Fasig-Tipton July Catalogues Come Up Rose Hill

When the Fasig-Tipton July Sale of Selected Yearlings catalogue came out, Tony Ocampo admitted it was exciting to see Grade I winner Chocolate Gelato (Practical Joke), a graduate of his Rose Hill Farm, on the cover. It was not until a few weeks later, when the Fasig-Tipton July Selected Horses of Race Age Sale catalogue came out with Stilleto Boy (Shackleford) on the cover, that Ocampo realized the operation had completed a rare double.

“I didn't know it was going to happen,” Ocampo said. “The yearling catalogue came out earlier and we saw Chocolate Gelato was on the cover. That was very exciting. But then the Horses of Racing Age came out and all of a sudden we were like, 'Wow, look, Stilleto Boy is on there.' It's very rewarding because we aren't a large farm with a huge budget, but I am surrounded by great clients and great staff. I've been at it for a long, long time and it's nice to see two of your graduates be on those catalogues.”

Chocolate Gelato was bred by longtime Rose Hill client Vincent Colbert. She sold for $165,000 at the 2021 Fasig-Tipton July sale and was acquired by Repole Stable for $475,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Sale before winning the GI Frizette S.

“She was always a very nice filly, very athletic and we loved the sire,” Ocampo said of the future Grade I winner. “We were happy with what she brought in July.”

At that same July sale, Rose Hill sold a filly by Mendelssohn, who the operation bred in partnership with John Trumbulovic, for $185,000. Named Opus Forty Two, she was second in the July 1 GIII Delaware Oaks.

“Those are the two fillies that we took to that sale,” Ocampo said. “So we are happy to see that, too.”

Stilleto Boy won the Iowa Derby for his breeders, the late John Kerber and his wife Iveta, and partners just days before selling for $420,000 at the 2021 Fasig-Tipton July Horses of Racing Age Sale. The chestnut gelding was second in the GI Awesome Again S. and third in the GI Malibu S., GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational and GI Santa Anita H. for the new connections before earning his first graded victory in the GII Californian S. He added a top-level victory this March with a win in the GI Santa Anita H.

The Kerbers added another graded winner from there breeding operation when Mr. Wireless (Dialed In) captured the 2021 GIII West Virginia Derby and GIII Indiana Derby.

“Stilleto was born, foaled and raised and then we also broke him, so that was pretty neat,” Ocampo said. “And that was special because John Kerber had been with me since the early '90s and he just recently passed away last year. It was bittersweet, but he put so much into this business and he was so passionate about it. Towards the end, he was very sick and lo and behold, he gets two of his yearlings that he kept become graded stakes winners. All of a sudden, he had two graded stakes winners out of his crops, so that was great.”

Rose Hill will be represented by three graduates at the July yearling sale next Tuesday. Bred by Colbert, hip 170 is a filly by Maclean's Music out of Salad Mood (Malibu Moon), a half-sister to multiple graded stakes winner Pacific Ocean (Ghostzapper) and to the dams of graded winners Blamed (Blame) and Litigate (Blame).

“She is a nice, big filly,” Ocampo said of the yearling, who sells with the Paramount Sales consignment.

Also consigned by Paramount Sales, hip 320 is a Rose Hill homebred colt from the first crop of Grade I winner Promises Fulfilled.

“We just got back his X-rays and they are clean and he's got a good throat, so we are very excited,” Ocampo said. “He is peaking at the right time. He is very athletic, good sized. He's by a sire who is a little bit of a question mark because he's by Shackleford. But I think he's going to be a useful horse. I think people will like him and I think he'll do well.”

Warrendale Sales consigns hip 322, a filly by Gift Box out of Flatter Me First (Flatter) who is bred by Beth Miller's ThoroughBred by Design.

“She is a really nice filly,” Ocampo said. “Also foaled and raised at Rose Hill for one of our good clients. [Miller] is a doctor at UK. We are excited about her, too.”

