Tag: santa anita

Breeders’ Cup Sunday Bulletin: Baffert, Mott Runners On Track

Michael Lund Petersen's Adare Manor (Uncle Mo) tuned up for Saturday's GI Breeders' Cup Distaff with a four-furlong drill in :48.20 (22/69) Sunday at Santa Anita.

The 4-year-old comes into the Distaff with a string of four straight stakes victories, including a 5 1/4-length score in the Oct. 1 GII Zenyatta S., but will have to step up her game to win Saturday, according to trainer Bob Baffert.

“She'll be running against a different type of filly on Saturday,” Baffert said. “She's a big, fast filly and she has a great mind. But this will be a class test. Her last race was great, but this is a step up. To win this race, you need to have a really good horse and have real good luck. Winning these races is not easy.”

Also working for Baffert Sunday, GI Preakness S. winner National Treasure (Quality Road) went four furlongs in :47.40 (11/69) in preparation for the GI Dirt Mile.

“He looked good out there,” Baffert said. “I had him galloping out five furlongs in :59 and change. That last race seemed to wake him back up.”

National Treasure is coming off a fourth-place effort in the Sept. 30 GI Awesome Again S.


Baffert's GI F/M Sprint contender Eda (Munnings) went four furlongs from the gate in :47.40 (11/69) Sunday morning, while GI Juvenile contender Prince of Monaco (Speightstown) went five furlongs in 1:00.20 (5/61).

Also working for the F/M Sprint, trainer Steve Asmussen sent Society (Gun Runner) out to drill three furlongs in :37.40 (11/15) Sunday.

Godolphin's Mile contender Master of the Seas (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) went out for a routine canter Sunday, but ended up working four furlongs in an unofficially timed :49 2/5.

“Unfortunately that wasn't the plan,” said trainer Charlie Appleby's assistant Chris Connett. “All we wanted to do with him was go out for a steady canter, but he didn't have his hood on and unfortunately he took off with his rider. It was not quite what we hoped for or what was planned. We will now have to adjust his schedule accordingly with a quiet day tomorrow and he will definitely have the hood on him next time he's out on Tuesday morning.”

GI Breeders' Cup Sprint contender Dr. Schivel (Violence), coming off a win in the GII Santa Anita Sprint Championship, worked five furlongs in 1:00.80 (19/61) Sunday for trainer Mark Glatt.

Mott Runners Tune Up

Trainer Bill Mott sent out four Breeders' Cup hopefuls to work at Santa Anita Sunday.

George Krikorian's War Like Goddess (English Channel), prepping for the GI Breeders' Cup Turf, worked four furlongs in :49.80 (57/69).

“It was beautiful,” Mott said of the work. “Poetry in motion. She works on the dirt and she works in :49 or :50; that's all we want. You could see the rider was just letting her do it. She gets a lot out of working on the dirt, conditioning wise. She is fit enough.”

Also Sunday, Mott sent Casa Creed (Jimmy Creed) and Elite Power (Curlin) out to work four furlongs in company. Casa Creed, headed for the GI Mile, went in :46.40 (3/69), while Elite Power was credited with bullet :46.20 (1/69).

Of Casa Creed, Mott said, “We think he is a pretty good horse. In these turf races, it's all about the trip and the pace and position. You have to have the golden trip and you've got to get lucky. Everyone in there is a nice horse; probably half the horses in it could win it.”

Of Elite Power's attempt to defend his title in the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint next Saturday, Mott said, “I don't have any lack of confidence in him. Look, it's a horse race and he has to go over there and do it and have a good trip. I have no reason to believe he is not as good as he was last year.”

Elite Power had an eight-race win streak snapped when second behind Gunite (Gun Runner) in the Aug. 26 GI Forego S. last time out.

The Mott-trained Cody's Wish (Curlin), aiming for the GI Dirt Mile, went four furlongs in :47.20 (10/69) with assistant trainer Neil Poznansky in the saddle.

“He looked smooth as glass,” Mott said. “I was happy that he didn't go faster. Neil had him just right. Cody's Wish did it on the bridle. Passing the eighth pole, [Poznansky] released his hold and took his hand off the bridle a little bit and he finished up good and galloped out good.”

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Dettori Handed Three-Day Ban by Santa Anita Stewards 

Frankie Dettori has picked up a three-day ban for interference caused in the fifth race, a 2-year-old fillies' maiden, at Santa Anita Saturday. The jockey is suspended for Nov. 5, 10 and 11, though he is already banned from riding for the last two dates for overuse of the whip on British Champions Day at Ascot.

At Santa Anita, Dettori's mount Circle Of Trust (Union Rags) finished first past the post for trainer Philip D'Amato but was later disqualified and placed last after the stewards looked into an incident on the far turn, in which the filly drifted in, causing interference to Blue Oasis (War Front) and Motet (Mo Town). Blue Oasis, who was a length and a quarter back in second, was awarded the race.

An official ruling by the Board of Stewards at Santa Anita stated that Dettori's suspension for careless riding was incurred for “altering course without sufficient clearance into the far turn, causing interference resulting in the disqualification of his mount from first to eighth.”

