro colt is one of three entered for Baffert, including debut maiden winner Corniche and the twice-placed maiden Flying Drummer.
Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/SA100121USA8-EQB.html

Saturday, October 2

2:33 PM ET – $200,000 Miss Grillo Stakes (Grade 2T) at Belmont Park on FS
Kentucky-bred Sail By, trained by Leah Gyramati, is the most experienced in the six-horse field of 2-year-old fillies. The daughter of Astern finished third out of four in the off the turf P.G. Johnson Stakes last out at Saratoga. Prior to that race, Sail By finished second in the Colleen Stakes over five furlongs on the Monmouth Park turf course after winning her turf debut on Belmont's inner turf course. Trainer Chad Brown sends out maiden winner McKulick (GB) and maiden Kinchen (IRE), who finished a troubled second at Saratoga in her only start.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/BEL100221USA4-EQB.html

4:22 PM ET – $400,000 Lukas Classic (Grade 3) at Churchill Downs on FS2
Maryland-bred Knicks Go, the No. 1 rated horse in the NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll for eight consecutive weeks and winner this year of the Pegasus World Cup (G1) and Whitney (G1), headlines a six-horse field that includes Tacitus and Independence Hall. Trainer Brad Cox is using the Lukas Classic as a prep race for Knicks Go's expected start in the $6 million Longines Breeder's Cup Classic on November 6 at Del Mar.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/CD100221USA8-EQB.html

4:30 PM ET – $200,000 City of Hope Mile (Grade 2T) at Santa Anita on TVG
Trainer Peter Miller sends out Mo Forza in the compact five-horse City of Hope Mile field. The Kentucky-bred son of Uncle Mo won last year's edition of this one-mile turf contest and has won three consecutive Grade 2 turf stakes in California. Trainer Michael McCarthy's Smooth Like Strait seeks another win to add to his impressive Santa Anita resume where he has won four one-mile turf races.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/SA100221USA3-EQB.html

4:40 PM ET – $500,000 Champagne Stakes (Grade 1, Breeders' Cup “Win and You're In”) at Belmont Park on FS2
Wit looks to atone for his only loss in three career starts in the Champagne, a Breeders' Cup “Win and You're In” qualifying event for the $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile. The Kentucky-bred Practical Joke colt stumbled at the start of the Hopeful (G1) in his last start but rallied to finish second to Gunite, who also is entered in this one-turn mile over Belmont's main track. Impressive debut winner Jack Christopher, who earned a lofty 92 Beyer Speed Figure in his only career start, looks to give trainer Chad Brown his third Champagne victory.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/BEL100221USA8-EQB.html

5:14 PM ET – $200,000 Belmont Turf Sprint Invitational (Grade 3T) at Belmont Park on FS2
Piedi Bianchi, the 2020 Indiana Horse of the Year, takes on eight male rivals in this six-furlong turf sprint for trainer Carlos Martin. The Indiana-bred 6-year-old Overanalyze mare won the Smart and Fancy Stakes at Saratoga in her most recent start and is cross-entered in the $150,000 Cardinal at Indiana Grand on October 6. Christophe Clement saddles New York-bred Therapist, a 6-year-old Freud gelding who has won at least one stakes race every year since his 2-year-old season. Clement has trained the winner of three of the previous five Belmont Turf Sprint Invitationals.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/BEL100221USA9-EQB.html

5:26 PM ET – $300,000 Ack Ack (Grade 3) at Churchill Downs on FS2
Stonestreet Stables sends out undefeated homebred Beau Liam in the one-mile Ack Ack on the main track. The 3-year-old son of Liam's Map broke his maiden in May at Churchill Downs and collected two allowance wins this summer at Saratoga for trainer Steve Asmussen. Beau Liam is one of only two 3-year-olds in the 11-horse field that also includes graded stakes winners Guest Suite, Mo Mosa, Mr. Dumas, Plainsman and Rushie.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/CD100221USA10-EQB.html