Miller is an allergy and immunology specialist and director of asthma, allergy and sinus clinics at University of Kentucky.

While Rose Hill will not be represented by any graduates in the July Horses of Racing Age Sale, the operation does have a connection through trainer John Ennis, who breaks the Rose Hill stock.

Ennis, who topped the 2020 auction with the $475,000 County Final (Oxbow), will offer five maiden-winning 2-year-olds at Monday's sale: Gewurztraminer (Collected) (hip 402); Intermittent Fast (Tapwrit) (hip 419); Laugh Now (Vino Rosso) (hip 431); Let's Go Mark (American Freedom) (hip 434); and Woodcourt (Ransom the Moon) (hip 528).

“We don't have any graduates in the racing age sale this year,” Ocampo said. “John Ennis has a few horses that he is selling, 2-year-olds, in that sale. The only connection is, he purchased them, but he broke them here at Rose Hill.”

The way Ocampo rattles off pedigrees and race records, it is clear graduates of Rose Hill never really leave the farm.

“We have them all on our stable mail and the owners are very involved–they tweet every time there is a work,” Ocampo said of keeping track of the farm's graduates. “So we are very involved. They are like your kids growing up. We do follow them and it's incredible when they start being so successful.”

Ocampo served as farm manager at Gleneagles Farm for nine years before he and his wife Lisa bought the operation and renamed it Rose Hill Farm in 1999. The main base of operations for the farm is 400 acres on Rice Road just behind Keeneland and it also includes 275 acres on Parkers Mill Road.

“This year, we foaled 45 mares and then we had about 20 maidens and barrens,” Ocampo said of the farm's resident broodmares. “So we have 70 or 75 total.”

While it's primary focus is on working for clients, Rose Hill does have a small number of its own broodmares.

“We probably have five or six mares that are owned by Rose Hill 100% and then we probably have another 10 mares that we have in different partnerships,” Ocampo said. “Our goal is to breed to sell. Every year we end up, for one reason or another, having to keep something. If it's a horse that we really like, but it has an issue and needs more time, or something that we didn't get what we wanted at the sale and we end up keeping. Usually those are horses that are out of a young mare and we want to help the mare, so maybe it will be a partnership with a trainer or between us we will keep it and race. But really our goal is to sell them all.”

The Fasig-Tipton July Selected Horses of Racing Age Sale will be held Monday at Newtown Paddocks with bidding beginning at 2 p.m. The Fasig-Tipton July Sale of Selected Yearlings will be held Tuesday beginning at 10 a.m.

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Echo Zulu Brilliant Again in Frizette

There have been other impressive performances turned in by 2-year-old fillies in recent weeks (namely Hidden Connection {Connect}  in the GIII Pocahontas S. and Ain't Easy {Into Mischief} in the GII FrontRunner S.), but 'TDN Rising Star' Echo Zulu (Gun Runner) reaffirmed her spot at the top of the division Sunday as she blew away her competition in Belmont's GI Frizette S., a “Win and You're In” qualifier for the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Nov. 5 at Del Mar.

The L and N Racing and Winchell Thoroughbreds colorbearer was a 5 1/2-length debut winner over a field that included subsequent two-time Florida-bred stakes dominator Outfoxed (Valiant Minister) on opening day at Saratoga July 15–good for a very strong 92 Beyer Speed Figure. She made similarly short work of the GI Spinaway S. at Saratoga Sept. 5, contributing to a highly memorable meet for her connections that got even better when Gunite closed things out with a win in the GI Champagne S. to complete an unprecedented double for freshman sire Gun Runner (Candy Ride {Arg}).