Dettori, who bowed out from riding in the U.K. at Ascot on Oct. 21 with two wins, including his resounding success on intended Breeders' Cup runner King Of Steel (Wootton Bassett {GB}) in the G1 Champion S., picked up a combined suspension of 16 days for overuse of the whip on two of his mounts that day. That ban runs from Nov. 7 to 24, which has ruled him out of riding in the Melbourne Cup for Willie Mullins on the first day of that suspension. 

 

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Ushba Tesoro Impresses in Classic Drill

G1 Dubai World Cup winner Ushba Tesoro (Jpn) (Orfevre {Jpn}), prepping for the GI Breeders' Cup Classic, breezed four furlongs in a hand-timed :49 2/5 Sunday at Santa Anita. The Takagi Noboru trainee left the quarantine barn at 6:15 a.m., walking for 15 minutes until the track opened and then proceeded to the main track.

Allowed to ease into his work at the half-mile pole and around the far turn, he did not begin lengthening stride and quickening until turning for home, impressing onlookers down the lane and into a considerable gallop-out. He was given no official time on the work tab.

“Very good,” an all-smiles exercise rider Masa Fukami said  while taking eight laps of the parade ring in a cool down.


Ushba Tesoro has won seven of eight races since moving to the dirt, with his lone blemish coming off a five-month layoff on a sloppy track. The 6-year-old is seeking his seventh consecutive victory in the Classic, with two of those wins coming at the race's 10-furlong distance–the G1 Tokyo Daishoten last December and the World Cup in March.

“Moving to dirt helped him,” Noboru said through a translator. “The timing worked well and he grew up both physically and mentally from it. He was a difficult horse to control, but with dirt racing, everything matched him, I believe.”

In his lone start since the World Cup, Ushba Tesoro was an easy winner of the Nippon TV Hai over 1 1/8 miles at Funabashi, a tight-turned and left-handed track.

“The Breeders' Cup Classic is another big race and we are the challenger in here,” Noboru said. “He won at Kawasaki, which also [like Funabashi] has tricky tight bends. I don't think Santa Anita's turns will be a problem.”

Yuga Kawada, who was aboard for Ushba Tesoro's victories at Funabashi and Meydan, has the return assignment next Saturday. Kawada won the 2021 GI Breeders' Cup F/M Turf aboard Loves Only You (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}).

In other Classic news, GI Belmont S. winner Arcangelo (Arrogate) walked Sunday morning after a rear shoe was taken off Saturday afternoon.

“I pulled a left hind shoe off him,” trainer Jena Antonucci said. “And said, 'Let's just walk tomorrow. It's no sense in going to do that [gallop]. We've got lots of time.' Whether he kicked the wall or bruised it or hit it, I don't know. So we just pulled the shoe off and gave him a walk day to assess where we are at. He walked great this morning. I'm very happy with that. We'll assess it as we roll. He may gallop tomorrow. He may walk tomorrow. We'll stay fluid–lots of time. That's a good thing about a 10-day [breeze] schedule, you get lots of time.”

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The Week in Review: On Eve of Breeders’ Cup Entries, Sifting Through Subtleties

The five days between last Wednesday's pre-entries and Monday's official draw for the Breeders' Cup afford a brief window of opportunity to examine a few subtleties that emerged from the early version of the match-ups for this weekend's championships.

The decision by the connections of Practical Move (Practical Joke) to aim for the GI Dirt Mile instead of the GI Classic tops the list. The Classic, which lost Mage (Good Magic) and Geaux Rocket Ride (Candy Ride {Arg}) to illness and injury, respectively, over the weekend, lacks a standout favorite, and you'd have to think Practical Move (4-for-4 at Santa Anita) would have stood a decent shot had he also been pre-entered for that spot.

But considering the colt has had only one race (an Oct. 6 allowance romp at a mile) since winning the GI Santa Anita Derby, trainer Tim Yakteen thought it best not to dive into the deeper end of the pool, distance-wise.

“Ultimately, it boiled down to we only had the one race, and I wasn't confident in myself that I'd have him ready to go a mile and a quarter,” Yakteen told FanDuel TV's Christina Blacker on Friday.

“So we opted for the tougher race of the two,” Yakteen added with a slight laugh.

Yakteen was referring to “tough” in the sense that the Dirt Mile will be headed by defending champ Cody's Wish (Curlin), who projects as a formidable favorite.

“I think we sort of ran out of time, and I wanted to make sure that we were going to take on a distance that we had already proven ourselves at,” Yakteen continued. “The mile and a quarter was still an unknown, so we'll go the Gun Runner route, go in the [Dirt] Mile, and then hopefully come back in the Classic next year.”

Gun Runner, in 2016, ran second in the Dirt Mile when the championships were also held at Santa Anita. In 2017, he won the Classic. But Gun Runner didn't have to deal with a half-year layoff at age three. His connections had opted for the Dirt Mile after competing in the 10-furlong GI Kentucky Derby and then going 1-for-4 in other stakes through the summer.

The decision on where to run Practical Move more closely resembles that of Omaha Beach in 2019. In fact, the comparison is strikingly similar.

