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Champ Elite Power Likely To ‘Go Straight To Breeders’ Cup’ After Forego Second

Trainer Bill Mott reported that Juddmonte's reigning champion male sprinter Elite Power will likely train up to his Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) title defense following a runner-up effort in the Forego (G1) Saturday at Saratoga Race Course.

The chestnut 5-year-old son of Curlin entered the Forego from an eight-race winning streak, which included last year's Breeders' Cup Sprint as well as a victory in the last-out Alfred G. Vanderbilt (G1) on July 29 at Saratoga. In the Forego, he raced along the rail in third before launching an inside rally in the stretch to finish 1 3/4 lengths behind the victorious Gunite.

Mott said Elite Power would probably not target the $250,000 Vosburgh (G2) on Sept. 30 at Belmont at the Big A, a race he won last year en route to his Breeders' Cup accolade.

“He seemed fine,” Mott said of how Elite Power emerged from the Forego. “He'll more than likely go straight to the Breeders' Cup.”

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Ireland-Based Bolshoi Ballet To Return For Joe Hirsch Turf Classic, Breeders’ Cup

Bolshoi Ballet drew off to an impressive 4 1/2-length score in Saturday's Resorts World Casino Sword Dancer (G1) at Saratoga Race Course. The victory in the 12-furlong inner turf test for older horses provided Bolshoi Ballet with a “Win and You're In” berth to the Breeders' Cup Turf (G1) in November at Santa Anita Park.

Trained by Aidan O'Brien and piloted by Hall of Famer John Velazquez, the 5-year-old Galileo bay earned his second top-flight score on the NYRA circuit after taking the 2021 Belmont Derby Invitational (G1).

“He was good, wasn't he? I fancied him coming out here — he looked well,” said T. J. Comerford, traveling assistant for O'Brien.

The former O'Brien-trainee Stone Age, now in the care of Chad Brown, led at the five-eighths, but was no match for the vigorous run of Bolshoi Ballet, who was in command after 10 furlongs and in front by four lengths at the stretch call hitting the wire under a hand ride in a final time of 2:29.29 over yielding going.

The victory registered a career-best 107 Beyer Speed Figure – a 21 point improvement on his Belmont Derby score.

“He just kept it very simple,” said Comerford of the trip engineered by Velazquez. “He followed the pace and as the pace started to fall away, he took on Stone Age down the back and it was all easy from there. He just ran clear. I think he would be even better on a bit better ground.”

Comerford and Bolshoi Ballet will fly back to Ireland Sunday evening with a return trip for the $500,000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic (G1) on September 30 at Belmont at the Big A under consideration as a springboard to the Breeders' Cup.

Bolshoi Ballet, who was a dual Group 3 winner in his native Ireland as a sophomore prior to his Belmont Derby win, made only one start in 2022 before launching his comeback in April, coming into the Sword Dancer off a sixth-place finish at odds of 125-1 in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes (G1) July 29 at Ascot. He is campaigned by Westerberg, Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor, and Derrick Smith.

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‘We Didn’t Want To Bother Anybody’: One In Vermillion Departs Saratoga Before Dawn Sunday

Jonathan Kalman's One in Vermillion, who crossed the finish line first in H. Allen Jerkens Memorial (G1) Saturday after favorite New York Thunder fatally broke down on the lead near the the sixteenths pole at Saratoga Race Course, was shipped out before sunrise Sunday morning for the 20-hour van ride back to Canterbury Park in Shakopee, Minn.

Trainer Esteban 'Steve' Martinez said he pulled the van carrying his first graded stakes winner out of the upstate New York track at 4:45. a.m. (ET). They had been stabled in Barn 70 on the Oklahoma training track since Aug. 23.

“We wanted to leave early, before the track opened for training. We didn't want to bother anybody,” Martinez said. “It's been a smooth trip. The weather is good. We really enjoyed Saratoga. The people are very nice, and everyone was very good to us.”

One in Vermillion, a California-bred Army Mule colt who was a wire-to-wire winner of stakes at Turf Paradise and Sunland Park over the winter, was outrun in the early stages of the H. Allen Jerkens but was able to make a wide run late, pass the stricken colt, and cross the finish line as the official winner after starting at 19-1 odds.

“We tried to stay close, but it didn't happen. He didn't break the way we wanted, and we know there was a lot of speed in that race. [Jockey] Irad [Ortiz Jr.] did a great job on him. He just waited right there. We were happy with the way he ran,” Martinez said. “We are happy for the horse. I can't believe what happened. That horse was a great horse.”

Martinez said the short-term plan is to remain at Canterbury, where he has a 20-horse stable, until that track closes Sept. 16 and then head to Remington Park, which will host eight stakes September 24, including the Oklahoma Derby (G3) for 3-year-olds going 1 1/8 miles and David M. Vance for 3-year-olds and up sprinting six furlongs.

“So far, that's the plan,” Martinez said. “Maybe they'll let us stay a few more days after Canterbury and it's on to Remington.”

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Pletcher: Forte, Tapit Trice In Good Order After Travers; Next Starts TBD

Tapit Trice and Forte emerged well from their respective third- and fourth-place finishes in Saturday's Travers (G1), trainer Todd Pletcher reported Sunday.

“They're doing good,” Pletcher said. “Both of them looked well this morning.”

Whisper Hill Farm and Gainesway Stable's Blue Grass (G1) winner Tapit Trice, fitted with blinkers for the first time in the 154th Travers, found himself closer to the lead than he had been in recent starts despite breaking a step slow and was still within one length after one mile but was unable to catch the winner, Arcangelo, or Disarm, who rallied up the rail for second.

Ridden by Jose Ortiz, Tapit Trice wound up beaten 3 1/2 lengths. He also ran third by 1 1/2 lengths to Arcangelo in the Belmont Stakes (G1) June 10.

“He got a bit of a wide trip around the first turn, but he got involved and I thought he stayed on steadily through the lane,” Pletcher said. “It was a good third-place effort.”

Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable's Forte, the champion 2-year-old male of 2022 who went off as the 8-5 Travers favorite, broke from the rail but lost his inside position to Arcangelo early on and trailed each of his six rivals through the first quarter-mile of the Travers.

Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. was forced to swing well wide in an effort to make up ground, but Forte was unable close on the muddy main track and wound up 4 1/2 lengths behind his stablemate, beaten eight lengths for it all. Forte, who began the year with wins in the Fountain of Youth (G1) and Florida Derby (G1) at Gulfstream Park, finished second to Arcangelo in the Belmont and went into the Travers off a gutsy nose triumph in the Jim Dandy (G2) July 29 at Saratoga.

“It was kind of odd how things unfolded going into the first turn, that we ended up outside the eventual winner,” Pletcher said. “He kind of lost some position there and got shuffled all the way back to last, and then had to go wide to kind of get back involved and just kind of ran evenly from there.”

Pletcher indicated no decision has been made on where either of Tapit Trice or Forte will run next.

“Not yet,” he said. “We'll give it a few days to see how they are and come up with a game plan.”

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