Breeders' Cup | Horse Racing Free Tips

Trainer Valorie Lund ‘So Excited’ For Second Breeders’ Cup Starter Bodenheimer

“I'm so excited,” trainer Valorie Lund said about the upcoming Breeders' Cup at Keeneland where her colt Bodenheimer will race in the $1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint at five and one-half furlongs.

There are hundreds and hundreds of racehorse trainers in the country but few that make it to North America's biggest thoroughbred event. That is not lost on Lund who will make her second Breeders' Cup start, having run Bodenheimer's sire Atta Boy Roy, a graded stakes winner, in the 2010 BC Sprint.

“It'll be tough,” she said, looking at the competition pre-entered. Twenty-four 2-year-olds were pre-entered, the most in any of the 14 Breeders' Cup races. A field of 14 will be allowed. Bodenheimer is guaranteed a stall in the starting gate through a “Win and You're In” victory at Keeneland in the Oct. 4 Indian Summer Stakes.

Lund expects Golden Pal, one of 10 pre-entered in this race by trainer Wesley Ward, to be the favorite based on his impressive Aug. 21 stakes win at Saratoga. That start was his most recent. Lund has watched the progress of Golden Pal, noting the slow works at Keeneland in September followed by quick works in October over the Keeneland turf signaling the foe will be ready.

She also acknowledges that 2-year-olds can improve dramatically in a short time and that the speedy Bodenheimer is “as good as he can be” and fully expects him to take “a step forward” next Friday. The Juvenile Turf Sprint is the sixth race on the program and the first Breeders' Cup race, with a 1:30 central post time.

“Oh my goodness. [Bodenheimer] wasn't galloping like this into the Indian Summer,” Lund said. “It's amazing to me the way he is training.”

She says he is training so well and aggressively that she waits to take him to the track until later in the morning when there is “less traffic” on the Ashwood Training Center oval, just north of Keeneland, home to Lund's stable. “He is so powerful right now. He's just a tiger,” Lund said.

Bodenheimer, whose career began at Canterbury Park, has won three of four starts. The lone loss, a fifth-place finish at Kentucky Downs over a boggy course, can be forgiven according to Lund. The wet and deep turf was just not for him.

“He was body sore after racing at Kentucky Downs,” she said. “It took a week to 10 days to get him back to normal after trying so hard over that course.”

The Indian Summer win makes Bodenheimer just one of two expected to start Friday with a race over the Keeneland turf.

“That should be to my advantage,” Lund said.

Lund trains the Washington-bred Bodenheimer, a $27,000 yearling purchase, for her mother, Marylou Holden, and sister Kristin Boice. The colt has earned $141,225.

Bodenheimer was supposed to work Thursday at Keeneland on the grass but persistent rain caused a change in plans.

“If the main track is okay I'll work him on main track Friday or Saturday,” she said, expecting that turf workouts might not be allowed.

Breeders' Cup rules require all entrants to arrive at Keeneland no later than Tuesday morning at 10 a.m. Until then Bodenheimer will remain at Ashwood.

“He is comfortable at home,” Lund said.

Entries for the Nov. 6 and 7 Breeders' Cup close Monday with post positions announced that afternoon. Lund is hoping for an inside post draw allowing Bodenheimer to take advantage of his early speed.

Advance wagering at Canterbury Park begins Thursday, Nov. 5 at noon. The BC Advance past performances from Daily Racing Form are on sale now at Canterbury.

Lund made the decision this summer to move her operation to Kentucky, leaving her former base of Turf Paradise in Phoenix where there was uncertainty. The track recently announced a race meet beginning in January but that has come too late for several that called Turf Paradise home for years. Lund has put her Phoenix home up for sale and has shifted everything to Kentucky. She intends to race in Shakopee this summer and currently has run at Keeneland and Churchill as well as Indiana Downs.

