While putting off a final decision regarding which Breeders’ Cup race GI Preakness S. winner Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil) will run in, trainer Ken McPeek said Sunday morning that he prefers running his filly at a mile-and-a-quarter, the distance of the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic. His other option is the GI Breeders’ Cup Distaff, which is run at a mile-and-an-eighth.
“It’s a little early and we don’t have to make a decision right now but I do like her at the mile-and-a-quarter,” he said. “The further, the better. She gets to settle in a nice rhythm and that distance, I really like it better.”
McPeek said he would consider other factors, including the likely competition in each of the two Breeders’ Cup races.
“I don’t have to decide now,” he said. “We’ll look at the sheets and the past performances on the probables as we get closer. We will figure it out. Like I said, I like her at a mile-and-a-quarter better. I still would like to look at who is expected, how she holds up on paper and then we will decide how she is doing and where we needs to land.”
McPeek said his filly came out of the Preakness win in perfect shape.
“Last night she finished her feed early,” he said. “That’s not something you can train. They have to have that constitution and she’s got it.”
At age 5, Zenyatta won the Classic in 2009. She is the only filly or mare to have won the race.
Trainer Tommy Drury Jr. looked Art Collector over Sunday morning and said the colt was in good shape coming out of Saturday's Grade 1 Preakness Stakes 145 dat Pimlico in Baltimore, Md. Bruce Lunsford's homebred son of Bernardini ridden by Brian Hernandez Jr. ended up fourth, a head behind Jesus' Team.
Art Collector, the 2-1 second choice in the wagering, was Drury's first Triple Crown starter and came into the Preakness unbeaten in four starts this year.
“I didn't see a whole lot for excuses. For whatever reason he just didn't quite have that normal turn of foot that we see from him,” Drury said. “Around the first turn it looked like Brian tried to kind of get out and couldn't quite get that done. Down the backside he tried to take the same spot that Swiss Skydiver took and unfortunately didn't have enough horse to get there. No excuses at this point. We're going to take our hat off to the filly. She ran great and I'm thrilled for Kenny. We'll get back home and regroup and figure out where we want to go next.”
Drury said one of the options for the colt is the Breeders' Cup Classic on Nov. 7 at Keeneland.
“It certainly is a possibility, along with a lot of other races,” Drury said. “I think the big thing is to get him back home and make sure he's OK. He seems to be fine this morning.”
A minor foot injury kept Art Collector out of the Kentucky Derby on Sept. 5, but he was ready for the Preakness, which Drury called “the biggest day of my life.”
“It was exciting,” Drury said. “I wish we could have ran a little better, but that being said I'm proud of my horse. He took me to a place I never got to go to before. We're going to be fine. We just need to regroup a little bit and figure out what to do next.”
Grupo Seven C Stable LLC's Jesus' Team, who finished third at 40-1, exited the Preakness in good order, said trainer Jose D'Angelo.
“I'm very happy for my horse and my team. My horse ran good. He ran a fast time in the stretch,” D'Angelo said. “Our next plan….maybe the Breeders' Cup.”
There as a slow-motion finish to the G1 Prix de l’Abbaye de Longchamp Longines on Sunday, where Al Shaqab Racing’s 3-year-old Wooded (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) gave his all to prevail in a drawn-out finale. Missing the kick a touch but able to grab the rail under Pierre-Charles Boudot, the 13-2 shot who had captured the six-furlong G3 Prix Texanita at Chantilly May 13 was marginally ahead passing the two-furlong marker. After seeing off his close companion Liberty Beach (GB) (Cable Bay {Ire}), the lightly-raced bay hit the line a neck in front of last year’s winner Glass Slippers (GB) (Dream Ahead) as Liberty Beach stayed in the mix to be a short neck away in third. “I have always held him in high esteem and since he won the group 3 nothing has gone right,” winning trainer Francis-Henri Graffard said. “Because of the pandemic, he had to miss Royal Ascot and then I had to run him over the wrong trip and I was running him today for education, as I thought next year would be his year.”
