Tag: Breeders’ Cup

It was a busy Sunday morning at Barn K on the backside at Del Mar.  That's where trainer John Sadler keeps his horses, though only one in particular, Flightline, seemed to be getting all the attention.

Groups of visitors stopped by to get a glimpse of racing's newest superstar, Sadler engaging many of them.

Flightline, however, couldn't be bothered. Every once in a while he'd poke his head out of his stall to see what all the fuss was about but otherwise he stayed tucked away, out of sight.

Sadler said his undefeated son of Tapit and winner of the G1 TVG Pacific Classic Saturday came out of the race good with no problems.

“We're literally talking 14-hours, but this early, he looks perfect,” he said.

You can add that to Flightline's developing legacy. He puts in a near-record performance, wins by the largest margin ever in the Pacific Classic (19 ¼ lengths) and 14-hours later he's back to his old self.

For Sadler, the most impressive aspect of Flightline's race Saturday was the way he opened up on the rest of the field.

“Obviously, I was thrilled about him putting them away on the turn,” Sadler said. “That was really exciting, probably the funnest part.

“I was just so happy to see him good and clear,” he added. “He was always going to have a clear trip once he got going a little bit. A little bump at the start but once he got clear I knew it was going to be good from there.”

So what's in the immediate future for Flightline?

“He'll walk for three days and then he'll probably go back and jog a little bit this week,” Sadler says. “Then ship up to Santa Anita and we'll start finalizing our plans for Breeders' Cup.”

Trainer Bob Baffert exclaimed soon after the Pacific Classic that runner-up Country Gammer thinks he won the race.

The Hall of Famer said Sunday morning his Dubai World Cup (G1) winner came out of the race great and looks good.

“He likes a deeper race track,” Baffert said. “That was a little bit too fast for him. He wasn't going to win but he would have been closer.”

Baffert said he and the horse's connections are going to wait and see how Country Grammer is doing in the next couple of days before deciding where to go with him next.

Trainer Richard Mandella had two words for how his horses came out of the Pacific Classic: “Shell shocked.”

He said Royal Ship, who finished third, and Extra Hope, who finished fifth, came out of the race well.

“We'll probably look at the Awesome Again (G1) at Santa Anita (for Royal Ship),” Mandella said, “and the Tokyo City (G3) for Extra Hope at a mile and a half.”

Rounding out the field, Express Train, trainer John Shirreff's Santa Anita Handicap (G1) winner, finished fourth in the Pacific Classic.

Stilleto Boy, from the Ed Moger Jr. barn, was wide in both turns and finished last.

The post ‘He Looks Perfect’: Flightline Emerges From Pacific Classic In Good Order, Sadler Lays Out Plans For Immediate Future appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Peter Brant's Virginia Joy scored the fourth group/graded victory of her career on Saturday in the Flower Bowl (G2) for older fillies and mares traveling 1 3/8 miles at Saratoga Race Course. The front-running effort garnered a career second-best 98 Beyer Speed Figure.

Trained by four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown, Virginia Joy provided her conditioner with his 11th stakes win of the Saratoga meet. Brown leads all trainers at the meet heading into Sunday's 12-race card with 39 wins, five more than Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher [34].

“It's a credit to my team and the horses,” Brown said of his successes this summer. “It's a group of really talented teammates and coworkers and a deep pool of versatile, talented horses. Together, they put together a great meet, so all the credit goes to them.”

Virginia Joy's Flower Bowl win came in wire-to-wire fashion as she set a slow tempo with Irad Ortiz, Jr. up, marking off a half-mile in 53.29 seconds and a mile in 1:45.29. Heavy post-time favorite War Like Goddess made a rally from the back of the pack at the top of the lane and drove strongly down the middle of the lane, but could not catch up to Virginia Joy, who held off her challenger by a neck.

“She came out of it fine. She was able to set a soft pace and outsprint the favorite to the wire, so I was grateful for that,” said Brown. “She ran a great race – she set the fractions and I'm proud of her.”

The win awarded Virginia Joy a berth into the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf in November at Keeneland as part of the “Win and You're In” qualifying series, but Brown said he unsure exactly where the German-bred Soldier Hollow mare will run next.

“I'm not sure yet, I haven't decided,” said Brown. “I'll talk to Mr. Brant about it and see how she trains post-race. I haven't put much thought into that yet.”

The post ‘I Haven’t Put Much Thought Into That Yet’: Brown Unsure Of Next Start For ‘Win & You’re In’ Flower Bowl Winner Virginia Joy appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher said Bass Racing's homebred Annapolis is eyeing the $1 million Coolmore Turf Mile (G1) against older runners October 8 at Keeneland after posting an easy victory in Saratoga's Saranac (G3) at 1 1/16 miles on turf for sophomores Saturday.

