Ollie's Candy | Horse Racing Free Tips

Classic: Next Two Works Will Determine Higher Power’s Status

Hronis Racing's Higher Power, third in last year's Breeders' Cup Classic (G1), continued his acclimation project at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky., on Sunday morning by working six furlongs in 1:12.80 in company over a fast main track.

Working with Mongolian Hero, Higher Power posted splits of :13, :24.60, :36.80, :48.20 and 1:01.20, galloping out seven furlongs in 1:26.60 under Juan Leyva, assistant to trainer John Sadler.

“He seems happy,” Leyva said. “He's got two works left and that will tell us if he is up to running in the Classic.”

Sunday's work was the third this month at Keeneland for Higher Power, who shipped in from Southern California to have plenty of time to settle in at Keeneland before his expected Breeders' Cup engagement Nov. 7.

A 5-year-old by Medaglia d'Oro, Higher Power hasn't won since his upset victory in the G1 Pacific Classic at Del Mar in 2019.

Sadler has two other Breeders' Cup hopefuls on the grounds: Hronis Racing's Chaos Theory for the Turf Sprint (G1) and Paul and Karen Eggert's Ollie's Candy for the Distaff (G1).

On Sunday morning, Chaos Theory worked a bullet half-mile in :47.80 over firm turf with a final quarter-mile in :22.40. It was his first work since finishing fourth in the Woodford (G2) Presented by TVG on Oct. 3.

Ollie's Candy, runner-up in the Juddmonte Spinster (G1) on Oct. 4, is scheduled to work in the next couple of days, according to Leyva.

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Higher Power Getting ‘Acclimated’ To Keeneland, May Audition For Classic In Fayette

Hronis Racing's Higher Power, third in last year's $6 million Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) at Santa Anita, could get an audition Saturday for this year's Classic to be run at Keeneland on Nov. 7.

“He may go in the (Hagyard) Fayette (G2) if he trains well or he could straight into the Classic,” said Juan Leyva, assistant to trainer John Sadler. “The main goal in coming here early was to get him acclimated. The last time he shipped was to Gulfstream Park (for the Pegasus World Cup Invitational-G1), and he didn't acclimate well at all.”

Entries for the Hagyard Fayette will taken Wednesday.

“It seems like he enjoys it here,” Leyva said of Higher Power, who worked 5 furlongs in 1:00 on Sunday.

Higher Power is a graduate of Keeneland's 2019 April Two-Year-Olds in Training and Horses of Racing Age Sale.

Leyva also said another Sadler runner, Karen and Paul Eggert's Ollie's Candy, runner-up in Sunday's Juddmonte Spinster (G1), remains on track for the $2 million Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) here Nov. 7. Ollie's Candy is to be offered during the prestigious Book 1 of the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale on Nov. 9.

“She had a rough trip Sunday,” Leyva said. “She was bottled up on the inside, where she doesn't like to be, and ate a lot of dirt. She made her move, but it was a little too late.”

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Valiance Earns Spot In Distaff With First Graded Win In Spinster

Prior to Sunday's Grade 1 Spinster Stakes at Keeneland, the only two times Valiance had competed on dirt in seven career starts for trainer Todd Pletcher were when races were taken off the turf because of wet conditions. She was 1-for-2 in those contests, most recently winning the Eatontown Stakes at Monmouth Park over a sloppy track.

Campaigning for Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Martin Schwartz and CHC Inc., Valiance had no trouble handling the dirt at Keeneland in the fall meet's biggest race for fillies and mares, the Spinster. In addition to its G1 status and $400,000 purse, the Spinster had the added benefit of being a Win and You're In Challenge Series race for the Breeders' Cup Distaff, to be run at the Lexington, Ky., track on Nov. 7 as part of the two-day world championships.

Coming from off the pace while kept in the clear by Luis Saez, Valiance battled past the 3-year-old Shedaresthedevil, winner of the G1 Kentucky Oaks, in a stretch duel, then held off a furious late charge from Ollie's Candy to win by three-quarters of a length.

Valiance, a 4-year-old Kentucky-bred daughter of Tapit out of G1 Madison Stakes winner Last Full Measure, by Empire Maker, stopped the timer in 1:49.76 and paid $14.80 for the win. She was bred by China Horse Club International Ltd.

Unlucky Ollie's Candy, with four consecutive narrow defeats in G1 races for trainer John Sadler, finished second, with 6-5 favorite Shedaresthedevil third. Completing the order of finish were Lady Kate, Saracosa and Our Super Freak.

Shedaresthedevil outhustled Lady Kate for the lead under Florent Geroux and set fractions of :23.62, :46.97 and 1:10.85 for six furlongs. Lady Kate was lapped to her outside much of the way, with Ollie's Candy tucked behind the leader along the rail and Valiance three paths off the rail and in the clear.

With Lady Kate still in pursuit of the leader on the turn for home, Valiance ranged up three-wide and took on the Oaks winner. Joel Rosario, aboard Ollie's Candy, had to bide his time behind the top pair before swinging off the rail when Lady Kate began to fade.

Valiance gradually edged past Shedaresthedevil and opened a clear lead in the final furlong, but Ollie's Candy began to eat up ground though came up short in the end.

The win was the sixth for Valiance in eight starts. She was purchased for $650,000 by Eclipse and Schwartz from the Bluewater Sales consignment at the 2017 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Yearling Sale.

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Oaks Winner Shedaresthedevil Takes On Older Rivals In Sunday’s Spinster

Qatar Racing, Flurry Racing Stables and Big Aut Farms' Shedaresthedevil will take on older horses for the first time Sunday when she heads a field of six fillies and mares in the 65th running of the $400,000 Juddmonte Spinster (G1) going 1 1/8 miles on the main track.

Slated as the ninth race on Sunday's 10-race program at Keeneland, the Juddmonte Spinster is a “Win and You're In” race for the $2 million Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) to be run here Nov. 7. First post Sunday is 1:05 p.m. ET with the Juddmonte Spinster going at 5:45 p.m.

Trained by Brad Cox, Shedaresthedevil brings a three-race win streak into the Juddmonte Spinster highlighted by her 15-1 upset in the Kentucky Oaks. Prior to that race, she won the Indiana Oaks (G3) by 5 lengths to mark her second Grade 3 victory of 2020.

Florent Geroux, who has been aboard for Shedaresthedevil's past three starts, has the call Sunday and will break from post position three. Geroux won the 2016 Juddmonte Spinster on I'm a Chatterbox.

Emollient in 2013 is the most recent 3-year-old to win the Juddmonte Spinster.

Chief among Shedaresthedevil's challengers is Karen Eggert and Paul Eggert's Ollie's Candy, who has raced exclusively in Grade 1 company in 2020.

Trained by John Sadler, the 5-year-old Ollie's Candy enters the Juddmonte Spinster off a runner-up effort in the Clement L. Hirsch (G1) at Del Mar, a race she won in 2019. Sunday's race will mark her third venture outside California this year, having posted a runner-up finish in the Apple Blossom (G1) at Oaklawn Park in April and a third, beaten a neck, in the Ogden Phipps (G1) at Belmont in June.

Joel Rosario has the mount and will break from post position two.

The field for the Juddmonte Spinster, from the rail out with riders and weights, is: Saracosa (Martin Garcia, 124 pounds), Ollie's Candy (Rosario, 124), Shedaresthedevil (Geroux, 121), Our Super Freak (Brian Hernandez Jr., 124), Valiance (Luis Saez, 124) and Lady Kate (Tyler Gaffalione, 124).

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