Lund also revealed that she reached an agreement to purchase, along with Boice, Atta Boy Roy and will move the stallion to Kentucky where he will stand stud at War Horse Place. She has had success with the sire who produced Minnesota-bred Mr. Jagermeister, stakes winner of $590, 194.

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Dayoutoftheoffice Drills in Keeneland Mud

Blazing Meadows Farm and Siena Farm’s three-for-three GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies hopeful Dayoutoftheoffice (Into Mischief) turned in her first published breeze since annexing Belmont’s GI Frizette S. in the Keeneland mud Friday, covering five panels in 1:00.40 (1/3). The dark bay worked solo through splits of :12.80, :25.40, :37.00 and galloped out in 1:12.80 and 1:27 flat.

“I think it was her best work. She finished up really strong and galloped out great,” said trainer Tim Hamm, who co-owns the filly under his Blazing Meadows banner. “I weighed working [tomorrow] and went out and looked at the track twice and saw it was opened up. Plus, the timing was a lot better today.”

A debut winner at Gulfstream in May, Dayoutoftheoffice took Saratoga’s GIII Schuylerville S. by six lengths before stretching out to a one-turn mile in the Oct. 10 Frizette.

“I have been waiting for two turns all year,” Hamm said of the Breeders’ Cup trip. “We would have run in [Keeneland’s GI Darley] Alcibiades [S. Oct. 2] had the timing been a little bit different. We are looking forward to two turns.”

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The Jessica Harrington Column: Breeders’ Cup Triple Threat

The trainer originally best known for many high-class jumps winners that has made an eye-catching advance on Flat racing’s top contests in recent years will share her thoughts with the TDN on a monthly basis in this most unusual of seasons.

The Breeders’ Cup is a fantastic meeting, one that serves as an end-of-year championship between Europe and the U.S. In a year such as this it is fantastic that we are still able to go over and have those great match-ups.

I had my first runner at the Breeders’ Cup last year at Santa Anita, with Albigna (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) finishing fourth in the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, and I am looking forward to running three horses at Keeneland next weekend. I can remember Breeders’ Cups going way back, like when Lester Piggott came out of retirement and won the 1990 GI Breeders’ Cup Mile aboard Royal Academy. That was the most amazing race and there have been loads of fantastic races at the Breeders’ Cup, so it’s great to be part of it. I’m hoping the weather in Lexington stays nice and dry; I’m hearing they had some rain recently but that it’s supposed to be nice and dry next week, so as long as the ground is nice ground I’m perfectly happy.

This year I’ll be running Cayenne Pepper (Ire) (Australia {GB}) in the GI Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf, Oodnadatta (Ire) (Australia {GB}) in the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf and Cadillac (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) in the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf. They all did a breeze on Wednesday and they all seem very well. They’ll leave here on Friday and fly to England before heading on to the U.S. The plan is for our stable rider Shane Foley to go across and ride them. He has had an excellent year and is in contention for the Irish jockeys championship, but the Breeders’ Cup is too big an opportunity for him to miss.

Sarah Kelly’s 3-year-old filly Cayenne Pepper has been very good this year. She was a bit slow to come to hand, not running until June after showing such promise last year when winning her first three starts, including the G3 Flame of Tara S. and finishing fourth in the G1 Fillies’ Mile. Cayenne Pepper was second behind Magical (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) on her first run this season over 10 furlongs in the G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup on June 28, and then was twice beaten over 12 furlongs when second in the G1 Irish Oaks, beaten by Even So (Ire) (Camelot {GB}), and by Tarnawa (Ire) (Shamardal), Dermot Weld’s horse who also goes to the Breeders’ Cup, in the G3 Give Thanks S. in Cork.

I suppose both those runs were a bit disappointing, but then I brought her back to a mile and a quarter at The Curragh where she won the G2 Blandford S. very easily from Amma Grace (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who won the Listed Trigo S. at Leopardstown last weekend, so our form has been well franked. I think Cayenne Pepper is a proper mile and a quarter filly. She’s run on good ground, good to yielding ground, and good to soft ground so she’ll go on any sort of ground. She’s in good form, she’s had just the four races so far this year so she hasn’t done too much.