Four years ago, that Richard Mandella trainee won his final Derby prep at nine furlongs (the GI Arkansas Derby). Omaha Beach then was installed as the imposing morning-line favorite for the GI Kentucky Derby, but had to scratch several days before the race with an entrapped epiglottis.

It took Omaha Beach six months to get back to the races. Four weeks before the Breeders' Cup, Mandella spotted him in the GI Santa Anita Sprint Championship S. at six furlongs, which he won. Mandella then targeted the Dirt Mile instead of the Classic because of concerns over the colt's ability to be ready for a 10-furlong test off that single prep sprint. The Breeders' Cup was also at Santa Anita that year, where Omaha Beach was 2-for-2. He ended up second in the Dirt Mile as the even-money favorite.

Practical Move's sophomore season aligns with Omaha Beach's in that he, too, won his final Derby prep at nine furlongs (the Santa Anita Derby). And although he wasn't the morning-line fave for this past May's Kentucky Derby, he was among the top contenders, and also had to scratch just days before the Derby after spiking a temperature.

After a similar six-month layoff, like Omaha Beach, his trainer picked a Santa Anita race four weeks out from the Breeders' Cup. And like Omaha Beach, Practical Move won that prep.

Now he, too, will try the Dirt Mile instead of the Classic. Practical Move's connections will be hoping the similarities stop there and result in a win, which is something that neither Gun Runner nor Omaha Beach could deliver at Santa Anita after being entered in the shorter (but not necessarily easier) Breeders' Cup spot.

Also of note…

Undefeated 'TDN Rising Star' Tamara (Bolt d'Oro) figures to be the heaviest favorite on the Friday card of Breeders' Cup races for 2-year-olds. The GI Juvenile Fillies, however, hasn't been kind to the betting public's choice in recent runnings: The chalk has lost six of the last seven editions.

Trainer John Ortiz hedged a bit by pre-entering Brightwork (Outwork) in both the Juvenile Fillies and the GI Juvenile Turf Sprint. The thinking was that she's 4-for-4 around one turn on dirt, and the Juvenile Turf Sprint would keep her within her distance comfort zone, even though she's never tried the grass. As of Saturday though, Ortiz said he was leaning toward running on dirt in the two-turn Juvenile Fillies. It wasn't surprising that Ortiz gave Brightwork that dual option. But it did catch the eye how many other trainers of fillies were attracted to the Juvenile Turf Sprint: Fillies (13) actually outnumbered colts and geldings (11) in the pre-entries.

The Wine Steward (Vino Rosso) could end up as an overlaid sleeper in the GI Juvenile. Given the betting public's propensity for discounting New York-breds in major, open stakes, he could go off at double-digit odds even though he ran one of the more visually appealing 2-year-old stakes efforts in a losing try. The Oct. 7 GI Breeders' Futurity S. was The Wine Steward's first go around two turns, and he drew the rail while entering the race off a 3-for-3 record. He saved ground, advanced on the pacemakers to lead a quarter-mile out (over a short-stretch configuration), got accosted by the odds-on favorite, Locked (Gun Runner), then gamely snatched back the lead for a sixteenth of a mile in deep stretch before Locked re-rallied to nail The Wine Steward by half a length at the wire. Since The Wine Steward's two moves to the lead happened between chart calling points, they aren't evident in his running line. In addition, that Keeneland stakes was initially clocked in 1:45.06 for 1 1/16 miles, but was subsequently re-adjusted to 1:44.62, boosting every horse's initially assigned Beyer Speed Figure by as many as six points.

Speaking of Beyers, I still do a double-take every time I glance at the past performances for defending GI Filly and Mare Sprint victress Goodnight Olive (Ghostzapper). Yes, she really earned a 108 despite being beaten 2 1/2 lengths in the Aug. 26 Ballerina H. at Saratoga when second behind the now-injured Echo Zulu (Gun Runner), who ran a 112. It's not every day that you see a triple-digit Beyer that high in a losing effort, and it's an even rarer accomplishment for a filly or mare.

Four weeks ago in this column, I wrote about the devastating late run uncorked by More Than Looks (More Than Ready), who earned a 101 Beyer when throttling the field in the $200,000 Jefferson Cup at Churchill Downs. At that time, the 3-year-old colt's connections indicated they'd likely bypass the Breeders' Cup and instead point toward the Oct. 28 GIII Bryan Station S. at Keeneland, with a late-season goal of shipping west for the GI Hollywood Derby at Del Mar Dec. 2. Those plans changed Friday when More Than Looks scratched out of Saturday's Bryan Station as the 9-5 morning-line favorite, and instead worked a half-mile with the intent of heading to Santa Anita for the GI Mile once it became clear he wasn't still stuck on the alternates list. This upstart contender for trainer Cherie DeVaux could be getting scary-good at just the right time. Although short on experience, he has the right off-the-tailgate style for a Breeders' Cup race that historically eats up front-runners. Joel Rosario, who was aboard for Friday's work (and previously rode for this colt's maiden-breaking win in the spring) has reportedly committed to the mount in the Mile.

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