Tag: Breeders’ Cup

Cody’s Wish Leads First Week Of Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings

Godolphin's Cody's Wish, winner of both of his starts this year, is the No. 1 rated horse following the first week of tabulated votes for the 2023 Longines Breeders' Cup Classic Rankings. The Longines Breeders' Cup Classic Rankings are a weekly rating of the top 10 horses in contention for the $6 million Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1), which will be run at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California, on Nov. 4.

Cody's Wish, a 5-year-old son of Breeders' Cup Classic winner Curlin, topped the list with 287 total votes, which included 22 first-place votes. Trained by Bill Mott, Cody's Wish won the Churchill Downs Stakes presented by Ford (G1), and the Hill 'N' Daile Metropolitan Handicap (G1) at Belmont Park this year. Winner of last year's Big Ass Fans Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1), Cody's Wish is expected to start in the 1 1/8-mile Whitney (G1) at Saratoga Race Course on Aug. 5. The Whitney is a Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In race, which provides the winner with an automatic starting position into the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic.

Gary and Mary West's 6-year-old homebred West Will Power is in second place with 210 votes. Trained by Brad Cox, West Will Power has won two of three starts this year, including a victory last time out in the Stephen Foster Stakes (G1), in which he earned a free berth into the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic.

Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable's 3-year-old Forte, winner of the Curlin Florida Derby (G1) and second in the Belmont Stakes (G1), is in third place with 194 votes. Trained by Todd Pletcher, Forte won last year's FanDuel Breeders' Cup Juvenile presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (G1) and was voted champion 2-year-old of 2022.

Defunded, back-to-back winner at Santa Anita in the Californian (G2) and the Hollywood Gold Cup Stakes (G1), is in fourth place. The 5-year-old gelding, owned by Mike Pegram, Karl Watson, and Paul Weitman, and trained by Bob Baffert, has 169 votes.

Belmont Stakes winner Arcangelo is in fifth place with 151 votes for Blue Rose Farm and trainer Jena Antonucci. Mage, winner of the Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve (G1), is in sixth place. Owned by OGMA Investments, LLC, Ramiro Restrepo, Sterling Racing, LLC, and CMNWLTH, and trained by Gustavo Delgado, Mage has 149 votes.

Lucky Seven Stable's 4-year-old Rattle N Roll, winner of three graded stakes this year and runner-up in the Stephen Foster, is in seventh place with 122 votes for trainer Kenny McPeek.  Whisper Hill Farm, LLC's Charge It, a 4 ¾-length winner of the Suburban Stakes (G2) at Belmont Park, is in eighth place with 100 votes. Charge it is also trained by Pletcher.

Bruce Lunsford's 6-year-old Art Collector, winner of the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes presented by Baccarat (G1), is in ninth place with 46 votes and is followed in 10th place by Steve Moger's 5-year-old gelding Stilleto Boy, winner of the Santa Anita Handicap presented by Yaamava' Resort and Casino (G1), with 42 points.

The Longines Breeders' Cup Classic Rankings are determined by a panel of leading Thoroughbred racing media, horseplayers, and members of the Breeders' Cup Racing Directors/Secretaries Panel. Rankings will be announced each week through Oct. 10. A list of voting members can be found here.

In the Breeders' Cup Classic Rankings, each voter rates horses on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 system in descending order.

Longines Breeders' Cup Classic Rankings – July 18, 2023*

Rank Horse Total Votes First-Place Votes
1 Cody's Wish 287 22
2 West Will Power 210 3
3 Forte 194 2
4 Defunded 169 3
5 Arcangelo 151 0
6 Mage 149 0
7 Rattle N Roll 122 1
8 Charge It 100 0
9 Art Collector 46 0
10 Stilleto Boy 42 0

*Note – The Breeders' Cup Classic Rankings have no bearing on qualification or selection into the Breeders' Cup Classic.

The 2023 Longines Breeders' Cup Classic, which will be run at 1 ¼ miles on the main track at Santa Anita, is limited to 14 starters. The race will be broadcast live on NBC.

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Kentucky Derby Winner Mage To Start In Saturday’s Haskell

Kentucky Derby winner Mage will make his next start in this Saturday's Grade 1 Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park, trainer Gustavo Delgado, Sr. announced on Twitter Tuesday. The 3-year-old son of Good Magic is being pointed to the G1 Travers at the end of the summer season at Saratoga; the Haskell will be the “prep run” for that goal.