Annapolis, a dual graded stakes winner, registered a 96 Beyer Speed Figure with Saturday's commanding gate-to-wire effort under the meet's leading rider Irad Ortiz Jr.

By War Front and out of graded stakes winner My Miss Sophia, Annapolis added a third stakes victory and second at graded level to his resume, having never finished worse than second in six lifetime starts.

A first-out maiden winner over the Spa's inner turf last September, Annapolis captured the Grade 2 Pilgrim one month later at Belmont Park. He returned to action in the Grade 2 Penn Mile in June where he was second as the favorite over extremely soft turf before winning the Manila on July 4 at Belmont and finishing second in the Grade 1 Caesars Saratoga Derby Invitational on August 6 at the Spa.

Pletcher said he had initially considered training Annapolis up to the Coolmore Turf Mile, a Breeders' Cup “Win And You're In” event for the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Mile on November 5 at Keeneland.

“He's a colt that carries his condition really well and takes his races in good order. We just felt like our best chance at the Coolmore Mile was with another race under his belt,” said Pletcher, who won the 2005 Turf Mile with Eugene Melnyk's Host. “It seemed to work out nicely. He got a pretty easy race yesterday and I didn't think it would be taxing race on him so hopefully it moves him forward to his best effort in the Coolmore Mile.”

Although Annapolis' Saranac victory was a front-running score, Pletcher said he runs better with a target.

“He's talented enough that in a race like yesterday where there was no pace, he could go ahead and take charge. I think ideally, he wants to be covered up a little bit,” Pletcher said.

While Grade 1 Whitney winner Life Is Good appears to be Pletcher's heaviest hitter for the Grade 1, $6 million Breeders' Cup Classic, he still has under consideration his four contenders from Saturday's Grade 1, Jockey Club Gold Cup, including runner-up Americanrevolution, who finished two lengths behind Olympiad in his 10-furlong debut.

“I thought he ran well. It was a tricky race where there was no pace, and it makes it difficult for horses trying to close ground against very soft fractions,” Pletcher said. “That's where you saw a difference in the Jockey Club and the Whitney. Life Is Good turned up the backside and throws down a :23 opening quarter and changes things a lot. For our horses yesterday, the pace scenario didn't play to their strengths, but I thought Americanrevolution kept fighting hard to the wire.”

Americanrevolution, the 2021 New York-bred horse of the year, captured the Grade 1 Cigar Mile on December 4 at Aqueduct Racetrack and entered the Jockey Club Gold Cup off a runner-up effort to Olympiad in the Grade 2 Stephen Foster on July 2 at Churchill Downs.

Pletcher also saddled Untreated [fourth], Keepmeinmind [fifth] and Dynamic One [sixth] in Saturday's race. The latter, who won the Grade 2 Suburban on July 9 going 10 furlongs at Belmont, was compromised by a slow pace and was left with too much to do from last-of-8 into the first turn.

“He was last turning up the backside and when they're going that slow it's hard to make much of an impact from there,” Pletcher said. “Keepmeinmind was kind of in the same boat as Dynamic One, just had too much to do from where he was at the three-quarter pole.”

Untreated, owned by Team Valor, finished three-quarters of a length behind third-place finisher First Captain. The son of Nyquist entered off a string of third-place finishes in the Suburban and the Grade 3 Pimlico Special on May 20, which was won by First Captain.

“He ran hard and it was unfortunate that he missed third but it was a good effort and I was happy with it,” Pletcher said.

Pletcher mentioned both the Grade 1, $500,000 Woodward on October 1 at the Belmont at the Big A fall meet and the Grade 2, $500,000 Lukas Classic on the same day at Churchill Downs as possible targets for all four horses. He also mentioned the possibility of training up to the Classic as well.

Pletcher said he was “making headway” with Grade 3 Dwyer winner Charge It, who missed last Saturday's Grade 1 Runhappy Travers due to a foot abscess.

Pletcher added that Repole Stable's second out maiden winner Chocolate Gelato, who worked a half-mile in :49.22 on Sunday morning, is targeting the Grade 1, $400,000 Frizette on October 2 at the Belmont at the Big A fall meet. The one-turn mile race is a Breeders' Cup “Win And You're In” qualifier for the Grade 1, $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies on November 4 at Keeneland and has been won by Pletcher with Adieu [2005], Devil May Care [2009] and Dreaming of Julia [2012].

The post Pletcher-Trained Saranac Winner Annapolis Aimed For Keeneland’s Turf Mile; JCGC Quartet Pointed To Breeders’ Cup appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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