Backed at 35 cents on the dollar to carry her brilliance over an additional furlong Sunday, Echo Zulu wasted no time taking command as Brown/Klaravich representative Gerrymander (Into Mischief) applied some pressure through splits of :22.94 and :46.37 (according to Trakus). There was a brief moment midway around the turn when Echo Zulu looked like she might let her competition into the race, but as soon as her nose pointed for home, she slammed the door. Ricardo Santana, Jr. hit the gas, and she poured it on at will, running the score up to 7 1/4 lengths from the staying-on Gerrymander. Maiden A Mo Reay (Uncle Mo) came out on top of a blanket finish for third.

“It's amazing. She's a special filly and she's by Gun Runner. How much better can it get? She's better than good,” said all-time winningest trainer Steve Asmussen. “She's a Spinaway and a Frizette winner. That's elite company. I'm proud of her. Good energy though the wire. She didn't stagger in there and she set honest fractions.”

The Hall of Fame trainer had won the Frizette three times previously, perhaps most notably in 2011 with the similarly brilliant My Miss Aurelia (Smart Strike), who subsequently ran to favoritism at the Breeders' Cup to lock up an Eclipse Award.

“The filly obviously has a tremendous amount of ability and I think the big jump is to get to this level,” said Asmussen when asked about the upcoming two-turn test at Del Mar. “The Spinaway and the Frizette –that sort of foundation and doing it multiple times gives you a tremendous amount of confidence. My worry was the Spinaway off one 5 1/2-furlong race with the [lack of] seasoning. The Spinaway and Frizette have eased all those tensions, now it's just up to how fast everybody is.”

Santana added, “She's special. She broke her maiden and we never expected she was ready first time out in Saratoga. How she did it [shows] she has some ability and she proved it today… She broke good and was waiting for the company. When the company got to her, she took off again. She's really special.”

Sunday, Belmont Park
FRIZETTE S.-GI, $400,000, Belmont, 10-3, 2yo, f, 1m, 1:35.12, ft.
1–ECHO ZULU, 120, f, 2, by Gun Runner
1st Dam: Letgomyecho (GSW, $136,200), by Menifee
2nd Dam: Echo Echo Echo, by Eastern Echo
3rd Dam: Kashie West, by Sir Ivor
'TDN Rising Star' ($300,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP). O-L and N Racing
LLC & Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC; B-Betz/J. Betz/Burns/
CHNNHK/Magers/CoCo Equine/Ramsby (KY); T-Steven M.
Asmussen; J-Ricardo Santana, Jr. $220,000. Lifetime Record:
3-3-0-0, $440,000. *1/2 to Unbridled Outlaw (Unbridled's
Song), GSP, $253,478; J Boys Echo (Mineshaft), GSW,
$377,543; and Echo Town (Speightstown), GISW, $410,020.
Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Gerrymander, 120, f, 2, Into Mischief–Ruby Lips (GSP), by
Hard Spun. ($375,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP). O-Klaravich Stables,
Inc.; B-Town & Country Horse Farms, LLC & Pollock Farms (KY);
T-Chad C. Brown. $80,000.
3–A Mo Reay, 120, f, 2, Uncle Mo–Margaret Reay (GSP,
$133,455), by Pioneerof the Nile. ($400,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP).
O-My Racehorse Stable & Spendthrift Farm LLC; B-T & G Farm
of Kentucky LLC (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher. $48,000.
Margins: 7 1/4, 3, NK. Odds: 0.35, 10.60, 6.50.
Also Ran: Magic Circle, Saucy Lady T, Jester Calls Nojoy, Hot Fudge, Jumeirah, Frosty Brew. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

Pedigree Notes:

Gun Runner has been represented by four graded stakes winners already in his first crop, including the aforementioned Gunite, who was fifth in Saturday's GI Champagne S.; fellow Winchell/Asmussen filly Wicked Halo, who took Saratoga's GII Adirondack S. in August; and GII Best Pal S. hero Pappacap, second in Friday's GI American Pharoah S. at Santa Anita on the stretch out. Tony Holmes and Winchell's Concept (Gun Runner) broke his maiden in Remington's Kip Deville S. Sept. 26 while earning a 92 Beyer.