Mage has not started since finishing third in the G1 Preakness Stakes on May 20. The colt,  owned by OGMA Investments LLC, Ramiro Restrepo, Sterling Racing LLC, and CMNWLTH, boasts a record of two wins, a second, and a third from five career starts for earnings of $2,288,700.

“Our summer goal since the Preakness was run, for us personally, has always been the Travers (at Saratoga on Aug. 26),” said Restrepo. “We were thinking about the best way to get to the Travers. The Haskell falls five weeks out and gives us an opportunity to come back in a strong race against a solid field – and against some of the best 3-year-olds in the country.

“We're excited for the opportunity to get him back in action.”

Mage, unraced at 2, will be making his fourth straight start in Grade 1 company in the Haskell.

“He had a great break after the Preakness – 17 days of no saddle and no racetrack,” said Restrepo. “The break was good for him.

“We've only had three works since then. The weather played a role in that. But it's time to get the train started again. Three works for this race is not ideal but we've got to get the ball rolling.”

Mage will ship in from Kentucky tomorrow, Restrepo said.

“We're pleased to have the opportunity to race in historically famous races with a lot of tradition and to be part of race at a beautiful setting like Monmouth Park,” he said.

Javier Castellano has the mount.

Other 3-year-olds expected to start in the Haskell are Tapit Trice (Todd Pletcher),  Awesome Strong (Jorge Delgado), Geaux Rocket Ride (Richard Mandella), Arabian Knight (Bob Baffert), Howgreatisnate (Elizabeth Dobles), Salute the Stars (Brad Cox), and Extra Anejo (Steve Asmussen).

Post positions will be drawn at noon on Wednesday, July 19.

The 56th edition of the $1 million Haskell Stakes headlines a 14-race card that includes the Grade 1, $600,000 United Nations at a mile and three-eighths on the turf and three Grade 3 stakes – the $500,000 Molly Pitcher, the $400,000 Monmouth Cup and the $300,000 WinStar Matchmaker.

The Haskell offers a “Win and You're In” berth to the Breeders' Cup Classic this fall at Santa Anita Park.

The post Kentucky Derby Winner Mage To Start In Saturday’s Haskell appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Persian Dreamer Eyeing Cheveley Park For Group 1 Bow

Group 2 winner Persian Dreamer (Calyx {GB}), who bears the silks of Kia Joorabchian's Amo Racing, has been handed the G1 Cheveley Park S. as a likely autumn target, according to trainer Dominic Ffrench Davis.

“She's great and we're very happy with her and we're now looking forward to having a crack at a Group 1 with her,” the trainer said. “She appreciates a bit of cut in the ground and when she does get it, her returns from her races are much better.”

After breaking her maiden on debut in April, the daughter of Surprisingly (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) was fourth in the Listed Marygate Fillies' S. and the G3 Albany S. She won the G2 Duchess of Cambridge S. by 1 3/4 lengths last Friday.

He added, “I'm not ruling out staying at six furlongs and she's got plenty of speed and I think six or seven for now will be the plan and we will leave going a mile to next year.

“Obviously she has a liking for Newmarket, so you would like to think the Cheveley Park might be the end-of-season target [on Sept. 30]. But she also has an entry in the [G1] Moyglare [S.] at the Curragh [on Sept. 10] and the world is her oyster really. It might just be a case of choosing somewhere where the ground is right.”

Of a Breeders' Cup bid, the trainer added, “I don't think she would be the right sort of filly to take to America. Kia is keen on America and if we had the right article he would be very keen to go. But I think she is unlikely to get her ground out there at that time of year. It wouldn't be her cup of tea.”

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‘If He’s Ready, He’ll Run’: Casa Creed To Point For Fourstardave Repeat

LRE Racing and JEH Racing Stable's 7-year-old multiple Grade 1 winner Casa Creed proved he is still at the top of his game with a one-length score over Grade 1 winner Annapolis in Saturday's Kelso (G3) at Saratoga Race Course.

Trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, the Jimmy Creed bay earned his third graded win traveling one-mile over the Spa's inner turf, adding to scores in the 2019 National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame (G2) and last year's Fourstardave Handicap (G1).

