Whitney Third Silver State Could Target Kelso Or Woodward

Following a third-place finish in the Grade 1 Whitney, Silver State is scheduled to have his next start at Belmont Park, but which race he enters is still unknown said David Fiske manager and bloodstock adviser for Winchell Thoroughbreds, who own Silver State in partnership with Willis Horton Racing.

Fiske said the one-mile Grade 2, $300,000 Kelso on Sept. 25 or the nine-furlong Grade 1, $500,000 Woodward on Oct. 2 are the two most likely options for the 4-year-old son of Hard Spun.

Silver State, trained by Hall of Fame Steve Asmussen, arrived at the Whitney on a six-race win streak, including three stakes triumphs at Oaklawn Park as well as a victory in the Grade 1 Hill 'N' Dale Metropolitan Handicap on June 5 at Belmont.

“He's doing great,” Fiske said. “He's been remarkably sound all year.”

Fiske said plans for Winchell Thoroughbreds' Midnight Bourbon are still in flux after a runner-up effort in the Grade 1 Runhappy Travers.

Options for the son of Tiznow could include training up to the Grade 1, $6 million Breeders' Cup Classic, or bypassing the Classic to target races like the Grade 1 Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs and the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park.

“He put in a pretty big effort in the Travers, so we'll see how he bounces out of it,” Fiske said.

Fiske also reported that Grade 2 Adirondack-winner Wicked Halo is getting some rest and could target something toward the end of the year. The daughter of leading first crop sire Gun Runner won the Adirondack in wire-to-wire fashion by 3 ½ lengths. Her dam Just Wicked won the Adirondack in 2015.

“She's taking a little break. After the Adirondack we decided to just give her some time and get her ready for the later part of the year,” Fiske said. “Steve's relying on his experience with her mother, and he felt that he might have rushed her a little bit, so he didn't want to make the same mistake.”

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Essential Quality Closing The Gap On Knicks Go In Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings

Godolphin's Runhappy Travers Stakes (G1) winner Essential Quality closed to within seven votes of stablemate Knicks Go after 10 weeks of the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic Rankings, a weekly poll of the top 10 horses in contention for the $6 million Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1). This year's Longines Breeders' Cup Classic will be run at Del Mar racetrack in Del Mar, California, on Nov. 6 as the final race of the 38th Breeders' Cup World Championships.

The 5-year-old Knicks Go, owned by Korea Racing Authority and trained by Brad Cox, received 315 votes, and retained the No. 1 position for the fourth consecutive week. Godolphin's 3-year-old Essential Quality, also trained by Cox, received 308 votes following Saturday's Travers Stakes victory by a neck over Winchell Thoroughbreds Midnight Bourbon. The Travers was Essential Quality's third straight win, having captured the Jim Dandy Stakes (G2) at Saratoga and the Belmont Stakes (G1) in his two previous starts.

Godolphin's Maxfield remained in third place with 253 votes. Trained by Brendan Walsh, the 4-year-old Maxfield has won three races this year, including the Stephen Foster Stakes (G2) at Churchill Downs in June, in which he earned an automatic berth into the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic.

Hot Rod Charlie, owned by Boat Racing, Gainesway Stable, Roadrunner Racing, and William Strauss, is in fourth place with 206 votes. Trained by Doug O'Neill, Hot Rod Charlie finished third in the Kentucky Derby (G1) and second in the Belmont Stakes. He crossed the wire first in the TVG.com Haskell Stakes (G1) on July 17 but was disqualified for interference in the stretch and was placed seventh.

Hronis Racing's 4-year-old Tripoli stayed in fifth place with 119 votes. Trained by John Sadler, Tripoli won the TVG Pacific Classic (G1) at Del Mar on Aug. 21 and gained a “Win and You're In” berth into the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic.

St. George Stable's 5-year-old mare Letruska captured last Saturday's Personal Ensign Stakes (G1) at Saratoga for her fifth win of the year and her third Grade 1 stakes victory of 2021. Trained by Fausto Gutierrez, Letruska has 112 votes.

Midnight Bourbon joins the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic Rankings for the first time in seventh place, as many voters were impressed with his hard-fought second-place finish in the Travers. Trained by Steve Asmussen, Midnight Bourbon has 94 votes.

Prince A A Faisal's 4-year-old Mishriff (IRE), who earned an automatic starting position into the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic when he won the Juddmonte International (G1) on turf at York Racecourse, drops one spot to eighth place. Trained by John and Thady Gosden, Mishriff has 81 votes.