Bob Scarborough and Susan Magnier’s Oodnadatta won her maiden impressively first-time out at Leopardstown on June 21 and then she ran back at Leopardstown in the G3 Silver Flash S. She got a bump jumping out of the stalls and the whole thing went wrong and she finished fifth, beaten 7 1/2 lengths. So we then let her be and the next time we ran her in the G1 Moyglare Stud S. on Irish Champions Weekend. She ran very well again over seven furlongs to be a fast-finishing third. She will appreciate the step up in trip as long as the ground is nice ground, and I think she’s improved a bit since her last run.

Cadillac ran very well the first time he ran, winning first-time up in Leopardstown very easily and we were delighted with him. He then went to The Curragh for the G2 Futurity S. and he finished second, a half-length behind Mac Swiney (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}), who won the G1 Vertem Futurity Trophy last Saturday. In September he went to the G2 KPMG Champions Juvenile S. on Irish Champions Weekend and he won that beating Van Gogh (American Pharoah), who won the G1 Criterium International last weekend, so his form has been franked a few times.

We then went to Newmarket for the G1 Dewhurst S. and the ground was very soft and he finished fifth, beaten 4 1/4 lengths, behind St Mark’s Basilica (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}). He just got stuck in the ground; both times he’s been beaten the ground has been soft so we really are looking for a bit of nice ground for him, and they seem to think it’s going to be nice at Keeneland.

Cadillac is owned by Alpha Racing, which is a syndicate we set up and it’s got some American interest in it as well. This is the second year we’ve been running Alpha Racing and we’ll be continuing next year. It’s very exciting for the syndicate members because Cadillac was bought for €40,000 as a yearling at Goffs Orby, so it’s very exciting for them to have a horse that can run in the Breeders’ Cup.

We set up Alpha Racing two years ago with a double view of both racing and trading horses. We want to give the syndicate members lots of action on the racecourse with also a very strong commercial objective of trying to generate a return on investment. It can be a lot of fun owning a racehorse, but in the long term if you’re spending a lot of money it’s important to see some return on investment. We have eight horses in the syndicate and we do take it strongly into consideration that they’re traded at the opportune time-from the first year we’ve traded seven of the eight.

The syndicate members were keen that if we came across a horse that was of the highest order that we’d roll the dice and let him run and that decision was taken with Cadillac. But in general a part of our job, as much as it is to race them and win, is to make it commercially viable and trade them.

While we have been preparing our Breeders’ Cup runners we have also been out shopping for our next stars at the yearling sales. With the bulk of the yearling sales now over for another season, I can say it was a strange year. I feel for Goffs, who suffered having had to move their sales overseas; that made a big difference to them. Tattersalls Book 1 was down and suffered a bit, but then you came along to Tattersalls Book 2 and it defied all the trends, which was great. That was good for the industry and the breeders, but it made it quite hard to buy horses, being on the other end of it.

It is always interesting to see the first progeny of new sires, and a few first-season sires stood out to me. The yearlings by Churchill (Ire) were very good-looking horses, and the Caravaggios looked very speedy; they look like they’ll run. And we saw some very nice yearlings by Almanzor (Fr).

In terms of other young sires, I think Belardo (Ire) has done very well as a first-season sire; he is probably still a bit under the radar. I think another who has done very well this year is Pride Of Dubai (Aus). And of course there is Sea The Moon (Ger), who is the sire of the Niarchos Family’s Alpine Star, with whom we won this year’s G1 Coronation S. Sea The Moon has had a very good year on the racecourse and people are starting to follow up in the sales ring, too.

