Oleksandra Works into Cup

Team Valor’s Oleksandra (Aus) (Animal Kingdom), who will be making her first start since winning the June 20 GI Jaipur S. when she goes postward in Saturday’s GI Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint, worked six furlongs in 1:14.04 (1/3) Sunday at Belmont Park.

“She’s doing very well,” said trainer Neil Drysdale. “She doesn’t need speed because she’s very fast. She worked in company behind another horse and started a half dozen lengths back and finished well.”

Oleksandra has worked six times on the Belmont main track this month, including a trio of half-mile breezes in close succession, ahead of a strong five-furlong effort in 1:01.58 last week.

“That was because of the layoff to get her fit,” Drysdale explained of the work pattern. “We gave her some small easy works and then we’ve only done two serious works–this one and the last one.”

Oleksandra won the GIII Buffalo Trace Franklin County S. over the Turf Sprint’s 5 1/2-furlong distance at Keeneland last October. The 6-year-old mare has made just two starts this term, finishing second in the May 25 GII Monrovia S. at Santa Anita before rallying from last to win the Jaipur last time out.

“She’s won down there [at Keeneland] and if it comes up a bit soft, she doesn’t mind,” said Drysdale.

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Turf Sprint: Drysdale Has Oleksandra Fit Off The Layoff

Hall of Fame trainer Neil Drysdale, currently overseeing a stable of six horses at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y., said last-out Grade 1 Jaipur winner Oleksandra looked sharp in her six-furlong breeze Sunday in 1:14.04 on Big Sandy in preparation for the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint.

“She's doing very well,” said Drysdale. “She doesn't need speed because she's very fast. She worked in company behind another horse and started a half dozen lengths back and finished well.”

The ultra-consistent Animal Kingdom mare, Team Valor homebred, sports a record of 15-7-3-3 with purse earnings of $537,353. She rallied from last to beat the boys in the six-furlong Jaipur on June 20.

Oleksandra has worked six times on the Belmont main since October 2, including a trio of half-furlong breezes in close succession, ahead of a strong five-furlong effort in 1:01.58 last week.

“That was because of the layoff to get her fit,” said Drysdale regarding the busy work pattern. “We gave her some small easy works and then we've only done two serious works – this one and the last one.”

Oleksandra won the Grade 3 Buffalo Trace Franklin County in October 2019 in her only start at Keeneland.

“She's won down there and if it comes up a bit soft she doesn't mind,” said Drysdale.

A six-time Breeders' Cup winner, Drysdale won the 1992 Belmont Stakes with A.P. Indy and added a Kentucky Derby win to his ledger in 2000 with Fusaichi Pegasus.

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Noble Mission’s Spanish Mission On Top In the Doncaster Cup

Tackling near two and a quarter miles for the first time, Team Valor and Gary Barber’s Spanish Mission (Noble Mission {GB}) excelled at the trip to win Friday’s G2 bet365 Doncaster Cup and stake his claim as a major player in the staying category. Always travelling easily in fifth for William Buick, the 6-4 favourite who had won the Aug. 20 Listed Chester S. after his move to Andrew Balding loomed alongside Selino (GB) (Champs Elysees {GB}) with purpose having already travelled two miles. Sent into the clear from there, he surged to a three-length success from that rival, with the long-time leader The Grand Visir (GB) (Frankel {GB}) four lengths adrift in third. “He was over-racing at stages, but he was never really doing too much,” Buick said. “He was always going to come into the race easily, it was just whether he’d see it out and he did see it out very well. He’s got that bit of class against these stayers, that turn of foot. That together with his stamina is a good combination. I’m sure all those races will be on his radar. Who knows, potentially next year he might even make up into a Gold Cup horse.”

Coming to the fore when beating that solid yardstick Nayef Road (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) by four lengths in Newmarket’s 13-furlong G3 Bahrain Trophy in July, Spanish Mission was third behind him in Goodwood’s G3 Gordon S. before annexing the Jockey Club Derby Invitational at Belmont in September. Second to this stable’s Dashing Willoughby (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) in Sandown’s G3 Henry II S. over two miles July 5, the bay was sixth on his final start for David Simcock in the July 28 G1 Goodwood Cup before his confidence-restoring three-length defeat of Selino on his bow for Kingsclere at Chester. Repeating that form to the exact margin here, he entered into the picture for the G2 QIPCO Long Distance Cup at Ascot. “That is really the only race for him if he is going to run again this year, but the ground might have gone too soft for him by then, so we’ll see,” Balding said.