5:45 PM ET – $500,000 Woodward (Grade 1) at Belmont Park on FS2
A compact field of six will line up for the 68th running of the Grade 1 Woodward, led by Kentucky-bred Maxfield. The 4-year-old Street Sense colt has won three of five starts this year, including two Grade 2 races at Churchill Downs: the Alysheba and Stephen Foster. Trainer Brendan Walsh hopes to secure a second Grade 1 for his charge, who won at the highest level as a 2-year-old in Keeneland's Breeders' Futurity. Code of Honor, a Grade 1 winner in Belmont's Jockey Club Gold Cup as a 3-year-old, looks for his second win in three starts as a 5-year-old for trainer Shug McGaughey. The son of Noble Mission leads the field with lifetime earnings of $2.8 million.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/BEL100221USA10-EQB.html

7:00 PM ET – $200,000 Santa Anita Sprint Championship (Grade 2, Breeders' Cup “Win and You're In”) at Santa Anita on TVG
Dr. Schivel aims for a fifth consecutive win in this Breeders' Cup “Win and You're In” qualifying event for the $2 million Breeders' Cup Sprint. The Kentucky-bred 3-year-old Violence colt closed gamely to take the Bing Crosby (G1) against older horses in his most recent start, a second consecutive win against his elders. C Z Rocket, who won this race in 2020, finished second last out as the favorite in Del Mar's Pat O'Brien Stakes (G2).

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/SA100221USA8-EQB.html

7:30 PM ET – $300,000 Rodeo Drive Stakes (Grade 1T, Breeders' Cup “Win and You're In”) at Santa Anita on TVG
Going to Vegas is in search of her third consecutive win when she enters the starting gate for the Rodeo Drive, a Breeders' Cup “Win and You're In” qualifier for the $2 million Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf. The Richard Baltas-trained 4-year-old Kentucky-bred daughter of Goldencents exits her biggest career win in the John C. Mabee (G2) at Del Mar last month. The nine-horse field also includes Mabee runner-up Dogtag, who has finished second in each of her four 2021 starts.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/SA100221USA9-EQB.html

8:00 PM ET – $300,000 Awesome Again Stakes (Grade 1, Breeders' Cup “Win and You're In”) at Santa Anita on TVG
Florida-bred Medina Spirit returns to Santa Anita, where the 3-year-old colt prepped for his upset win in the Kentucky Derby. The son of Protonico will face older horses for the first time in the Awesome Again, a Breeders' Cup “Win and You're In” qualifying event for the $6 million Breeders' Cup Classic. Medina Spirit most recently won the Shared Belief Stakes in August, his first start since a third-place finish in the Preakness. Pacific Classic (G1) winner Tripoli and Santa Anita Handicap (G1) winner Idol also are entered in the eight-horse field.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/SA100221USA10-EQB.html

8:30 PM ET – $200,000 John Henry Turf Championship (Grade 2T) at Santa Anita on TVG
A 13-horse field is scheduled to compete in the John Henry Turf Championship, a 1 ¼ mile turf contest that features the winner of last year's running, United. The Richard Mandella-trained Kentucky-bred Giant's Causeway gelding has two wins and two fourth place finishes in five starts since. Chilean-bred Master Piece will make his second start for trainer Michael McCarthy, following a fast closing second in the Del Mar Handicap (G2) in August.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/SA100221USA11-EQB.html

Sunday, October 3

2:36 PM ET – $200,000 Pilgrim Stakes (Grade 2T) at Belmont Park on FS2
Undefeated Annapolis, trained by Todd Pletcher, takes on stakes company for the first time in the 43rd running of the Grade 2T Pilgrim Stakes going 1 1/16 miles over the inner turf at Belmont Park. The Pilgrim winner has won three of the last five winners of the Grade 1T Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/BEL100321USA4-EQB.html

4:44 PM ET – $300,000 Fasig-Tipton Waya Stakes (Grade 3T) at Belmont Park on FS2
Four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown will send out defending champ My Sister Nat along with Orglandes in Sunday's Grade 3, $300,000 Fasig-Tipton Waya, an 11-furlong inner turf test for fillies and mares, at Belmont Park.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/BEL100321USA8-EQB.html

