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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