I am very fortunate to be able to train for some leading owner/breeders, but also supplement those with some stock from the sales for groups like Alpha Racing. For the syndicate, when we’re out at the sales we’re looking for a horse that will run at two. Hopefully they will go on at three, but firstly we want them to run at two. We’re looking for the same things that most people look for: a good-looking, well-balanced horse, and hopefully the mare has produced a winner or it’s the first foal, and by a sire we like. When you get them in from owner/breeders they are as they are, but when you buy them you can pick and choose what you like.

There is plenty to look forward to with the next generation set to arrive in the yard in the months ahead, and in the meantime there is the Breeders’ Cup. I’ll be traveling to Lexington on Tuesday; having three runners in the Breeders’ Cup might never happen again, so I must be there to see it. Although I have been to Keeneland for the sales I have never been there for racing, so I’m greatly looking forward to it. I’m thrilled with all the horses and I think all three go in with an each-way chance.

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Cox ‘A’ Team, Essential Quality Work Towards ‘Future Stars Friday’

A trio of Brad Cox-trained juveniles headed towards the ‘Future Stars Friday’ Breeders’ Cup program at Keeneland Nov. 6, got in their final major moves at soggy Churchill Downs Friday morning.

The first of the threesome at 9 a.m. was Godolphin’s ‘TDN Rising Star‘ Essential Quality (Tapit), who figures the second choice in the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on the strength of his 3 1/4-length victory in the GI Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland Oct. 3. The hombred son of Grade III-placed Delightful Quality (Elusive Quality) worked five furlongs outside of his MGSW stablemate Mr. Misunderstood (Archarcharch) in 1:01, with early fractions of :12 flat and :24 1/5, according to track clocker John Nichols.

“Essential Quality is growing up well. He’s continuing to learn and I’m very pleased with how he’s progressing,” said Cox, who has won three Breeders ‘Cup races in the last two years. “He has a ton of raw talent which he’s shown in both of his starts. We added blinkers to him over the summer to help him focus a little bit more and they’ve really helped. We have experience around two turns and we have experience at Keeneland, which is always helpful. It’s 1 1/16 miles, so it’s a short stretch. You need to be in position when you turn for home.”

Next to hit the track was Abarta (Into Mischief), who completed the exacta for his sire behind ‘Rising Star’ Mutasaabeq in the GII Bourbon S. at Keeneland Oct. 4. Prepping for the Juvenile Turf, the $200,000 Keeneland September graduate breezed a half-mile in :47.60 outside of SW & GSP Set Piece (GB) (Dansili {GB}) in splits of :11.60, :23.80 and :35 before galloping out five furlongs in 1:00.40.

“Abarta had a really nice late kick in the Bourbon to run second,” Cox said. “He didn’t have the best of trips but really showed some adversity that afternoon. I think it’s good he has already run well over that course.”

Aunt Pearl (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) earned her ‘Rising Star‘ at first asking at Churchill Sept. 1 and validated that effort with another front-running success in the GII JP Morgan Chase Jessamine S. in Lexington Oct. 7. Purchased for 280,000gns out of last year’s Tattersalls October sale, the bay drilled a half in :48.60 (:24.40, :36.80), starting her work two lengths behind the unraced Palm Cottage (American Pharoah).

“Aunt Pearl acted like she could really run at the start,” Cox commented. “The good ones kind of do that–they’ll let you know there is a lot of talent there. Given the pedigree, we were optimistic she’d be able to carry her speed around two turns. We thought about taking her to Saratoga over the summer, but when Churchill’s condition book came out I thought it might be better to keep her at home. It’s turned out really well so far.”

Other Breeders’ Cup-bound workers at Churchill included:

Girl Daddy (Uncle Mo, Juvenile fillies), 4f in :48.20
Sittin On Go (Brody’s Cause, Juvenile), 4f in :47.40
Smiley Sobotka (Brody’s Cause, Juvenile), 4f in :47.60
Spanish Loveaffair (Karakontie {Jpn}), Juvenile Fillies Turf, 4f in :48.60

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