5:16 PM ET – $400,000 Frizette Stakes (Grade 1, Breeders' Cup “Win and You're In”) at Belmont Park on FS2
Winchell Thoroughbreds and L and N Racing's Echo Zulu will try to cement her status as the top juvenile filly on the East Coast in the Grade 1 Frizette Stakes. The Frizette is a “Win And You're In” qualifying event offering an automatic entry into the Grade 1, $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies on November 5 at Del Mar.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/BEL100321USA9-EQB.html

6:00 PM ET – $100,000 Chillingworth Stakes (Grade 3) at Santa Anita on TVG
Multiple Grade I winner Ce Ce heads a field of six fillies and mares going 6 ½ furlongs in the Chillingworth, named for the late Sherwood C. Chillingworth, a highly respected longtime director and Executive Vice President of the Oak Tree Racing Association, which conducted a fall meeting at Santa Anita from 1969 through 2009.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/SA100321USA5-EQB.html

8:00 PM ET – $200,000 Zenyatta Stakes (Grade 2, Breeders' Cup “Win and You're In”) at Santa Anita on TVG
The Bob Baffert-trained Private Mission, originally scheduled to run in the Grade I Cotillion Stakes near Philadelphia Sept. 25, will take on older competition for the first time on Sunday as she bids for her third consecutive win in the Zenyatta. Named in honor of racing's 2010 Eclipse Horse of the Year, the Zenyatta, which has attracted a field of eight fillies and mares three and up, will be contested at a mile and one sixteenth.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/SA100321USA9-EQB.html

6:12 PM ET – $150,000 Ontario Fashion Stakes (Grade 3) at Woodbine on TVG
Boardroom, a multiple graded stakes winner who is undefeated in two starts this season, takes on a wide-open field of seven in the Grade 3 Ontario Fashion Stakes at Woodbine. Summer Sunday, the 2019 Canadian Champion Sprinter and an earner of nearly $700,000, also is entered in the six-furlong dash.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/WO100321CAN10-EQB.html

The post NTRA Stakes Rundown: Breeders’ Cup ‘Win And You’re In’ Races Take Center Stage appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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‘Go Outside The Lines’: Game Changer Delgado Built Her Own Role At Breeders’ Cup

Whether you watch this year's Breeders' Cup in the stands at Del Mar, in an owner's suite high above the track, or on television at home, you will spend much of the event surveying the work of Dora Delgado – you just may not know it.

Delgado was named last month to the Sports Business Journal's Game Changers list, which recognizes women with senior leadership roles in sports. Making the Game Changers list was a pleasant surprise for Delgado, who has worked for Breeders' Cup for 38 years.

“That was really unexpected,” she said. “It's rare that I'm at the forefront of things at Breeders' Cup and I prefer that. I prefer to be in the background, working on logistics and operations. I like to pick things apart and put them back together. I haven't really been front and center … so to get recognized by a publication like the Sports Business Journal was a thrill.”

In a way, inclusion on the list was the outside world recognizing Delgado for innovations she had led quietly within racing with relatively little fanfare.

Her formal title at Breeders' Cup is Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Officer, and if those sound like catch-all roles, it's because she juggles a wide range of tasks to make the event happen each year. Delgado's duties at Breeders' Cup include event logistics, operational set-up, coordinating with commissions and federal authorities, managing equine security, recruiting international competitors, promoting foal and stallion nominations, and overseeing the organization's Veterinary Panel and Field Selection Panel. Though many people may not realize it, it was Delgado who administers the Win and You're In Challenge Series which has become the dominant schedule-maker for summer racing.

All of this, from what was supposed to be a temporary job in 1983, the first year of Breeders' Cup. Delgado remembers taking on a role as administrative assistant for the organization when it was still housed in a few cramped rooms in the basement of the old Blood-Horse building in Lexington, Ky. The whole staff was just a handful of people then, and everybody did a bit of everything. She recalls sitting at the table in the kitchenette, helping D.G. Van Clief Jr., decide what to call the various divisions.

“We had a little bit of freedom because what we were doing was wholly original,” she said. “It was something that had never been done before, so it did give you a little bit of room to be inventive and creative and think outside the box.”

Still, Delgado admits few of them probably dreamed the event would grow in all the ways it did.

