Big Season Pushes Gaffalione toward 2000th Win

To the casual observer, it might appear that success has come fast and early to Tyler Gaffalione, who has yet to see the dawn of his 30th birthday. As of Dec. 7, Gaffalione has registered 1,997 wins with career earnings of just over $113 million. That's pretty heady stuff, especially for a 28-year-old. However, don't let that fool you because the young horseman has already packed a tsunami of sweat and tears–not to mention good old fashioned hard work–into a life still very much in progress.

I've had great people surrounding me,” he said. “I've had a lot of support throughout my life and I'm just so thankful because they helped get me to where I am today.”

Success appears to have always been in the cards for Gaffalione. Blessed with a rider's pedigree courtesy of his father and grandfather–former jockeys Steve and Bobby Gaffalione–he demonstrated his riding prowess early.

“My father, my grandfather and my cousin are all jockeys,” he explained. “So, I pretty much grew up in racing and spent a lot of time around the racetrack. I used to go to Calder frequently. I fell in love with horses at a very young age.

He continued, “We moved to Ocala when I was about eight or nine and spent quite a few years there. My dad trained some horses and he was also galloping there, so I started to go to work with him. When I was 10, he started letting me pony with him. I started galloping after that and when I was 11, I'd gallop in the morning before school and in the summers.”

Having grown up in Davie, Florida, the Kansas City native made his mark early in his career in the Sunshine State, collecting his first career win at Gulfstream Park in September of 2014. While still toting his bug status, he won a pair of stakes at the Hallandale oval in 2015, also enjoying a banner day that spring when winning five races on a single Gulfstream card. He rounded out the 2015 racing season by earning an Eclipse Award as the champion apprentice jockey.

Quickly becoming a fan favorite on the Southern Florida circuit, he tied jockey Jerry Bailey's 19-year-old record by winning seven races in a single card at Gulfstream in 2017 and quite notably, amassed over 200 wins in his first three full seasons in the saddle. Coincidentally, it was the Hall of Famer who Gaffalione had tied with at Gulfstream that had proven so important in giving him the blueprint to his own bourgeoning career.

“I watched Jerry Bailey and Garrett Gomez a lot growing up,” he said when asked who influenced his riding style the most. “Even now, I'll call Jerry and get some tips that I can apply to my riding.”

Riding high after rounding out 2018 with his 1000th career victory at Gulfstream that December, he returned the next year to collect his first Classic victory with War Of Will (War Front), trained by one of Gaffalione's biggest supporters, Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse.

While those sparkling credentials could surely stand on their own, the horseman enjoyed a season for the ages in 2022. Knocking on the door of a win during the World Championships with seven prior top three finishes, he finally broke through in 2022, annexing the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies with D.J. Stable's Wonder Wheel (Into Mischief) on the Friday card.

“It couldn't have happened on a better filly or for better connections,” he said. “Especially that my first [Breeders' Cup] win came with Mark Casse. He gave me my first Grade I win [on Salty in the 2018 GI La Troienne S.] and my first Triple Crown win and now my first Breeders' Cup win. He gives you all the confidence.”

Wonder Wheel, winner of Churchill's Debutante S. in July, finished second in Saratoga's GI Spinaway S. but bounced back to take the GI Darley Alcibiades S. before her Breeders' Cup score. Gaffalione has been aboard all five of the dark bay's starts.

“She just didn't really break running,” he said of the championship-defining race. “Normally, she shows a lot of gate speed, but that day she was just a little flat. It took a little bit for her to get underneath herself. We wound up being farther back than I anticipated.”

He continued, “Going into the first turn, we got pushed back and we got over to the fence. She wanted to do some running, but she came back to me nicely. Spots just kept opening up when we needed it and she took every single one of them. If you look at the overhead view, you could see at about the three-eighths pole and I was still kind of checking on her, but she wanted to run. As soon as the spots opened, she didn't hesitate. She was just full of heart.”

Not short in praise that has been lavished upon what can only be described as a perfectly executed and well-timed ride, Gaffalione remains steadfast in his modesty.

“She is a tremendous filly,” he said. “I think anybody could have ridden her that day because she gives you all the confidence. I love her.”

On Breeders' Cup Saturday, Gaffalione returned to add a second victory to this year's haul with a score by longshot Caravel (Mizzen Mast) in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint.

“It was such a blessing,” he explained. “My agent [Matt Muzikar] and I have put in such a huge amount of work to get to that point. It's something that I have wanted to accomplish for a while. It's definitely been a fun experience. I've been enjoying myself.”

In 2021, Gaffalione's mounts amassed over $19.2 million, which seems impressive enough. That is until you look at this season, which has yet to be completed, where his tally weighs in at a healthy $26.6 million. Could a second Eclipse Award be not too far in the offing?

“That would be a dream come true,” he admitted. “I always wanted to win an Eclipse Award. We were fortunate enough to win one as an apprentice, but [to win one] as a Journeyman would be a whole other story.”