It's fitting that the evergreen Casa Creed will now point to a title defense in the $500,000 Fourstardave Handicap (G1) on August 12 which offers a “Win and You're In” berth to the Breeders' Cup Mile (G1) in November at Santa Anita Park.

Fourstardave, a New York-bred gelding, won at least one race at each year at Saratoga from 1987-1994, including the 1988 Albany, the 1989 and 1991 West Point Handicap, as well as consecutive runnings of the Daryl's Joy (G3) in 1990-91. In 1996, the Daryl's Joy was renamed the Fourstardave to honor the horse that made 21 starts at the Spa.

Casa Creed has made seven starts at Saratoga, dating to his second-out graduation as a 2-year-old in August 2018 in an off-the-turf sprint. He added the Hall of Fame to his ledger as a sophomore and finished third in consecutive runnings of the Fourstardave in 2020-21.

“He's now run six years in a row at Saratoga and won four times,” said co-owner Lee Einsidler of LRE Racing. “That's beyond remarkable. He's a horse owner's dream come true. It's hard to imagine you would have a horse at 7 years old that's still at the top of his game. He's taken us around the world and, honest to God, we're so fortunate to have him in our life. He's like one of the family.”

The $105,000 purchase at the 2017 Keeneland September Yearling Sale has banked more than $2.1 million through a record of 32-8-5-5, including consecutive scores in the 2021-22 Jaipur (G1) sprinting six-furlongs at Belmont Park. He finished a close second in both the 2022-23 1351 Turf Sprint (G3) at King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Saudi Arabia and was fifth in last year's  Al Quoz Sprint (G1) at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai.

Einsidler credited trainer Kenny McPeek for selecting Casa Creed as a potential prospect.

“Kenny said to me, 'I know you want to run in Saratoga, and this one will get you there. He could be either grass or dirt,'” Einsidler recalled. “But you could never imagine you would have this horse on the track for six years. You buy a horse and hope he can get to the races — and some don't even make it to the races. But you can never buy a horse at any price and think they would run over 30 times, make over $2 million and take you around the world a couple of times.”

Luis Saez provided Casa Creed with a picture-perfect ride on Saturday, tracking to the outside of 4-5 mutuel favorite Annapolis before making an early move for the lead through the far turn. Casa Creed swooped beyond the pacesetting Big Everest to establish a half-length lead at the stretch call and staved off the bid of Annapolis to stop the clock in a final time of 1:35.51. The victory garnered a 100 Beyer Speed Figure.

Einsidler said much of Casa Creed's success is down to Mott's meticulous horsemanship.

“Bill Mott is special. I was with him early this morning and he puts his hands on every horse in the barn,” Einsidler said. “He goes over every horse personally. He's an amazing trainer and a very close friend. He's really managed Casa Creed brilliantly. He gave him a lot of time off after winning the Hall of Fame as a 3-year-old and put him away thinking he'd be even better as an older horse and he came back the next spring and was a monster. We're happy to run him three or four times a year and just take good care of him.”

Einsidler said Casa Creed exited his stylish Kelso score in fine fettle and will hopefully be ready for a fourth Fourstardave attempt in one month's time.

“We're going to train him like he's going to be in the race. It comes up maybe a week quicker than we'd like, but if he's ready, he'll run,” Einsidler said. “He was perfect this morning — looked fabulous and doing great. He's come out of the race in perfect order, and if he's doing good we'll be there in mid-August.”

Casa Creed has made three previous Breeders' Cup appearances, finishing off-the-board in both the 2020 Mile (G1) at Keeneland and 2021 Mile at Del Mar and ninth in last year's Turf Sprint (G1) at Keeneland. With the Turf Sprint being contested at five furlongs this year at Santa Anita, the rugged bay will again point to the Mile as a year-end target.

Whether or not Casa Creed returns as an 8-year-old to race for a seventh straight summer at the Spa remains to be seen as the ownership group has already been approached about potential stud opportunities.

“We've had some inquiries. Not that he couldn't race next year, but we'll see,” Einsidler said.

And for those looking to find a potential Casa Creed of their own, it's worth noting that his dam, Achalaya, has a New York-bred filly by Authentic listed as Hip No. 227 at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Preferred Yearling Sale slated for August 7-8.

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