“We had really high hopes,” she said. “We knew it was a really good idea and so needed – a year-end championship to say, 'Here's the season-ending game.' The Super Bowl, the World Series, the Olympics all rolled into one … what we didn't anticipate, I don't think, was the long-lasting effect it would have on the racing schedules and racing calendars.”

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Delgado's grandfather had been a trainer, and the family often traveled to wherever he was on the circuit, so she knew the racing life. When she took the job with Breeders' Cup, she had just graduated from high school and was looking for summer employment. She had done clerical work at the local Thoroughbred auctions, but hadn't thought of racing as a career option – nor had she decided what she wanted to do. As Breeders' Cup grew, so did her position, providing her the chance to travel as she helped stimulate interest in the races from international contenders. At some point, the temporary role became her career path and she expanded it whenever she could.

“I'm a doer,” she said. “I've always been one to roll up my sleeves and get it done. The more responsibilities I take on, I like to have my hands in it.

“I think it's been critical to my success, my attitude along the way of taking more and more. Let me take that from you, I'll handle that, I'll do that. I say that to people all the time who come to me for advice and mentorship – don't stay in your corner. Go outside the lines. Take on more skills, learn to do other things. Be the person who volunteers each time. Not only does it give you a wide variety of skills, but it shows you're such a team player and you're helping everybody rise.”

While there are more women at the top in American racing than there used to be, it's not yet commonplace to see them in C-suite roles at major racing organizations or tracks. In the modern era, Delgado does believe women are treated differently than men, though she isn't sure there are many men in hiring positions who would consciously exclude a woman from advancing specifically or solely because of her gender. Delgado sees the ongoing gender disparity as coming from a different drive.

“Would it have taken a man 40 years to go from administrative assistant to chief racing officer? Probably not,” she said. “But there's a dirty little secret in all businesses that if you do a job especially well and you prove yourself invaluable in that position, there is a certain reluctance to move you out of that position because then who are they going to get to do that work.”

“I think it's probably a slower trajectory for women in this business, because she's so good at her job and what are we going to do if we don't have her there? I was really fortunate though, at Breeders' Cup. Pam Blatz-Murff, before she passed away, was a tremendous mentor to me and really gave me a lot of opportunities. Every president we've had has given me chances to advance. You've just got to be willing to take the leap and show you can do the job.”

That willingness to leap in at every opportunity does require Delgado to keep a lot of plates spinning at once. She jokes that she doesn't work 24/7, but 18/7 may be an accurate description – although she stresses those long hours are matched by a dedicated team.

Racing, alongside many other industries, is now having to face the fact that many people don't necessarily want 18/7 schedules. Delgado admits that it has come with sacrifices – time away from family being a big one. If anything, she hopes that the push toward remote work hastened by the COVID-19 pandemic will make it easier for new employees to commit to the weekend-heavy schedule that is working on a major stakes festival in racing. It has become more accepted now for people to catch up on weekend race results using smartphones while spending time with kids or spouses, or pursuing their own hobbies.

Delgado has her eye to the future. She is hopeful that more major events and tracks will begin using Breeders' Cup safety and integrity protocols as a base for their own best practices – something that has already begun happening. Also, at the age of 56, she is keenly aware that she needs to begin passing on her knowledge and perspective to the next round of industry professionals. That means making sure that people find a career at the Breeders' Cup as exciting as she did years ago when she realized that was her path.

“I know there's a lot of conversation in the industry about recycling people, that we just rehash the same ones over and over again,” she said. “There needs to be opportunities to learn from people, but there's also got to be equal opportunities to promote from within. You've got to prepare the way. You can't keep it at a certain age or a certain gender. If you don't keep expanding the ranks you won't have anybody left to try to take these jobs.

“It's very important that we create an environment that we're fostering younger minds and people that are going to take this over. It can't all rest in my head, it's got to be something that my racing staff and nominations staff and the whole company takes pride of ownership in.”

Delgado is hopeful the implementation of the Horseracing Safety and Integrity Authority (HISA) and continued efforts by racing stakeholders at improving diversity, equity, and inclusion can make people already in the sport feel good about trying to recruit young people to make their careers in it, too.