The first foal out of the listed-winning dam Limonar (Ire) (Street Cry {Ire}) was the Listed Rose Bowl S. winner and G2 Gimcrack S. runner-up Mokarris (More Than Ready). She is a half-sister to the GI Shoemaker Mile winner Talco (Fr) (Pivotal {GB}) from the family of the G1 Irish 2000 Guineas hero Bachelor Duke (Miswaki) and the G1 National S.-winning sire Fatherland (Ire). Her 3-year-old filly Dame Iris (Medaglia d’Oro) is unraced, while her yearling colt by Mastery is due to sell on Thursday at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale. She has been bred to Uncle Mo this year.

Friday, Doncaster, Britain
BET365 DONCASTER CUP S.-G2, £80,000, Doncaster, 9-11, 3yo/up, 17f 197yT, 3:55.84, gd.
1–SPANISH MISSION, 131, c, 4, by Noble Mission (GB)
1st Dam: Limonar (Ire) (SW-Fr, $124,447), by Street Cry (Ire)
2nd Dam: Trylko, by Diesis (GB)
3rd Dam: Gossamer, by Seattle Slew
($125,000 Ylg ’17 KEESEP; 60,000gns RNA 2yo ’18 TATBRE). O-Team Valor LLC & Gary Barber; B-St Elias Stables LLC (KY); T-Andrew Balding; J-William Buick. £45,368. Lifetime Record: GISW-US, 12-5-2-2, $814,535. *1/2 to Mokarris (More Than Ready), SW & GSP-Eng. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Selino (GB), 131, g, 4, Champs Elysees (GB)–Air Kiss (GB), by Red Ransom. O-Qatar Racing Ltd; B-St Clare Hall Stud (GB); T-James Fanshawe. £17,200.
3–The Grand Visir (GB), 131, g, 6, Frankel (GB)–Piping (Ire), by Montjeu (Ire). (€750,000 Ylg ’15 ARAUG; 170,000gns 4yo ’18 TATAHI; £40,000 6yo ’20 GOFJAN). O-Andy Bell & Fergus Lyons; B-Qatar Bloodstock, Ecurie des Monceaux & Ecurie Skymarc Farm (GB); T-Ian Williams. £8,608.
Margins: 3, 4, HF. Odds: 1.50, 12.00, 10.00.
Also Ran: Revolver (Ire), Eagles By Day (Ire), Island Brave (Ire), Red Verdon. Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

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Oleksandra To Point For Troy, Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint Before She Is Offered At Auction

Team Valor International's Oleksandra came out of her Grade 1 victory over males in the Grade 1 Jaipur Stakes in good shape, except for a nick on a lower front limb as a result of runner-up Kanthaka bearing into her at the break.

Trainer Neil Drysdale has decided to leave her at Belmont Park instead of returning her to Southern California. She will point for the Grade 3 Troy Stakes going 5 1/2 furlongs on grass for a $200,000 purse on the Travers Stakes undercard on Aug. 8 at Saratoga.

The 6-year-old daughter of Animal Kingdom may have one more race before contesting the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint at Keeneland.

“That will be her last race for Team Valor,” said Barry Irwin of Team Valor International. “She will be offered for sale after the BC at an auction in Kentucky with an as-yet undetermined agent.”

William Nader of the Hong Kong Racing Club tendered an invitation to the mare for “the world's richest turf sprint on December 13” so it is possible the mare's new owner could race her there or in Dubai over the winter before sending her off to the breeding shed.

Oleksandra became the first Australian-bred to win a Grade 1 in North America since the Pattern Race scheme went into being in 1974.

Her 101 Beyer Speed Figure was bettered on Saturday's Belmont Stakes card only by runaway Grade 1 Acorn Stakes winner Gamine.

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