Campaigned solely over seven furlongs as a juvenile, Wooded opened his account at Deauville in August before finishing a short-head runner-up to Kenway (Fr) (Galiway {GB}) in the G3 Prix la Rochette here in September and third behind the Charlie Appleby-trained duo King’s Command (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) and Royal Crusade (GB) (Shamardal) in the G3 Prix Thomas Bryon at Saint-Cloud the following month. After springing back to the fore in the Texanita, he was next seen finishing fourth in the G1 Prix Jean Prat back over seven at Deauville July 12 before running sixth in the 6 1/2-furlong G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest also there Aug. 9. Shortened up for the course-and-distance G3 Prix du Petit Couvert, he was runner-up to Air de Valse (Fr) (Mesnil des Aigles {Fr}) Sept. 13 and made the requisite improvement in the interim to turn that form around.
Graffard added, “I was upset, because I knew he was going to run very well in the Commonwealth Cup and there were no races for him over six furlongs over the summer. We have a nice sprinter on our hands and the only question was the ground. He is much better on fast ground and Pierre-Charles said he wasn’t the same horse on soft, but I wanted to toughen him up for next year. He went on it today because he’s a very good horse.”
Wooded is the second foal out of Frida La Blonde (Fr) (Elusive City), whose first was the talented G3 Sovereign S. runner-up Beat le Bon (Fr) also by Wootton Bassett. The second dam is the Listed Criterium d’Evry winner and G2 Premio Regina Elena (Italian 1000 Guineas) runner-up Firm Friend (Ire) (Affirmed) who also produced the Listed Prix Servanne and Listed Prix Cor de Chasse scorer and G3 Prix de Ris-Orangis runner-up Fred Lalloupet (GB) (Elusive City) and another Prix Servanne winner Mon Pote le Gitan (Thunder Gulch) who was also placed in the G3 Prix de Cabourg. The third dam Cherie Amie (Fr) (Gay Mecene) is connected to the G3 Cornwallis S. and G3 Norfolk S.-winning sire Magic Ring (Ire) who was third in this race. The dam’s 2-year-old filly is by Ajaya (GB), while she also has a filly by Intello (Ger) due to sell at the upcoming Arqana Deauville October Yearling Sale.
Sunday, ParisLongchamp, France PRIX DE L’ABBAYE DE LONGCHAMP LONGINES-G1, €210,000, ParisLongchamp, 10-4, 2yo/up, 5fT, :58.52, hy.
1–WOODED (IRE), 136, c, 3, by Wootton Bassett (GB) 1st Dam: Frida La Blonde (Fr), by Elusive City 2nd Dam: Firm Friend (Ire), by Affirmed 3rd Dam: Chere Amie (Fr), by Gay Mecene 1ST GROUP 1 WIN. (€90,000 Ylg ’18 AROCT). O-Al Shaqab Racing; B-Gestut Zur Kuste AG (IRE); T-Francis-Henri Graffard; J-Pierre-Charles Boudot. €119,994. Lifetime Record: 9-3-3-1, €218,398. *Full to Beat Le Bon (Fr), GSP-Eng, $362,908. Werk Nick Rating: A++. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Glass Slippers (GB), 133, f, 4, Dream Ahead–Night Gypsy (GB), by Mind Games (GB). O/B-Bearstone Stud Ltd (GB); T-Kevin Ryan. €48,006.
3–Liberty Beach (GB), 133, f, 3, Cable Bay (Ire)–Flirtinaskirt (GB), by Avonbridge (GB). (£16,000 RNA Ylg ’18 TASAYG). O/B-Phillip Wilkins (GB); T-John Quinn. €24,003.
Margins: NK, SNK, 1. Odds: 6.50, 1.70, 10.00.