He concluded, “Coming into this season, [Muzikar] and I just wanted to ride in the most races we can and get on as many as we can on each day. The way I see it, it betters your chances of winning and it doesn't hurt to have the experience. I have a long way to go [in my career], but I am happy with what we've accomplished up until now.”

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Pletcher’s Breeders’ Cup Team Taking Shape

While life may provide only a handful of certainties, trainer Todd Pletcher showing up with a powerful battalion of runners on Breeders' Cup Day can be counted on to be one of them. The 2022 renewal of the World Championships, slated for Nov. 4-5 at Keeneland, is shaping up to be no different. Since the beginning of the month, the Hall of Famer has annexed seven Grade I or Grade II races, highlighted by Life Is Good (Into Mischief), winner of the Oct. 1 GI Woodward S. Undefeated in four domestic starts this season (he finished fourth in the G1 Dubai World Cup at Meydan in March), the sparkling winner of the 2021 Dirt Mile was confirmed by Pletcher for a likely showdown with Flightline (Tapit) in next month's GI Breeders' Cup Classic. Also trying to give Pletcher his second Classic winner following Vino Rosso in 2019 is Happy Saver (Super Saver), who finished fourth in a competitive renewal of the GII Lukas Classic at Churchill Downs Oct. 1. Last season's GI Jockey Club Gold Cup winner hit the board in a trio of preceding starts in 2022, including a second to Flightline in the June 11 GI Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan H. and runner-up finish behind Life Is Good in the Aug. 6 GI Whitney S.

Also offering an imposing 1-2 punch on the Breeders' Cup Saturday card are Malathaat (Curlin) and Nest (Curlin), both targeting the GI Distaff. Victorious in last season's GI Kentucky Oaks, Central Bank Ashland S. and GI Alabama S., the Shadwell runner took last Sunday's GI Juddmonte Spinster S. at Keeneland, while her year-younger stablemate–victorious in this summer's Alabama and GI CCA Oaks, and runner-up in the GI Belmont S.–romped in the recent GII Beldame S. in New York.

Pletcher previously won the Distaff with eventual Hall of Famer Ashado (2004) and Stopchargingmaria in 2015.

Always dangerous with his juveniles, Pletcher will be represented by no less than a trio of 2-year-olds, including GI Hopefull S. and GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity victor Forte (Violence), targeting the GI TVG Juvenile, and GI Frizette S. heroine Chocolate Gelato (Practical Joke), slated to contest the GI NetJets Juvenile Fillies. Also set to reappear over the championship weekend is Major Dude (Bolt d'Oro), who punched his ticket to the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf with a victory in the Oct. 2 GII Pilgrim S.

Rounding out Team Pletcher's championship team is Annapolis (War Front). Victorious in the Manila S. at Belmont earlier this summer, the son of My Miss Sophia subsequently added a win in the Saranac S. at Saratoga before earning a Mile berth with a score in the GI Coolmore Turf Mile S. at Keeneland Oct. 8.

Already responsible for a dozen Breeders' Cup victories since earning his first win in 2004, Pletcher has finished third or better with 43 runners–registering a 28% in-the-money strike rate–while amassing $22.5 million in earnings.

Given the caliber of runners already engaged for this year's showcase next month, it appears likely that those figures will continue their upward trajectory.

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Eyeing a Championship with War Like Goddess

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY–With a sterling race record that befits her very distinctive name all wrapped in an engaging story, War Like Goddess (English Channel) is an impossible-to-ignore race mare bidding for a championship.

Though her late sire was a champion on the track and a top turf stallion for many years, the first foal out of Misty North (North Light {Ire}) brought a mere $1,200 at auction as a weanling and did not draw a single bid at the 2018 Keeneland September yearling sale. At the June 2019 OBS sale, bloodstock agent Donato Lanni purchased the 2-year-old for $30,000 for longtime client George Krikorian.

“I bought her with that name and I told Donato 'I don't like that name,'” Krikorian said. I didn't see the horse then because he was in Florida and I was out here in California when he called me about the horse. I didn't get to see her for maybe four months or five months later. When I saw her, I looked at her and I said, 'Hey, we don't need to change her name. She's beautiful. She is a War Like Goddess.'”

Some 38 months after Lanni identified her as a budget-priced project, War Like Goddess is certain to be the race favorite for the seventh-consecutive time when the 5-year-old goes to the post Saturday in the $600,000 GII Flower Bowl S. on the inner turf course.

Unbeaten in her three starts at Saratoga Race Course, War Like Goddess has won eight of 10 lifetime starts and earned over $1.2 million in the care of Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. She took the 2021 Flower Bowl by 2 1/4 lengths when it was run at Saratoga for the first time at the new distance of 1 3/8 miles. Long a Grade I, it was dropped to a Grade II this year.

After War Like Goddess won the GII Glens Falls S. by 1 1/4 lengths at 2-5 Aug. 6, Mott said he was considering running her against males in the Sword Dancer on Aug. 26 to give her another shot at a Grade I win and keep her at 1 1/2 miles. He opted for the Flower Bowl, where she drew post four in the field of seven.

