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Cox Duo Top Two on Breeders’ Cup Classic Morning Line

DEL MAR, CA – Leading older horse Knicks Go (Paynter) received the nod at 5-2 on the morning-line for Saturday's $6-million GI Breeders' Cup Classic as a field of nine was drawn during Monday's Rood & Riddle Breeders' Cup Post-Position Draw held in the Del Mar paddock.

The speedy 2021 GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational S. and GI Whitney S. winner, hero of last term's GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile at Keeneland, will be on the engine from post five in this first attempt at the 1 1/4-mile Classic distance.

Last year's outstanding trainer Brad Cox will also be very well-represented by the 3-1 second-choice in 'TDN Rising Star' Essential Quality (Tapit). The 2020 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner and champion 2-year-old colt is drawn one to the inside of his stablemate. The Godolphin homebred takes on his elders for the first time off a hard-fought score in the GI Runhappy Travers S. at Saratoga.

The Classic field also includes fellow leading sophomores–GI Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit (Protonico) (post eight; 4-1) and GI Pennsylvania Derby winner Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow) (post three; 4-1).

Consisting of 14 races with purses and awards totaling more than $31 million, the two-day 38th Breeders' Cup World Championships feature 169 horses, including seven returning champions.

Saturday's loaded Breeders' Cup program also includes:

• Four-time GISW in 2021 Letruska (Super Saver) (post six; 8-5 favorite) meets GI Kentucky Oaks heroine and 'TDN Rising Star' Malathaat (Curlin) (post three) in the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff.

• 'TDN Rising Star' Gamine (Into Mischief) is the 3-5 morning line favorite to repeat in the GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint. The defending champion female sprinter is drawn in post five in the six-horse affair.

• Talented 'TDN Rising Star' and MGISW Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music) (post two) is the 6-5 morning-line favorite as he meets his elders for the first time GI Breeders' Cup Sprint.

• CHC Inc. and WinStar Farm's 'TDN Rising Star' Life Is Good (Into Mischief) (post five), a facile winner of Belmont's GII Kelso H. for Todd Pletcher, returns to Southern California as the overwhelming 4-5 morning-line favorite for the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile.

• Tarnawa (Ire) (Shamardal), owned by the H.H. Aga Khan Studs and trained by Dermot Weld, is the 9-5 morning-line favorite and drawn one from the outside to defend her crown in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf.

• The G1 Qatar Prix de la Foret winner Space Blues (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) (post three) makes the trip across the pond for the GI Breeders' Cup Mile. He is the 3-1 morning-line favorite in the 14-horse field.

• War Like Goddess (English Channel) (post seven) leads the way in the GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf off four straight wins, including Saratoga's GI Flower Bowl Invitational. The defending F/M champion Audarya (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) is drawn wide in post 12.

• Defending GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint heroine Glass Slippers (GB) (Dream Ahead) is drawn on the rail to defend her title as she faces off against last year's speedy GII Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint winner Golden Pal (Uncle Mo) (post three). The latter is the 7-2 morning-line favorite.

The Future Stars Friday program includes:

• A showdown of unbeaten 'TDN Rising Stars' and GISWs is on tap in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile between the rail-drawn 9-5 morning-line favorite Jack Christopher (Munnings) and Corniche (Quality Road), drawn widest of 12.

• 'TDN Rising Star' and MGISW Echo Zulu (Gun Runner) puts her perfect three-for-three record on the line in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. The 4-5 morning-line favorite is drawn widest of all in post six.

• Euro invader Dubawi Legend (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), runner-up in the G1 Darley Dewhurst S., will see them all from post 14 in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf. He is the 4-1 morning-line favorite.

• The rail-drawn Bobby Flay homebred and GI Natalma S. runner-up Pizza Bianca (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) has been installed as the lukewarm 5-1 favorite in a completely wide-open renewal of the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf.

• The unbeaten Wesley Ward-trained filly and three-time stakes winner Averly Jane (Midshipman) (post eight) headlines a full field of 12 set for the GII Juvenile Turf Sprint.

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Gutierrez: Letruska Poised For Big Effort In Distaff, Thanks To Lessons Learned In 2020

Trainer Fausto Gutierrez is having his most successful year in the United States, and it's mostly thanks to stable star Letruska, who this week will carry the trainer to his first Breeders' Cup as she takes aim at the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Distaff.

Gutierrez revealed at a press conference Nov. 1 that he had first dreamt of a trip to the Breeders' Cup with the filly in 2020, when she picked up a win in the Added Elegance Stakes at Gulfstream in June. After she put in a disappointing effort in her Grade 1 debut in the Ballerina however, he had to change course.