Also Ran: Lady In France (GB), Keep Busy (Ire), Air de Valse (Fr), Batwan (Fr), Make A Challenge (Ire), Sestilio Jet (Fr), Archer’s Dream (Ire), Livachope (Fr). Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
Peter Brant's return to Thoroughbred racing and breeding in 2016 after a nearly 25-year hiatus hit its pinnacle on Sunday with a victory by Sottsass in the Group 1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France. The 4-year-old colt by the French stallion Siyouni, trained by Jean-Claude Rouget and ridden to victory by Cristian Demuro, had no trouble with the heavy ground at ParisLongchamp, defeating In Swoop and pace-setting Persian King in the 12-furlong European classic for 3-year-olds and up.
Juddmonte Farms Enable finished sixth in her bid for a record third Arc de Triomphe victory, Jockey Frankie Dettori said of the John Gosden runner: “She hated that ground. I knew my fate at the 400.”
The victory was the first in the Arc de Triomphe for Brant, Demuro and Rouget.
Sottsass was prominent from the outset, saving ground inside of Chachnak as Persian King established the pace. In Swoop raced just behind Sottsass, alongside Enable. There was little change in the running until the field of 11 runners reached the stretch run.
Persian King was well off the rail giving Demuro an option to go inside or outside of the front-runner. He chose to swing Sottsass to the outside for his run while In Swoop and jockey Ronan Thomas took the inside route. Sottsass hit the front with 200 meters to run, but In Swoop was inching forwardly when they reached the winning post.
The Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe was one of five Group 1 races that were Breeders' Cup Challenge Series events at ParisLongchamp, giving the winners fees-paid berths to the world championship races to be held this year at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky., Nov. 6-7. The connections of the winners also receive $40,000 in travel allowances.
The victory by Sottsass gives him a fees-paid spot in the starting gate for the Turf. Other Group 1 Win and You're In Challenge Series races saw Tiger Tanaka win the Prix Marcel Boussac, giving her a berth in the Juvenile Fillies Turf; Sealiway win the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere, giving him a berth in the Juvenile Turf; Wooded win the Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp, giving him a berth in the Turf Sprint; and Tarnawa win the Prix de l'Opera, giving her a berth in the Filly & Mare Turf.
Enable, who won the 2017-'18 renewals of the Arc (and finished second in 2019) became the first horse to win both the Arc de Triomphe and Breeders' Cup Turf in the same year when she accomplished the feat in 2018.
Peter Brant at Belmont Park
Sottsass, who came into this year's Arc off a fourth-place finish behind Magical in the G1 Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown in Ireland on Sept. 12, had finished third behind Waldgeist in the 2019 Arc after earlier in the year winning the G1 French Derby and G2 Prix Niel. The French-bred colt was champion 3-year-old of 2019.
Out of the Galileo mare Starlet's Sister, Sottsass is a half-sister to Brant's American champion Sistercharlie (by Myboycharlie), who gave the owner his first G1 victory after being away from the game for so long when taking the Jenny Wiley at Keeneland in 2018. Brant's horses in the U.S. are trained by Chad Brown.
Brant came back with a splash when he made the decision to return to racing, focusing heavily on broodmares but also buying weanlings and yearlings at both European and American bloodstock auctions. He spent $10 million in 2016 and doubled that investment the following year. Among his yearling purchases in 2017 was Sottass, bred by Ecurie Des Monceaux and purchased for 340,000 euros at the Arqana August Yearling Sale.
In a 2018 interview with the Paulick Report, Brant – who had campaigned such champions as Waya, Just a Game and Gulch in the late 1970s and '80s – spoke about how alliances and partnerships had become an important element in the current iteration of the Thoroughbred industry. As such, earlier this year he sold half-interest in Sottsass to Coolmore, where the Arc winner presumably will stand upon his retirement.
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the general public was unable to attend the races at ParisLongchamp. Brant, presumably watched his colt win one of the world's most prestigious races from his home in the U.S.