Gun Runner's yearlings were, unsurprisingly, highly coveted at Keeneland September, with a top-priced colt bringing $975,000 and six youngsters selling for $625,000 or more. The Three Chimneys resident's 40 sellers at KEESEP grossed $13,037,000 at an average of $325,925 and median of $280,000.

Echo Zulu's dam was talented herself, winning by 5 1/2 lengths in her Calder debut as a newly turned 3-year-old and streaking to three-for-three in the 2005 GII Forward Gal S. L and N Racing and Asmussen campaigned Letgomyecho's son Echo Town, who took last term's GI H. Allen Jerkens S. and completed his first season at Coolmore's Ashford Stud this year. Echo Zulu's yearling half-sister was also extremely popular at Keeneland September–she topped the first session of the sale on a $1.4-million bid made on behalf of Joe Allen. Ron Winchell bought the second topper that day. Click here for more.

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‘Going To Have To Catch Her’: Echo Zulu Towers Over Frizette Field

Winchell Thoroughbreds and L and N Racing's Echo Zulu will pursue a validation of dominance amongst the juvenile filly division on the East Coast when attempting a second Grade 1 victory in Sunday's 72nd running of the Grade 1, $400,000 Frizette going a one-turn mile at Belmont Park.

The Frizette is a “Win And You're In” qualifying event offering an automatic entry into the Grade 1, $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies on November 5 at Del Mar.

Unbeaten in both lifetime starts, Echo Zulu, a daughter of leading first-crop sire Gun Runner, enters the Frizette off a wire-to-wire four-length win in the Grade 1 Spinaway going seven furlongs on Sept. 5 at Saratoga.

Echo Zulu registered a 92 Beyer Speed Figure on debut – one of the top-three highest recorded by a 2-year-old this year – when breaking her maiden going 5 ½ furlongs in July at Saratoga. Echo Zulu showed early speed in her maiden score and responded well when asked by Ricardo Santana, Jr., powering home to a 5 ½-length score.

A victory would provide Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen with a fourth Frizette triumph, following scores with My Miss Aurelia [2011], Nickname [2015] and Wicked Whisper [2019].

Echo Zulu was acquired for $300,000 from the 2020 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, where she was consigned by Betz Thoroughbreds. She is out of the Menifee mare Letgomyecho, who also produced Grade 1-winner Echo Town and graded stakes winner J Boys Echo.

Like many of Asmussen's young horses, Echo Zulu was sent to El Primero Training Center in Laredo, Texas – owned by Asmussen's parents Keith and Marilyn Asmussen – prior to her racing career.

David Fiske, Winchell Thoroughbreds' racing and bloodstock advisor, noted the strong gate ability many horses that develop at El Primero acquire.

“The horses that come out of Laredo tend to be pretty fast from the gate. We call it the Laredo leap,” Fiske said. “They'll come out and be a length or two in front of the rest. It's just a testament to what they do at Laredo. Steve's dad does a great job getting them to leave the gate. A lot of the Gun Runners get out of the gate well, but they aren't rocket ships out of there. But once they get going, they go for a long time.”

Fiske said Echo Zulu flaunted early ability, but her speed figures surprised her connections.

“We knew she was fast. I don't know that we thought she was 92 Beyer fast,” Fiske said. “This year, there have only been a couple of other 2-year-olds with bigger figures than her. She always had trained well, but fast in the morning is different than fast against competition.”

With a likely start in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies to follow the Frizette, Fiske expressed no concern with Echo Zulu stretching out to two turns in the future.

“There's a lot of speed at the bottom side of her pedigree with Echo Town,” Fiske said. “Hopefully there's some genetic influence that would enable her to go two turns.”

Fiske said Echo Zulu is likely to be on the lead Sunday when exiting post 6 under Santana, Jr.