Gutierrez has dominated Thoroughbred racing in Mexico alongside top owner St. George Stable, which owns Letruska. He'd made a brief foray into American racing in the 1990s, when Hipodoromo de las Americas was closed and he had no choice but to bring some of his horses to Texas. He also sent runners to the Clasico Del Caribe, which came to Gulfstream Park in 2017 (readers may remember his runners Kukulkan and Jala Jala in that race series). Last year, St. George's German Larrea decided to experiment with a small American string, which Gutiererz bases at Palm Meadows. While Gutierrez has more than 100 horses in Mexico, he told Thoroughbred Daily News in 2020 the American contingent would be much smaller, around 15 horses.

This year, he has saddled 60 starters in the States with 16 winners and earnings of over $2.2 million, thanks largely to Letruska.

Now five years old, the daughter of Super Saver and Successful Appeal mare Magic Appeal is nearly perfect in her 2021 season, picking up wins in the G1 Spinster, Personal Ensign, Ogden Phipps and Apple Blossom. She's missed having an undefeated year by just a head in a tough beat in the Grade 2 Azeri to Shedaresthedevil.

“When I decided her campaign, I selected the races depending on how she's doing, how she trains,” he said. “Every day it's like she tells me, tomorrow we can go to stronger competition.”

Gutierrez said Monday that in hindsight, he made a few mistakes in plotting her 2020 campaign. Looking back, he said he entered her in at least one Oaklawn race he could have skipped, feeling pressure to get a start in while he could as the COVID-19 pandemic threw transportation plans and condition books into the air. He said he also broke with his usual racing schedule for her, sending her to the G3 Shuvee at Saratoga after her disappointing run in the Ballerina because he didn't want to leave the track totally empty-handed; now he wonders if the races coming three weeks apart were too much.

But good things came out of that learning year, too – Gutierrez said he realized in her G2 Beldame loss that she did not need blinkers. He thought the filly seemed distracted and worried by Horologist, and actually needed to see her competitors better. Since removing them, she has won all but one race.

So far, Gutierrez said he is happy with the way Letruska has made the trip. She had a 15-hour journey but came off the van at Del Mar her usual self.

“After I saw last Saturday how she came out of the van and the attitude she had, the next day I felt very comfortable,” he said. “I saw this horse is ready for this competition. She is a horse with a very special mind. She is ready for this.”

Although he's expecting big things from the mare, Gutierrez also acknowledged that just to make it to the Breeders' Cup is a tremendous accomplishment.

“This is a real dream, because nobody can think this could happen,” he said. “When I had this horse in Mexico City I understood she's a special horse, a horse who could run fast. But to be here, it's like another planet.

“I try to do the best work. I don't have a lot of horses with this quality. I just have one. Sometimes I feel like Rambo – I have to go with all the other ones, horses who have seven or eight horses [like this.]”

The post Gutierrez: Letruska Poised For Big Effort In Distaff, Thanks To Lessons Learned In 2020 appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Breeders’ Cup Breeze Report: Letruska Hooks Company at Del Mar

St. George Stable's Letruska (Super Saver), the expected favorite for the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff next week, had a somewhat eventful final breeze at Del Mar Saturday. Scheduled to work a solo five-eighths, the four-time Grade I winner broke off behind 2-year-old filly Brandon'smylawyer (Astern {Aus}), and hooked that runner near the half-mile pole. The other filly continued on with Letruska, and finished her half-mile work several lengths to the good of Letruska, who was credited with five furlongs in 1:01.20 (2/7) (Click for video).

Brandon'smylawyer, a $340,000 OBS April grad, was most recently a headstrong sixth in the Surfer Girl S. earlier this month after winning on debut at Del Mar–she was credited with a half in :47.20 (3/25).

“I was not planning on company; it was not ideal,” said Letruska's exercise rider Roger Horgan. “She did relax. I was a bit concerned, but she switched off and I let her do it on her own. I was very proud of her the way she relaxed.”

Also among the dozen or so Breeders' Cup-bound workers Saturday at Del Mar was GI Classic contender Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow). The GI Pennsylvania Derby winner was paired up with 2-year-old maiden stablemate Khantaro d'Oro (Kantharos). He worked seven furlongs in 1:26.80 (1/1), clicking off splits of :47.80, 1:00.20 and 1:13 flat.

“I thought the work was visually impressive,” trainer Doug O'Neill said. “Charlie sat off his workmate and when Flavien [Prat] called on him, he responded well. He galloped out good and his energy was very high.”

O'Neill's GI Juvenile Turf runner Mackinnon (American Pharoah) worked six panels on the main track in 1:14.80 (1/1).

