breeders' cup juvenile | Horse Racing Free Tips

Breeders’ Cup Winner Essential Quality Officially Booked For Southwest Stakes

Trainer Brad Cox told the Daily Racing Form on Tuesday that Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner Essential Quality will make his 3-year-old debut in the Grade 3 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park on Feb. 15. The other alternative had been the G2 Risen Star over nine furlongs at the Fair Grounds on Feb. 13, but the slightly shorter distance of the Southwest won out in the end.

“The right thing for him off the layoff would be the mile and a sixteenth,” Cox told drf.com.

The Godolphin homebred son of Tapit is undefeated in three career starts, and has been working steadily at the Fair Grounds since late December. Essential Quality is expected to be named the Champion 2-Year-Old of 2020 at Thursday's Eclipse Awards ceremony.

Juvenile Runner-Up Hot Rod Charlie Revved Up For Lewis Stakes

Hot Rod Charlie may not win Santa Anita's Robert B. Lewis Stakes on Jan. 30, but one thing's for sure: he won't be 94-1.

He was dismissed at those boxcar odds in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile on Nov. 6 at Keeneland but outran them big time when beaten just three-quarters of a length by undefeated Essential Quality, who is expected to be crowned Eclipse Award king as outstanding two-year-old male on Jan. 28.

The Lewis is an early West Coast steppingstone to the Grade 1 Runhappy Santa Anita Derby April 3, and beyond that the Kentucky Derby. Decided at a mile and one-sixteenth, it offers 10 Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the winner, four to the second-place finisher, two to the third horse and one to the fourth.

Doug O'Neill trains Hot Rod Charlie and another Lewis contender, Wipe the Slate, for principal client J. Paul Reddam who capitalized on the Lewis in 2012 as a successful conduit to victory in the Run for the Roses with I'll Have Another.

Wipe the Slate was an impressive maiden winner by 3 ¼ lengths under Team O'Neill mainstay Mario Gutierrez going seven furlongs in 1:23.42 on Dec. 26. O'Neill also has well-regarded maiden The Great One entered in Saturday's second race for non-winners at one mile.

A bay son of 2016 Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist, The Great One was second by a nose at 33-1 to Spielberg in the G2 Los Alamitos Futurity last Dec. 19 and gets Lasix for the first time Saturday. He is Jon White's 7-5 morning line favorite in a field of five.

Joel Rosario rides Hot Rod Charlie in the Lewis, while Gutierrez, who won the Kentucky Derby for Reddam and O'Neill with I'll Have Another and Nyquist, returns on Wipe the Slate.

Hot Rod Charlie and Wipe the Slate each worked six furlongs Friday, the former going in 1:16.60 and the latter in a bullet 1:12.60, fastest of 13 drills at the distance.

“Both worked fantastic,” O'Neill said. Amir Cedeno was aboard Hot Rod Charlie while Gutierrez rode Wipe the Slate.

Hot Rod Charlie is listed at 30-1 in Pool 2 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wagering, while Wipe the Slate is last at 50-1 among individual horses. Unbeaten Bob Baffert trainee Life Is Good is the individual favorite at 6-1, while the category of “All Other 3-Year-Olds” is favored at 9-5.

“You can't win if you're not in, so we're hoping to win with at least one of our horses, and in a dream world, all three,” O'Neill said.

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Cox’s Likely Champion Essential Quality Works In Company With G2-Winning Filly Travel Column

Trainer Brad Cox sent out Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner Essential Quality for a workout in company with G2 Golden Rod winning-filly Travel Column on Sunday at the Fair Grounds, the pair covering five furlongs in 1:01 2/5.

The Godolphin-owned son of Tapit has breezed five times since his victory at Keeneland on Nov. 6. Likely to be named Champion 2-Year-Old of 2020, Essential Quality does not have an official target on the Road to the Kentucky Derby for his first start of 2021, reports the Daily Racing Form. With stablemate Mandaloun, third in the Lecomte last weekend, pointing to the Fair Grounds' Feb. 13 Risen Star, however, Essential Quality could be aimed at the Feb. 15 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park instead.

Meanwhile, the filly Travel Column (Frosted) appears poised to stay at the Fair Grounds for the Feb. 13 Rachel Alexandra Stakes, since stablemate Sun Path will skip the next round of preps after finishing fourth in the Silverbulletday over the weekend.

Kentucky Jockey Club Winner Keepmeinmind Aimed At Feb. 15 Southwest Stakes

Keepmeinmind worked a half-mile in :50.20 Wednesday morning at Oaklawn Park, his first breeze since winning the $200,000 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G2) for 2-year-olds Nov. 28 at Churchill Downs.

Regular rider David Cohen was aboard for the work, which came over a fast track and ranked 39th of 94 recorded at the distance. Keepmeinmind arrived Dec. 27 in Hot Springs after previously being in light training at Kentucky's WinStar Farm following the Kentucky Jockey Club.

“Very easy half, with a nice long gallop out,” said Cohen, Oaklawn's leading rider in 2019. “Happy to get back on him. He seemed to have matured since his last race. The time at WinStar did him a ton of good.”

Trainer Robertino Diodoro said Keepmeinmind, a late-running son of Laoban, is a candidate for the $750,000 Southwest Stakes (G3) Feb. 15 at Oaklawn. The 1 1/16-mile Southwest is Oaklawn's second of four Kentucky Derby points races.

Keepmeinmind raced four times (all routes) last year, finishing second in the $400,000 Breeders' Futurity (G1) Oct. 3 at Keeneland and third in the $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) Nov. 6 at Keeneland before breaking his maiden as the 2-1 favorite in the Kentucky Jockey Club. His last three starts have been at 1 1/16 miles.

Diodoro was Oaklawn's leading trainer in 2020.

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