“I've been a little discouraged by the number of breeding families whose younger generations don't show a lot of interest in pursuing the sport and keeping it going,” she said. “We've got to keep building on the legacy those farms have created. If their younger families don't want to, we need to bring more people in. I love Thoroughbred racing. I don't want it to wither and die on the vine. It can't come down to two or three racetracks and three or four max trainers …

I think we're on the cusp of really revolutionizing Thoroughbred racing in a good way.”

It won't be the first revolution she has seen.

The post ‘Go Outside The Lines’: Game Changer Delgado Built Her Own Role At Breeders’ Cup appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Baffert Under Review By Breeders’ Cup To Determine 2021 Participation Status

The Breeders' Cup announced on Saturday that it has begun a review process to determine whether Bob Baffert – the all-time leading Breeders' Cup trainer by money won – will be allowed to participate in this year's world championships at Del Mar racetrack in Del Mar, Calif., on Nov. 5-6.

On June 2, Baffert was banned from participation at tracks owned by Churchill Downs for two years after Zedan Racing Stables Inc.'s Medina Spirit failed a drug test following his first-place finish in this year's Grade 1 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky.

The positive test for the corticosteroid betamethasone on May 1 was Baffert's fifth failed drug test in 365 days, beginning with two lidocaine positives for Charlatan and Gamine at Oaklawn Park on May 2, 2020 – Charlatan's bad test coming in the G1 Arkansas Derby and eventual filly and mare sprint champion Gamine testing positive after an allowance win. Both Charlatan and Gamine were disqualified from their victories by Oaklawn stewards, but the Arkansas Racing Commission reinstated the wins, overturned a 15-day suspension of the trainer and fined him $10,000.

Baffert was fined $2,500 by California Horse Racing Board stewards after Merneith tested positive for dextromethorphan at Del Mar in July 2020 and then Gamine tested positive for a second time – this time for betamethasone – after a third-place finish in the G1 Kentucky Oaks on Sept. 4, 2020. She was disqualified and Baffert was fined $1,500.

“The Breeders' Cup Board has commenced a review process as to whether Bob Baffert will be permitted to participate in this year's Breeders' Cup world championships,” a statement from the Breeders' Cup said. “The process will include an opportunity for Mr. Baffert to present his case and will conclude in advance of pre-entry for the 2021 world championships.”

Baffert's five failed tests do not violate the Breeders' Cup Convicted Trainers Rule that disqualifies a trainer from participation if he or she has been sanctioned in the previous 12 months for a Class 1 violation carrying Category A or B penalties or a Class 2 violation carrying a Category A penalty (classifications are determined by the Association of Racing Commissioners International). Lidocaine is a Class 2 drug with Category B penalty. Dextromethoropan is Class 4/Category B. Betamethasone is Class 4/Category C.

There is a provision in Breeders' Cup Limited's Horsemen's Guide for pre-entry procedures stating that the organization reserves the right to refuse pre-entry or entry of any horse, in “BCL's sole discretion, for any reason, including, but not limited to, situations where any connection (e.g., owner, trainer, jockey) of such horse has engaged or may have engaged in conduct, or become the subject of a regulatory or law enforcement inquiry or action alleging conduct that is unlawful, unethical or which may otherwise compromise the integrity or reputation of the Breeders' Cup world championships.”

Baffert is second to fellow Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas in all-time Breeders' Cup wins, with 17 (three fewer than Lukas), but his $35,985,000 in earnings leads all trainers by more than $9 million, according to statistics compiled by Breeders' Cup.

Baffert has a number of leading contenders for this year's Breeders' Cup races, including G1 Del Mar Futurity winner Pinehurst, whose ownership includes the Stonestreet Stables of newly elected Breeders' Cup chair Barbara Banke.

If Baffert does participate in the Breeders' Cup and Pinehurst finishes in the top four in the G1 Juvenile, the horse will not be eligible for any qualifying points to the 2022 Kentucky Derby (10-4-2-1 points are earmarked for the top four finishers). Churchill Downs Inc. recently announced that horses will not earn points in official Derby qualifying races if they are in the care of a trainer who has been suspended from participation at Churchill Downs. Baffert is the only known trainer suspended by Churchill Downs Inc., which exercised its private property rights when it announced the exclusion..