Winchell Thoroughbreds and Willis Horton Racing's 4-year-old Silver State slipped one spot to ninth place with 66 votes. Trained by Steve Asmussen, Silver State won his first four races of 2021 before finishing third in the Whitney.

Also new to the top 10 this week is Zedan Racing Stable's Medina Spirit, who captured the listed Shared Belief Stakes at Del Mar on Sunday in his first start since finishing third in the Preakness Stakes (G1). Medina Spirit is in 10th place with 59 votes.

Longines Breeders' Cup Classic Rankings – Sept 1, 2021*

Rank Horse Votes First-Place Votes Previous Week
1 Knicks Go 315 17 1
2 Essential Quality 308 11 2
3 Maxfield 253 4 3
4 Hot Rod Charlie 206 0 4
5 Tripoli 119 0 5
6 Letruska 112 0 5
7 Midnight Bourbon 94 0 Unranked
8 Mishriff (IRE) 81 2 7
9 Silver State 66 0 8
10 Medina Spirit 59 0 16

*Note – The Longines Breeders' Cup Classic Rankings have no bearing on qualification or selection into the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic.

The 2021 Longines Breeders' Cup Classic, which will be run at 1 ¼ miles on the main track, is limited to 14 starters. The race will be broadcast live on NBC.

The Longines Breeders' Cup Classic Rankings are determined by a panel of leading Thoroughbred racing media, horseplayers, and members of the Breeders' Cup Racing Directors/Secretaries Panel. Rankings will be announced each week through Oct. 11. A list of voting members can be found here.

In the Breeders' Cup Classic Rankings, each voter rates horses on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 system in descending order.

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Team Asmussen Celebrates Big Day

While Steve Asmussen was on the road to the Texas yearling sales Sunday morning, his team was still celebrating a pair of Grade I victories at Saratoga Saturday. Yaupon (Uncle Mo) captured the GI Forego S.  in a dramatic stretch run shortly before stablemate Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music) battled to a determined victory in the GI H. Allen Jerkens Memorial S. Asmussen also saddled Midnight Bourbon (Tiznow) to a runner-up effort in the GI Runhappy Travers S.

“I was so proud of how our horses ran yesterday. It was a great day of racing,” said Scott Blasi, Asmussen's longtime assistant. “To win two Grade Is in a row at Saratoga on Travers Day is a great feeling. There are certain days of the year that are incredibly competitive. There's Derby Day, Preakness Day, Belmont Day, Travers Day, Breeders' Cup. With that level of quality racing, it's the best of the best. On those kinds of days to do well, it's a special feeling.”

As Yaupon, under Ricardo Santana, Jr., battled in deep stretch, Firenze Fire (Poseidon's Warrior) bared his teeth, turned his head to the left, and tried to savage his rival with no fewer than seven attempts. Afterward, Asmussen said that Firenze Fire was even trying to grab Santana.

“[Yaupon] came out of it unscathed,” Blasi said Sunday. “No marks or anything. Luckily, Ricardo was able to continue to encourage him, although he was getting pretty close to the inside rail, which I was more worried about than the horse getting bit. I think it was a really hard thing for him [Jose Ortiz, up on Firenze Fire] to correct. The thing about it is those guys are riding hard, so they were going forward and it's not like you have the bit in their mouth. They're trying to persevere, and that's a hard to thing to correct when you're in that position. I've seen pictures of horses being savaged, and I've seen horses savage, or try to bite, but I've never seen any horse do it for that long. I've never seen it go on for that long.”

Blasi continued, “Yaupon is a special horse. It was a great win for him. Jackie's Warrior gave another game effort. He's a special talent. The horse he beat [Life is Good] is as well. You saw how they separated themselves from the rest of the field, and that just goes to show you the class and the quality of those two horses. It was a great race. Jackie is so consistent. At one turn he's back to doing what he wants to do.”

Midnight Bourbon came back from a near-fall in the GI Haskell S. to just miss to champion Essential Quality (Tapit) in the Travers.

“It was by far the best race of his career,” Blasi said. “We were a little bit unlucky to lose, but that horse [Essential Quality] is a champion. Once that horse gets by you, he's not going to let anybody pass him, and he proved that time and time again. Hats off to the winner, but our horse is definitely improving. I think with the time that they ran and how they came home in the last quarter, you have to have quality to be able to do that.”