“Someone's going to have to catch her,” Fiske said. “Change the track surface from Saratoga to Belmont and add another furlong, and who knows. But so far, she gives every indication that the mile shouldn't be a problem for her. As fast as she is, she should be able to hold the turns well. It should be easier for her.”

Trainer Chad Brown will saddle Klaravich Stables' Gerrymander, who will attempt to give leading sire Into Mischief his second straight offspring to win the Frizette after last year's winner Dayoutoftheoffice.

Following a distant second as the favorite to Velvet Sister on debut going 5 ½ furlongs on June 10 at Belmont Park, Gerrymander emerged off a 2 ½ month layoff to dazzle at 10-1 odds on August 29 at Saratoga going six furlongs. She broke sharply from the gate, dropped back a close fourth, and made a sweeping four-wide move approaching upper stretch to take the lead past the eighth pole and fended off late rallies from two foes to win by a half-length.

“I've always thought a lot of her. She was bet first out, and I had to totally restart with her and then she showed us what we thought of her in that last race at Saratoga,” said Brown, who teamed up with Klaravich to capture the 2017 Frizette with Separationofpowers. “That's what we thought very early on in the year with her and then she's come back and trained well. We brought her down here and the filly worked fabulous on the main track, so we'll give her a shot to step up. She's going to like a mile, we'll see if she likes the competition. That's the difference.”

Brown said Gerrymander has trained forwardly since her maiden score. Following a bullet half-mile in 48.31 seconds over Saratoga's Oklahoma training track on September 19, she travelled the same distance Sunday on the Belmont main track in 48.77 seconds.

“I like the way the horse is training but she's going to have to really step up,” Brown said. “This is a really strong race.”

Joel Rosario will pilot Gerrymander from post 8.

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Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey will seek a sixth Frizette triumph when he saddles Magic Cap Stables' Frosty Brew.

The dark bay or brown daughter of second crop sire Frosted was a 1 ¾-length winner on debut going six furlongs on September 8 at Laurel Park.

“She ran a good race down there,” said McGaughey, whose Frizette coups include subsequent champions Personal Ensign [1986], Heavenly Prize [1993] and Storm Flag Flying [2002]. “She laid a little bit off of it and picked it up.”

McGaughey said Frosty Brew should have no issue stretching out to a mile.

“That ain't going to hurt her,” McGaughey said. “She'll lay where she needs to lay and hopefully, she'll finish. It's a tough spot for her.”

Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano will ride from the inside post.

The Elkstone Group's Jester Calls Nojoy is one of two entrants from the barn of Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, who has won the Frizette three times.

The bay daughter of Maclean's Music was an impressive second-out graduate travelling seven furlongs over a good main track at Saratoga, leading at every point of call to draw away by 10 lengths.

Luis Saez was aboard for the outstanding triumph and will ride once more from post 7.

My Racehorse Stable and Spendthrift Farm's A Mo Reay will try to break her maiden at Grade 1 level for Pletcher. The daughter of Uncle Mo was a late-closing third last out, making up 11 lengths from ninth to round out the trifecta, just a half-length to fellow Frizette aspirant Gerrymander.

A Mo Reay will leave from post 2 under Jose Lezcano.

Rounding out the field are LLP Performance Horse's Jumeirah [post 5, Junior Alvarado], a stakes-placed daughter of Twirling Candy for trainer Carlos David; J.W. Singer's first-out maiden winner Magic Circle [post 9, Manny Franco]; James Chapman trained and co-owned Saucy Lady T [post 3, Dylan Davis], who finished third in all three graded stakes for juvenile fillies at Saratoga; and KEM Stable's Linda Rice-trained second out maiden winner Hot Fudge [post 4, Jose Ortiz].

The Frizette honors the multiple stakes-winner who is more aptly known for her stellar career as a broodmare. Campaigned by James Keene and subsequently owned by Herman Duryea, Frizette was responsible for producing multiple prominent broodmare lines including champion Myrtlewood, whose descendants include 1977 Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew, influential patriarch Mr. Prospector and 1942 Kentucky Oaks victress Miss Dogwood.

