Wonder Wheel | Horse Racing Free Tips

Golden Pal Headlines Keeneland’s Friday Work Tab

Mrs. John Magnier, Derrick Smith, Michael Tabor and Westerberg's Golden Pal (Uncle Mo), undefeated in four prior starts at Keeneland, worked five furlongs in 1:03.80 as he completed his preparations toward defending his title in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint.

“Sometimes when you come up to a big event like the Breeders' Cup, you can get a little nervous and try to overdo things,” said trainer Wesley Ward. “But we are just sticking with the plan.”

Also working Friday for Ward was Stonestreet Stables's 'TDN Rising Star' Love Reigns (U S Navy Flag), who breezed five furlongs in 1:08 in anticipation of the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint.

Joining that pair on the work tab Friday morning was the D.J. Stable's owned and Marke Casse-trained duo of GI Darley Alcibiades S. winner Wonder Wheel (Into Mischief) and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf pre-entrant Webslinger (Constitution). Each worked a half-mile, with Wonder Wheel going in :48.40 on the dirt and Webslinger covering the same distance on the grass in :50.40.

Trainer Todd Pletcher sent out 'TDN Rising Star' Forte (Violence) and Lost Ark (Violence), both pre-entered in the GI FanDuel Breeders' Cup Juvenile S., to work in company–the pair went a half-mile in :48.80. Shortly after, Pletcher's two GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies entries, Chocolate Gelato (Practical Joke) and Atomically (Girvin), also went a half together in :49.80.

Manny Wah (Will Take Charge), trainer Wayne Catalano's GI Qatar Racing Breeders' Cup Sprint pre-entry, covered the same half-mile distance in :47.40.

Last seen taking down the GIII Iroquois S. at Churchill Downs Sept. 17, Curly Jack (Good Magic) had his first timed workout over the Keeneland track Friday, going a half-mile in :49.80.

“This is his last work going into the race,” said trainer Tom Amoss. “I know the big question on everyone's mind is the time between races and how he will respond to that. I am very comfortable with that. Today's work was designed to be an easy half-mile with a good gallop out. We got just that.”

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Into Mischief’s Wonder Wheel Holds on in Alcibiades

D.J. Stable's Wonder Wheel (Into Mischief) cleared off and kept finding late to take Keeneland's “Win and You're In” GI Darley Alcibiades S. as the tepid 4-1 favorite. An impressive debut winner at Churchill Downs in June, the $275,000 KEESEP yearling dominated that venue's early season juvenile fillies centerpiece–the July 4 Debutante S.–before heading north to Saratoga. She was favored at 7-5 in the GI Spinaway S. on the Spa's closing weekend, but settled for second behind longshot Leave No Trace (Outwork), who returned to be third in last week's GI Frizette S.

Wonder Wheel, meanwhile, prepped for this two-turn test with a :59 1/5 bullet breeze over the Belmont training track Sept. 24, and flashed that same speed while breaking from the rail here to emerge from an early scramble for position around the first bend. She clicked off opening splits :23.49 and :47.16, and was several lengths clear after six furlongs in 1:11.60. Three rivals began to bear down on her and Wonder Wheel briefly looked to be in deep water, but when she switched leads belatedly, that gave her the burst she needed to deny Chop Chop (City of Light) by a nose in 1:45.17. Raging Sea (Curlin) and Xigera (Uncle Mo) crossed the wire third and fourth, respectively, but their positions were flipped by the stewards due to interference.

“She had a great trip today; she had a little bit of a troubled trip [in the Spinaway]. And in all honesty, the Spinaway is a big race–it's a Grade I, but it wasn't my main goal,” said trainer Mark Casse, who was celebrating his fourth Alcibiades win. “Today was it, and hopefully this will lead us into another big race coming up. She ran well, had a great trip. Some others maybe struggled and didn't, but I do think she probably lost focus a little. She would surprise me if she couldn't get a really good mile and a sixteenth. So maybe this race moves her up.”

The Green family's D.J. Stable will be seeking a second GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies trophy, having campaigned 2018 heroine and Eclipse champion Jaywalk (Cross Traffic).