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Asmussen Still Smiling After Travers Day Wins With Yaupon, Jackie’s Warrior

Steve Asmussen was already back on the road scouting for new talent at the Texas yearling sales on Sunday morning, but there still were plenty of bright smiles lighting up the barn of the Hall of Fame trainer in the wake of Saturday's back-to-back wins in the $600,000 Grade 1 Forego by Yaupon and the  $500,000 Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial by Jackie's Warrior, followed by Midnight Bourbon's runner-up finish in the $1.25 million Runhappy Grade 1 Travers Stakes at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

“I was so proud of how our horses ran yesterday. It was a great day of racing,” said Scott Blasi, Asmussen's longtime assistant. “To win two Grade 1s in a row at Saratoga on Travers Day is a great feeling. There are certain days of the year that are incredibly competitive. There's Derby Day, Preakness Day, Belmont Day, Travers Day, Breeders' Cup. With that level of quality racing, it's the best of the best. On those kinds of days to do well, it's a special feeling.”

At this stage of the season, the two fastest sprinters, arguably, in North America, are stabled in this barn.

J. Kirk and Judy Robison's Jackie's Warrior, who won the Grade 1 Hopeful at the Spa and the Grade 1 Champagne at Belmont in 2020, notched the first top-level victory of his sophomore season by beating the highly regarded Life Is Good in the ninth race on the 13-race card. In the eighth race, William and Corrine Heiligbrodt's Yaupon beat Firenze Fire in a race filled with drama.

As the two battled in deep stretch almost stride-for-stride with Yaupon to the inside under Ricardo Santana, Jr., Firenze Fire bared his teeth, turned his head to the left, and tried to savage his rival with no fewer than seven attempts. Afterward, Asmussen said that Firenze Fire was even trying to grab Santana.

“He [Yaupon] came out of it unscathed. No marks or anything. Luckily, Ricardo was able to continue to encourage him, although he was getting pretty close to the inside rail, which I was more worried about than the horse getting bit,” said Blasi. “I think it was a really hard thing for him [Jose Ortiz, up on Firenze Fire] to correct. The thing about it is those guys are riding hard, so they were going forward and it's not like you have the bit in their mouth. They're trying to persevere, and that's a hard to thing to correct when you're in that position. I've seen pictures of horses being savaged, and I've seen horses savage, or try to bite, but I've never seen any horse do it for that long. I've never seen it go on for that long.”

Blasi said even all that commotion could not dim the brilliance of these two sprinters.

“Yaupon is a special horse. It was a great win for him,” said Blasi. “Jackie's Warrior gave another game effort. He's a special talent. The horse he beat [Life is Good] is as well. You saw how they separated themselves from the rest of the field, and that just goes to show you the class and the quality of those two horses. It was a great race. Jackie is so consistent. At one turn, he's back to doing what he wants to do.”

The Heiligbrodts' Mitole won the 2019 Forego, the Breeders' Cup Sprint, the Grade 1 Met Mile at Belmont Park, and a fourth Grade 1 on the way to championship sprinter honors that year for the barn.

Does either Yaupon or Jackie's Warrior resemble Mitole?

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“They're just really fast horses and we've had some quality sprinters like Volatile [winner of the 2020 Grade 1 Vanderbilt at Saratoga] and Mitole. I mean they were great sprinters. These horses all have the same qualities. Both of these guys, you couldn't be any better to be around and to train. Yaupon and Jackie's Warrior are professionals,” said Blasi.

Though Winchell's homebred, Grade 3 winning Midnight Bourbon, didn't give Asmussen his first Travers victory, he finished only a neck behind 2020 Juvenile champion and Grade 1 Belmont Stakes winner Essential Quality.

“It was by far the best race of his career. We were a little bit unlucky to lose but that horse [Essential Quality] is a champion. Once that horse gets by you, he's not going to let anybody pass him, and he proved that time and time again. Hats off to the winner, but our horse is definitely improving. I think with the time that they ran and how they came home in the last quarter, you have to have quality to be able to do that,” Blasi said.

The effort is particularly gratifying considering his last race in the Grade 1 Haskell at Monmouth Park in July. That day he clipped heels with Hot Rod Charlie in the stretch and fell.

“I've got to give the credit to our team here. Everybody worked so hard on that horse after coming out of the Monmouth race. The whole barn did a great job getting him to come back around,” Blasi explained. “He was able to spend time in the round pen and we let him just be a horse up here in Saratoga, which is the great thing about Saratoga. You've got the environment. It's all good.

“I'm proud of how he acted going over to the paddock. We led the pony in front of him, which I think that made a big difference,” he continued. “He was a total professional yesterday. We really are happy with how he's progressing.”

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