Other descendants of Frizette include 1986 Kentucky Derby winner Ferdinand and 1942 Champion 3-Year-Old Filly Vagrancy. The Frizette has also been a popular stopping point for subsequent winners of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, including Meadow Star [1990], Flanders [1994], Storm Song [1996], Storm Flag Flying [2002], Indian Blessing [2007], My Miss Aurelia [2011], and Jaywalk [2018].

The Frizette is slated as Race 9 on Sunday's 10-race card. First post is 1 p.m. Eastern.

Sunday's program also includes the Grade 2, $200,000 Pilgrim for juveniles going 1 1/16 miles over the turf and the Grade 3, $300,000 Fasig-Tipton Waya for fillies and mares travelling 1 3/8 miles over the turf.

America's Day at the Races will present daily coverage and analysis of the fall meet at Belmont Park on the networks of FOX Sports. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.nyra.com/belmont/racing/tv-schedule.

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Maxfield Has Final Woodward Prep For Walsh; Pletcher Breezes Several Stakes Contenders

A number of star equines breezed Saturday morning at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.,  in preparation for next weekend's lucrative card that will feature seven graded races worth $2.3 million in purse money.

A pair of Grade 1s highlight the Saturday, Oct. 2, card with the $500,000 Woodward for 3-year-olds and up going a one-turn 1 1/8 miles on Big Sandy; and the $500,000 Champagne for 2-year-olds running one mile in a prestigious race, affording a spot in the Grade 1, $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile to the winner. The Grade 2, $200,000 Miss Grillo will see juvenile fillies running 1 1/16 miles on turf that day, along with the Grade 3, $200,000 Belmont Turf Sprint Invitational for 3-year-olds and up going six furlongs on the grass.

Sunday, Oct. 3, will continue the high-level action, with the Grade 1, $400,000 Frizette for 2-year-old fillies at one mile on the main track with a spot in the Grade 1, $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies up for grabs. The day will also include the Grade 2, $200,000 Pilgrim for juveniles going 1 1/16 miles on the turf and the Grade 3, $300,000 Fasig-Tipton Waya at 1 3/8 miles in a turf route for fillies and mares 3-and-up.

Godolphin's Maxfield registered his final breeze for the Woodward on Saturday, covering a half-mile in 48.55 seconds on the main track.

Under mostly sunny skies and temperatures in the low 60s, the five-time graded stakes-winning millionaire completed his half-mile move at 8:45 a.m. marking the quarter-mile in 24.71 and galloping out five furlongs in 1:02.10 and up six furlongs in 1:14.81 under Jose Ortiz, who has piloted Maxfield to five of his seven lifetime victories.

“It was a very good work,” said Maxfield trainer Brendan Walsh. “We just wanted to give him a feel for the track. He did all of his serious work in Saratoga. It was just a routine half-mile. He galloped out really well. We're all set for the Woodward.”

Maxfield, a dark bay 4-year-old son of Street Sense, enters the Woodward off a runner-up effort to Knicks Go in the Grade 1 Whitney on Aug. 7, at Saratoga. Maxfield arrived at the Whitney from wins in the Alysheba on April 30 and the Stephen Foster on June 26, both Grade 2 events at Churchill Downs.

Maxfield will be targeting his first Grade 1 victory since winning the Breeders' Futurity in October 2019 at Keeneland.

Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher also worked a slew of horses in pursuit of graded stakes action next weekend.

Repole Stable, St. Elias Stable and Gainesway Stable's Wit, second in the Grade 1 Hopeful last out on September 6 at Saratoga, and Robert and Lawana Low's decisive maiden winner My Prankster worked in company at 7:45 a.m. over the Belmont training track in preparation for the Champagne.