“I want to thank [Len and Lois] Green and Mark Casse for giving me this opportunity,” said winning rider Tyler Gaffalione. “They've been so instrumental in my career and getting me to this point. I'm so thankful for them. This filly, she came out here and did everything right today. We always thought she had a lot of class and she really showed it today. She put in a really big performance. Visually, [the win] doesn't look as easy as it should, but she kind of just got lost coming into the stretch and there were a lot of people in the stands today, so she had every excuse.”

Friday, Keeneland
DARLEY ALCIBIADES S.-GI, $497,337, Keeneland, 10-7, 2yo, f,
1 1/16m, 1:45.17, ft.
1–WONDER WHEEL, 122, f, 2, by Into Mischief
                1st Dam: Wonder Gal (MSW & MGISP, $904,800),
                                by Tiz Wonderful
                2nd Dam: Passe, by Dixie Union
                3rd Dam: Gal On the Go, by Irgun
1ST GRADED STAKES WIN, 1ST GRADE I WIN. ($275,000 Ylg
'21 KEESEP). O-D. J. Stable LLC; B-Three Chimneys Farm, LLC &
Clearsky Farms (KY); T-Mark E. Casse; J-Tyler Gaffalione.
$275,125. Lifetime Record: 4-3-1-0, $510,725. Werk Nick
   Rating: A++. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Chop Chop, 122, f, 2, by City of Light
                1st Dam: Grand Sofia, by Giant's Causeway
                2nd Dam: Sweet Trip, by Carson City
                3rd Dam: Stellar Affair, by Skywalker
1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE, 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. ($230,000 Ylg
'21 FTKJUL). O-Selective, LLC; B-Cobra Farm & MRJ
Thoroughbreds (KY); T-Brad H. Cox. $88,750.
3–Xigera, 122, f, 2, by Nyquist
                1st Dam: Argent Affair (SW, $154,895), by Black Tie
                                Affair (Ire)
                2nd Dam: Caty's Quest, by Norquestor
                3rd Dam: Cataque, by Clever Trick
1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE, 1ST G1 BLACK
TYPE. ($190,000 Ylg '21 KEESEP). O-Rigney Racing, LLC;
B-Cedar Hill LLC (KY); T-Philip A. Bauer. $44,375.
Margins: NO, NK, 3. Odds: 4.10, 6.90, 8.81.
Also Ran: *Raging Sea, Sabra Tuff, Mustang Lady, Boss Lady Bailey, Fun and Feisty, Stellar Lady, Take Charge Briana, Kaling, Essaouira, Just Cindy, Infinite Diamond. *DQ'd from third and placed fourth. Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

Pedigree Notes:

Wonder Wheel becomes her super sire's 55th graded winner and 12th highest-level scorer. She is the first Grade I winner (fifth graded) out of a mare by precocious MGSW Tiz Wonderful.

Dam Wonder Gal was precocious enough to take her debut in 2014 by 14 1/2 lengths in Belmont's Lynbrook S. for state-breds. She finished second in the Frizette and third in the Juvenile Fillies later that year. Hailing from the extended family of GISW turfer Force the Pass (Speightstown), Wonder Gal lost her Into Mischief foal the year after producing Wonder Wheel and was subsequently barren to Constitution.

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Keeneland Opens With a Trio of Breeders’ Cup Qualifiers

Keeneland opens its highly anticipated fall meet Friday with a trio of graded stakes that each provide the winners with a spot in the gate for the Breeders' Cup World Championships to be held in Lexington the first weekend of November.

The highlight of the day will be the GI Darley Alcibiades S., a qualifier for the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. Ken McPeek and Brad Cox have taken turns the last few years, each winning two of the last four, and McPeek has the morning-line favorite in last-out GIII Pocahontas S. winner Fun and Feisty (Midshipman).

McPeek also saddles longshot Stellar Lady (Shackleford), who broke her maiden on grass last out at Kentucky Downs Sept. 8. The aforementioned Cox also saddles a grass filly in unbeaten Chop Chop (City of Light), who enters off a win in the Kentucky Downs Juvenile Fillies S. Sept. 3.