Baffert is also facing a possible suspension by the New York Racing Association, which has scheduled a Sept. 27 hearing in front of a hearing officer to consider NYRA's statement of charges against the trainer that incorporate the multiple violations and Baffert's response to them.

The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission has yet to conduct a hearing on the Medina Spirit positive test.

The post Baffert Under Review By Breeders’ Cup To Determine 2021 Participation Status appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: Gufo Brings Doctors Together On Ride Of Lifetime

After nearly three decades in the horse business, Dr. John Little, co-breeder of Grade 1-winning Breeders' Cup Turf candidate Gufo, knows one thing for sure: He's not in it for the money.

An anesthesiologist affiliated with Good Samaritan Hospital in Cincinnati, Little studies pedigrees, conformation, race records, and stallion statistics to decompress from the daily demands of medicine. He has bred two millionaire runners from his Petionville mare Floy: Gufo and his half brother Hogy, a graded stakes-winning turf sprinter.

“That's what I do to get away from medicine,” said Little, a Texas native who as a youngster rode Quarter Horse races at bush tracks and later found success breeding Thoroughbreds on a small scale at his Central Kentucky farm. “This is my thing to distract me. It takes enough thought and I have to totally shift gears away from medicine to do this. People at the hospital ask me if it has been profitable looking back at the last 25 years. Financially, if you look at exactly the numbers…I would say no. I do medicine to make a living, and the only reason I even do horses is so I don't have to think about it.”

Little bred Gufo, most recently winner of the G1 Sword Dancer Invitational Stakes, a Breeders' Cup Win & You're In event, on turf Aug. 28 at Saratoga, in partnership with close friend, Dr. Stephen Cainelli, who is retired from an obstetrics practice in Texas and races the Declaration of War colt as the only runner for his Otter Bend Stable.

Little and Cainelli met years ago when practicing medicine in San Angelo, Texas. Little had a farm in Stephenville, but after many vacation trips to Kentucky with his horses shifted permanently to the Bluegrass in 2004 and established Cave Brook Farm in Keene, near Lexington.

Cainelli's formal introduction to the sport came in 2016 when he and Little decided to breed Floy in a foal-share agreement. For years, however, Cainelli had been a naysayer when Little talked horses, but he later became interested and then a fan eager to participate on the ownership level.

“We practiced medicine together and played softball together; when our third child was born he was a boy and (Cainelli) asked to be his godfather,” Little said. “He told me how stupid the horse business was for the last 30 years and finally he said about four years ago: 'I don't have anything fun to do right now and I need a reason to come visit you. …Surely by now you've got some good horses after all these years.'

“Steve's involved in a bank that currently sells on the Dow (Jones Industrial Average); he started it,” Little continued. “He's involved in the Washington Nationals baseball team. And I knew he wasn't talking about a horse to try to win an allowance race at Mountaineer. He said 'Do you have any good horses?' So, I told him about my best horse on the farm; it was my mare that produced Hogy.”

Little called upon all his instincts and insights developed over many years researching Thoroughbreds to select young War Front stallion Declaration of War, then standing at Coolmore's Ashford Stud, and Cainelli put up the stud fee, the resulting 2017 foal was Gufo, from the stallion's second crop.

Following the Sword Dancer, Clement indicated the colt's next start would be the G1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Oct. 9 at Belmont Park, also going about 1 1/2 miles on turf.

Gufo has shown promise form the time he was a youngster. Little sent him yearling to the late Kenny Lejeune at Oak Ridge Training Center in Morriston, Florida. Lejeune developed a number of good runners, including G1 winners Divine Park, Mo Forza, and Peace Rules. He also was the regular rider of Racing Hall of Fame member and champion sprinter Precisionist.

Gufo at ten months old

At one time Lejeune rode Quarter Horses in Texas for Little's brother and father, and Little maintained the relationship when he started breaking horses down in Florida 25 years ago.

“He had been really accurate in assessing the ones that were bad and the good ones,” said Little, who previously had sent Lejeune his homebred Schoolyard Dreams, a graded stakes-placed runner and former 2003 Preakness starter. “[Lejeune] was a big part of my whole deal.”

Lejeune died of cancer at age 60 in December 2020.