Other Breeders' Cup workers to stretch their legs at Del Mar Saturday included: Ain't Easy (Into Mischief), GI NetJets Juvenile Fillies, 5f in 1:01; Desert Dawn (Cupid), Juvenile Fillies, 5f in 1:00.60; Helens Well (Ire) (Kodi Bear {Ire}), GI Juvenile Fillies Turf, 5f in 1:00.60; Oviatt Class (Bernardini), GI TVG Juvenile presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, 5f in :59.60; Proud Emma (Include), GI Filly & Mare Sprint, 5f in :59.80; Aloha West (Hard Spun), GI Qatar Racing Sprint, 4f in :47.20; Channel Maker (English Channel), GI Longines Turf, 4f in :48.40; Chaos Theory (Curlin), GI Turf Sprint, 4f in :48.20; and Horologist (Gemologist), GI Longines Distaff, 4f in :49.60.

Meanwhile, at Santa Anita, Classic-bound Tripoli (Kitten's Joy) prepared to return to the track and trip over which he took August's GI TVG Pacific Classic S. as he worked five furlongs in :59 flat (4/38).

“He's trained well,” conditioner John Sadler said. “He worked at 6:30 this morning at Santa Anita under heavy fog and he'll go to Del Mar very early Monday.”

There was more than just fog in Kentucky Saturday, and trainer Brad Cox opted to push back final pre-Breeders' Cup breezes at Churchill Downs for Classic-bound Essential Quality (Tapit) and Knicks Go (Paynter) and Distaff contender Shedaresthedevil (Daredevil) due to wet weather in Louisville.

He went ahead with plans to breeze GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Fillies hopefuls Ready to Purrform (Kitten's Joy) and Turnerloose (Nyquist), who covered five panels in the slop together in 1:02.20.

“I think the track will dry out pretty well [Saturday] afternoon,” Cox said in the morning. “These three have an extra day in their schedule compared to Ready to Purrform and Turnerloose.” Click for more from Cox via KY HPBA.

The post Breeders’ Cup Breeze Report: Letruska Hooks Company at Del Mar appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Letruska, Hot Rod Charlie Get Final Workouts For Breeders’ Cup

St. George Stable's Letruska, the probable favorite for the $2 million Grade 1 Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff next Saturday, Nov. 6, and Roadrunner Racing, William Strauss, Boat Racing LLC, and Gainesway Stable's Hot Rod Charlie, a leading contender for the $6 million Grade 1 Longines Breeders' Cup Classic, turned in works over a fast main track at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif., Saturday morning.

Letruska, trained by Fausto Gutierrez, worked five furlongs in 1:01.20, and shortly afterward, Hot Rod Charlie worked seven furlongs in company in 1:26.80 for trainer Doug O'Neill.

Letruska was scheduled to work on her own, but she picked up some company on the backstretch.

“I was not planning on company; it was not ideal,” said exercise rider Roger Horgan, who was aboard Letruska who stayed to the inside of her unexpected companion. “She did relax. I was a bit concerned, but she switched off and let her do it on her own. I was very proud of her the way she relaxed.”

Gutierrez said Letruska handled the track well, noting that she has handled every track well in a 2021 campaign that has taken her to six tracks previously.

Shortly after Letruska finished, Hot Rod Charlie appeared on the scene working in company with Khantaro d'Oro, a 2-year-old maiden. Del Mar clockers caught Hot Rod Charlie in :47.80 for the half-mile, 1:00.20 for five furlongs, 1:13 for six furlongs, and 1:26.80 for the seven-eighths.

“I thought the work was visually impressive,” O'Neill said. “Charlie sat off his workmate and when Flavien (Prat) called on him, he responded well. He galloped out good and his energy was very high.”

O'Neill also sent out $1 million Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf pre-entrant Mackinnon to work six furlongs on the main track in 1:14.80.

Nine other Breeders' Cup pre-entrants worked: Ain't Easy (NetJets Juvenile Fillies) 5f in 1:01; Desert Dawn (NetJets Juvenile Fillies) 5f in 1:00.60; Helens Well (IRE) (Juvenile Fillies Turf) 5f in 1:00.60; Oviatt Class (TVG Juvenile presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance) 5f in :59.60 in company; Proud Emma (Filly & Mare Sprint) 5f in :59.80 with Prat aboard; Aloha West (Qatar Racing Sprint) 4f in :47.20; Channel Maker (Longines Turf) 4f in :48.40; Chaos Theory (Turf Sprint) 4f in :48.20; and Horologist (Longines Distaff) 4f in :49.60.

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