Wit and My Prankster breezed through splits of 25.25 and 37.25, before completing their five-furlong breeze in 1:01.84.

“It was a good solid work for them both,” said Pletcher, who eyes his seventh Champagne conquest. “They're pointing for the same race, so I thought it made sense to work them together. They make good workmates, they were head-and-head throughout.

“My Prankster was very impressive in his maiden win,” Pletcher added. “His gate work I thought was impressive before he first ran, he's not a horse that is an overzealous work horse. If you hadn't seen that gate work, you might not have expected the debut he had, but he's a pretty laid back colt. It's always a big stretch to go from a one start maiden to a Grade 1 stake, but we've had some success doing that.”

Pletcher worked three-time Grade 1-winner Malathaat at 9:30 a.m. on the Belmont training track in company with graded stakes-winner and fellow Curlin daughter Spice Is Nice, who completed their four-furlong works in 49.46.

Shadwell Stables' Malathaat is scheduled to train up to the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Distaff and was a last out winner of the Grade 1 Alabama on August 21 at Saratoga. Earlier this year, she won the Grade 1 Ashland at Keeneland en route to a victory in the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs.

Robert and Lawana Low's Spice Is Nice, a winner of the Grade 3 Allaire DuPont Distaff in May at Pimlico, will target the Grade 2, $250,000 Beldame on October 10.

“Everything has gone according to plan with Malathaat,” Pletcher said. “This was her second half-mile breeze since the Alabama and we'll go five eighths next week and start to pick things up a bit. There's quite a bit of time in between races, so hopefully we'll have her ready.”

Pletcher also worked Spendthrift Farm's Following Sea, a dual Grade 1-placed sophomore son of Runhappy, who will face elders next out in the Grade 2, $250,000 Vosburgh on October 9 at Belmont – a “Win And You're In” qualifier for the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Sprint.

Following Sea went a half-mile in 49.23 over the Belmont training track. He finished a distant third to Jackie's Warrior and stable mate Life Is Good last out in the Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial on August 28 at Saratoga. In his only start over Big Sandy, Following Sea bested winners going 6 ½ furlongs on June 3.

“He went well,” Pletcher said. “He seemed to run really well in his allowance win here at Belmont, so that's part of the reason why we chose the Vosburgh.”

Pletcher said Robert and Lawana Low's Classy Edition emerged from her Joseph A. Gimma triumph on Friday in good order. While the daughter of Classic Empire is likely for the $250,000 Maid of the Mist against fellow New York-breds on October 30, Pletcher did not rule out a start in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies.

“She's been very impressive in both starts, so I think we have to consider open company,” Pletcher said. “The Maid of the Mist comes [one week] before the Breeders' Cup so we'll target that race. But if she's doing so well that we can't resist, we'll talk about it.”

Pletcher also stated that Classy Edition could target the Grade 2, $250,000 Demoiselle on December 4 at Aqueduct.

Jim Bakke and Gerald Isbister's promising Champagne aspirant Jack Christopher, trained by four-time Eclipse Award-winner Chad Brown, breezed five-eighths in company with sophomore maiden winner Pipeline in 1:00 flat Saturday on the main track.

Jack Christopher, a Munnings chestnut who was purchased for $135,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale, registered a 92 Beyer for a his 8 3/4-length debut score in a six-furlong maiden special weight on August 28 at Saratoga.

John Gunther and Eurowest Bloodstock Services' Pipeline, by Speightstown and out of the Empire Maker mare Vivo Per Lei, graduated at fourth asking in a seven-furlong maiden tilt on September 4 at Saratoga. The bay colt's 3 1/4-length score matched a career-best 97 Beyer.

America's Day at the Races will present daily coverage and analysis of the fall meet at Belmont Park on the networks of FOX Sports. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.nyra.com/belmont/racing/tv-schedule.

NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Belmont Park, and the best way to bet every race of the fall meet. Available to horseplayers nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.

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