“Kenny loved [Gufo] and after about three months he said: 'He's my best horse. I don't know how good, but he's good. So [Gufo] had been there four or five months and I called Christophe Clement. Steve Cainelli is from New Jersey right on the New York City border. He's got family in New Jersey and New York and I knew he would enjoy racing in New York. And Clement likes turf horses.”

Clement consented to train Gufo after sending his son Miguel to Florida to see the colt, then two, and get Lejeune's assessment. He was familiar with Hogy, having previously sent runners to compete against him. After his own judgment when the colt joined his New York stable, Clement wanted to give Gufo time off to grow and mature.

“I didn't realize how patient he was,” Little said of Clement. “I didn't realize how appropriately caretaking of horses he was. He told me the horse was growing really fast and he would do good to have a few months off.”

At that point, Little decided Cainelli could take sole ownership of Gufo, who had yet to start. Little first suspected there could be a problem with colt that might cost him money but Cainelli reminded him of why Clement was chosen to train in the first place.

Cainelli told him, “I don't care about the money part of this. I don't know [much] about the horse business but the money part doesn't matter. If you'll be adviser to me I'll take care of the money part.'”

Co-breeders Dr. John Little, left, with Dr. Stephen Cainelli of Otter Bend Stable

Little then mentored and advised Cainelli through his initial first steps in ownership and then took a back seat before the colt made his debut at two in November 2019. The Sword Dancer was his second top-level win following the 2020 G1 Belmont Derby Invitational Stakes at three. He has never failed to finish in the top three in 12 career starts, winning seven times while bankrolling $1,138,510.

Little bought Gufo's grandam, four-time winner and $114,865-earner Risen Miss, a 6-year-old daughter of Peteski, for just $4,500 after she caught his eye at the 2003 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October mixed sale.

The mare was not pregnant and had been turned out with some cattle in Nebraska. Her first foal was Gufo's dam, Floy, who made one start at Keeneland for Little before a torn suspensory ligament curtailed her racing career.

“She was beautiful; she was big and strong like Gufo,” Little said of Risen Miss. “Floy is a little bit smaller and more feminine.”

Little raised Gufo on his farm, “in my backyard. He was just a big good-looking colt.”

Floy has had some hard luck in her broodmare career, losing several foals after producing Hogy, a son of Offlee Wild sold by Little's Cave Brook Farm for $16,000 at the 2010 Keeneland January Horses Of All Ages sale. His racing career spanned nine seasons, 55 starts, and a 19-13-7 record, including graded stakes wins and $1,339,782 in earnings. A fan favorite, he eventually joined Old Friends Retirement Farm in Georgetown, Ky., when retired in 2019 but a paddock accident led to the gelding's death at age 12 in August.

Other horses Little has been connected with include Willy Beamin, who he bought for $3,000 at the 2010 Keeneland January sale then sold him later that year at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky fall yearling sale for $16,000. He went on to win 2012 G1 King's Bishop Stakes at Saratoga.

Little is currently excited about Floy's homebred 3-year-old Tourist filly Sisi, who is expected to make her second start at the current Belmont Park meet. She breezed a half mile in :47.77 September 12, fifth fastest of 73 at the distance.

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Floy is in foal to Hard Spun for 2022.

Little sells about three foals each year and keeps several mares, including Floy, on his farm, situated along South Elkhorn Creek in Jessamine County. His horses are nourished by well water from Cave Spring. Nearby is the historic Keene Springs Hotel, which housed many Lexingtonians fleeing cholera epidemics in the 1830s and 1840s in the hopes the area's medicinal white sulphur spring water would fortify their health or cure their ills.

Little has been married 31 years to his wife, Laurie, who handles all the farm business. His brother, Bill Little, also assists on the farm. The couple have three adult children: Leanne, who is chief resident of ophthalmology at Cleveland Clinic, Jennifer, who operates Centered Holistic Health studio in Lexington, and Daniel, a talented baseball player who attends Auburn University studying aerospace engineering.

Little credits his horse business for instilling a strong work ethic in his children. He said that's the profit he's gained in it, not financial reward.

“They know that horses don't care if it's Sunday or Christmas; they still have to eat and (their stalls need to be cleaned). I've got some hardworking kids.”

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