In the Glens Falls, she won by a narrower margin than in 2021, but Mott said it was just the result of a patient ride by Joel Rosario.

“This year, she was sitting there and he rode her from about here to that wash rack,” Mott said, point to a spot fewer than 40 yards away. “It looked like to me that she was sitting, sitting, sitting and he got her going, he scrubbed on her a little bit.”

The final words of chart notes describing the Glens Falls win were “as rider pleased.”

“He took her back in his hands, it looked like,” Mott said, “as he was approaching the wire.”

Lanni recommended that Kirkorian ask the ever-patient Mott to train the filly. Mott agreed and said he doesn't recall there being any expectations about her when she joined his stable.

“You just kind of wait and see,” Mott said. “You just train them and do the best you can. We had to give her a fair amount of time. She didn't run until September of her 3-year-old year. It took that long to kind of get her ready. She had baby stuff, shins, stuff like that.”

In that first start at Churchill Down, War Like Goddess rolled into contention from far back and won the nine-furlong by three-quarters of a length. Mott said it is an obvious strength that has her batting .800 in her career.

“She can run,” he said. “She's got a very good turn a foot. That's what it takes. She's quick.”

Krikorian, the president and CEO of Krikorian Premiere Theatres, has a lifetime of experience with Thoroughbreds. His father, George Krikorian Sr., was a trainer on the New England circuit and he was raised near Rockingham Park in New Hampshire. As his entertainment venue businesses grew, he became an owner and then a breeder. Equibase stats show him with 290 victories–24 in graded stakes –from 1,729 starts in his name since 2000.

With the $323,500 she has earned this year, War Like Goddess has leaped over Grade I winners Starrer (Dynaformer) and Hollywood Story (Wild Rush) to the top spot on the Krikorian career stable list. Her ability to unleash a late run has made her Kirkorian's third millionaire and fifth Grade I winner.

“It's amazing when she just puts it on, how fast she accelerates,” he said. “It's just amazing to watch her do that. She's very competitive, as you can see. She does not want to lose a race. She'll fight hard.”

The first horse Lanni recommended that Krikorian buy was Starrer, who was picked up for $35,000 at the 1999 Fasig Tipton Fall Sale. In 2002, they bought Hollywood Story for $130,000. Krikorian said that when Lanni–now a well-known advisor–calls he listens.

“We have a bloodstock agent in Donato Lanni who has an eye for a horse that most people don't have, most of the bloodstock agents don't have, for sure,” Krikorian said. “We've known each other and been friends and have done business for years now. And when he tells me he sees something that he likes. I'm really happy to hear that because he's usually right, for sure.”

War Like Goddess won her first-level allowance in late October in her second start and launched her 4-year-old year with a fifth in the 1 3/16ths miles the GIII Very One S. at Gulfstream Park on Feb. 21. She rebounded from that setback and rang up four graded-stakes wins before finishing third by a half-length as the favorite in the GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf. Mott thought that over all she ran well in the Breeders' Cup.

“She did it maybe a tick wide and maybe a tick early,” he said.

This year with Rosario replacing Julien Leparoux, she returned to the races in April with a second victory in the GIII Bewitched at Keeneland. A minor physical issue kept her out of the GI New York in June and the River Memories S. on July 10 at Belmont Park did not fill. She handled the field of seven in the Glens Falls off a three-month layoff and heads into the fall in the Flower Bowl toward the 12-furlong GI Breeders' Cup Turf against males.

Mott said he is inclined to run in the Turf because the GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf will be contested at 1 3/16 miles instead of the 1 3/8 miles due to the configuration of Keeneland turf course. He believes she at her best at 12 furlongs, where she is 4-for-4, and that he is not concerned about her having a bit of a lighter schedule this summer.

“Maybe it'll help,” he said. “She's not a great big, stout filly. Although she can run, I don't think she's one you want to be leading over there every three weeks. Of course, the way the races are, we wouldn't be able to do that anyway. We would have had one more race in her, I guess. And maybe they did us a favor. Sometimes those things work out. Maybe the fact that we didn't have a race down at Belmont, maybe that's to her advantage later in the year. We always use the term 'they happen for a reason…,' you know.”

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Breeders’ Cup Announces Classic Future Wager

The Breeders' Cup, in conjunction with Keeneland, will offer future wagering on the 2022 $6-million GI Longines Breeders' Cup Classic, it was announced Friday. The future wager will enable fans to bet on 24 wagering interests for the race well in advance of the Nov. 5 race date.

The future wager requires a $2 minimum bet, is a win wager only and will be conducted in two pools. Wagering on the first pool will open Friday, Aug. 5 at 12 p.m. ET and conclude at 6 p.m. ET Sunday, Aug. 7. The second pool will be offered over Labor Day weekend with the pool opening Friday, Sept. 2 at 12 p.m. ET and ending at 6 p.m. ET Monday, Sept. 5.

Betting on the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic Future Wagers will be offered at race tracks, advanced deposit wagering (“ADW”) sites, casinos, simulcast centers, and off-track betting sites. More information on the future wager is available on the Breeders' Cup Future Wager website.

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