DJ Stable's Wonder Wheel (Into Mischief) will likely challenge Fun and Feisty for favoritism. Opening her account with a pair of wins including a dominant score in Churchill's Debutante S. in July, the dark bay checked in second in Saratoga's GI Spinaway S. Sept. 4.

Chad Brown sends out one worth a look at a price in Alpha Delta Stables homebred Raging Sea (Curlin). She rallied to victory in her debut going seven panels at Saratoga Aug. 7. Both her running style and her pedigree suggest she will only improve with more distance.

Juvenile grass fillies get their chance to secure a spot in the Breeders' Cup starting gate one race earlier in the GII J.P. Morgan Chase Jessamine S. Chop Chop would have been favored in this event, but now that will likely go to Towhead (Malibu Moon), who came up a nose short of that foe in the Kentucky Downs Juvenile Fillies S.

Jonathan Thomas saddles a live on in Augustin Stable's Delight (Mendelssohn). The $400,000 OBSMAR buy earned her diploma at Delaware last out Aug. 27 after a pair of thirds in her first two tries.

G. Watts Humphrey's Bling (American Pharoah) took a huge step forward when switched from dirt to turf in her second start at Ellis Aug. 20, earning her diploma by 3 3/4 lengths.

Also worth a look at what is sure to be a juicy price for bettors is NY-bred Recognize (Bolt d'Oro). Her freshman sire now has two graded winners on turf and her Hall of Fame conditioner Bill Mott is known for his patience and ability to get horses to peak at the right time. The bay graduated by 5 1/4 lengths at third asking against fellow Empire-breds at Saratoga in Aug. 18 and checked in third after setting the pace in that venue's P.G. Johnson S. Sept. 1.

Rounding out Friday's Breeders' Cup qualifiers is the GII Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix S. for male sprinters. With champion Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music) and Cody's Wish (Curlin), who defeated the divisional leader in the GI Forego S., waiting for the first weekend in November, this event lacks star power. However, the horse who may be improving at just the right time is Sibelius (Not This Time), who enters off a pair of strong victories and triple-digit Beyers, including the Lite the Fuse S. at Pimlico Sept. 10, for which he warned a 106 Beyer Speed Figure.

Special Reserve (Midshipman) captured this event last year, but could only manage fourth in the Breeders' Cup. Off the board in his seasonal debut in the DeFrancis Memorial Dash July 16, he wired the Senator Robert C. Byrd Memorial S. in the slop at Mountaineer last out Aug. 6.

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Juvenile Fillies Take Centerstage at the Spa Sunday

A talented field of 10 juvenile fillies will throw down in Sunday's featured GI Spinaway S. at Saratoga.

Kaling (Practical Joke) will exit from the rail following a 'TDN Rising Star' performance on debut for Todd Pletcher at the Spa July 24.

Pletcher's former boss D. Wayne Lukas will be very well-represented as well via last out GIII Adirondack S. Aug. 7 heroine Naughty Gal (Into Mischief). The duo share a co-leading six Spinaway victories.

“I enjoy it and I pull for him,” Lukas said of facing the aforementioned fellow Hall of Fame trainer. “Let's just hope that we keep it in the family. On numerous occasions when we've been in the same field and they're turning for home, if it doesn't look like we can win my wife and I both will start hollering for Todd. That's a very satisfying thing.”

Just Cindy (Justify), unbeaten heroine of the GIII Schuylerville S. on opening day, breaks one to the outside of the latter in post five.

Wonder Wheel (Into Mischief), recently profiled in these pages, is also perfect in two attempts, last seen running away with Churchill's Debutante S. July 4.

Sunday's other graded action includes: Del Mar's 'Win and You're In' GIII Green Flash H. for turf sprinters, featuring the race's defending winner and 2021 GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint runner-up Lieutenant Dan (Grazen); and the GIII Torrey Pines S. for 3-year-old fillies.

Last out GII National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame S. winner Ready to Purrform (Kitten's Joy), meanwhile, headlines the $750,000 GIII Big Ass Fans Dueling Grounds Derby at Kentucky Downs.

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