From Breeders' Cup Press Release
Animal Spirits – The Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf contender walked the shedrow Tuesday morning in the same barn that housed 2010 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Blame. Trainer Al Stall Jr. said the 2yo son of Arch came out of his Monday morning work of 4f in 49 1/5 fine.
“Being a younger horse with only two races under his belt, I put him in company with Trading Paint and put him on the inside to get him every little bit of seasoning he could possibly get,” Stall explained.
“Robby (Albarado) was in the saddle and said we’re right on schedule. He said he shied away from the purple signage along the rail, but that’s what these young horses will do and he was under the lights. So he was just in company to get around there and get a little more seasoning. He looked good this morning, too.”
Animal Spirits, winner of the Bourbon Stakes at Keeneland on Oct. 9, will return to the racetrack to gallop Wednesday.
Caspar Netscher – Alan McCabe’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf contender Caspar Netscher went out to the main track Tuesday and cantered a couple of circuits before heading back to the barn. McCabe said that he was very pleased with the condition of his charge and plans to do a slightly stronger canter Wednesday.
Daddy Nose Best – Bob and Cathy Zollars’ 2yo son of Scat Daddy has only one win from five career starts, but according to trainer Steve Asmussen, the 30-1 shot shouldn’t be discounted from Saturday’s Juvenile Turf.
“We’re happy he got in (to the race) and I’m very anxious to run him on Saturday,” Asmussen said.
A maiden winner two starts back over the Saratoga turf, he last finished a late- closing third last out in the Summer Stakes.
“The Summer was a strong prep for this race last year (producing winner More Than Real), so we feel good about our chances,” Asmussen said. “I think he ran well in the Summer, but I also think he can run better than that. We had him entered at Saratoga a week earlier than he broke his maiden and he was excluded and didn’t get to run.
“Running him and breaking the maiden a week later going into the Summer had him flatter than we wanted. I think that week would have been very important to him, to get there and get settled in.
“I think that’s why he was so flat early in the race,” he continued. “There wasn’t much pace. He gave himself a tremendous amount to do, and he still loped up there for third. I think he’s a horse that’s capable of more acceleration and a sharper race.”
Julien Leparoux, who has been aboard for the colt’s last three starts, gets the return call on Saturday.
Fantastic Song – Trainer Chad Brown sent the Lemon Drop Kid colt out for a routine 1 3/8 m gallop Tuesday morning.
“He will gallop into the race,” Brown said. “He’s pretty sharp right now.”
Farraaj – Farraaj, trained by Roger Varian went out on to the dirt Tuesday morning to get used to his new environment and walked a circuit of the track.
“It was all a bit new to him and he was having a good look around. It is slightly different to Newmarket,” said Varian.
Finale – Trainer Todd Pletcher was admittedly perplexed when this son of Scat Daddy failed to be a serious threat in his first two starts at Belmont Park. A trip to the turf quickly remedied that.
The 2yo colt responded with three consecutive victories on grass, two in minor stakes. He is 5-1 on the morning line in a full field of 14 despite drawing post 13. John Velazquez has the mount.
“That was the only post position we really weren’t too pleased with,” said Pletcher, who has nine other Breeders’ Cup entrants. “He may have a future. He worked the other day and went very well for a 2-year-old working with a horse like Sidney’s Candy. He was right there with him.”
Lucky Chappy, State of Play – Trainer Graham Motion’s two Juvenile Turf hopefuls both galloped 1m Tuesday morning at Churchill Downs.
Although their training schedules were similar, Team Valor International’s 2-year-olds are “very different horses,” according to their trainer.
“They are very different horses. Lucky Chappy is a very European type. He had a rough go last time in that he walked away from the gate – typical of the Europeans first time (in the U.S.). I don’t think he’ll do that Saturday. I thought he ran a very creditable race, actually, considering how much ground he gave up early.
“State of Play is very professional, very nice work horse in the morning. He’s a really good horse. He’s had sort of a mixed-up month getting here. It’s been disappointing but having said that, he’s had two very good works. I feel very good about running him.”
Lucky Chappy, who finished third in his U.S. debut after winning twice in Italy, will be ridden by Joel Rosario.
State of Play, who won twice at Saratoga to launch his career, will be ridden by Ramon Dominguez.
Majestic City – “We had a good schooling day today,” said trainer Peter Miller. “He jogged, stood in the gate and made a trip to the paddock.”
The chestnut son of City Zip has been listed as the 4-1 morning-line favorite in the Juvenile Turf and has drawn post 8.
“The eight-hole is just right,” said the trainer, who’ll be sending out his second Breeders’ Cup starter. “It will give our rider (Garrett Gomez) a perfect spot to survey the situation.”
Miller indicated that he was going to look into galloping his charge on the turf course Wednesday. His start in the Juvenile Turf will be his first on the grass after four earlier outings on synthetic surfaces in California and one at Keeneland.
“I don’t have much doubt he’ll handle the grass,” he said. “I worked him twice on it at Santa Anita and he went just fine.”
Tequila Factor – A three-time winner from six starts, the 2yo son of Pure Prize needs a scratch by Friday morning in order to draw into the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf from the also-eligible list. An undisclosed percentage of the colt was recently purchased from Coby Tresner by Darrell and Evelyn Yates, longtime clients of new trainer Wayne Catalano.
“The original owners were on the backstretch of Keeneland looking to sell part of the horse and take up some of the expense going into the Breeders’ Cup,” Catalano explained. “We did a little research on the horse and Mr. Yates didn’t mind taking a little shot to go to the Breeders’ Cup. The horse has won three races already, and shows he’s got some talent. The Yates’ enjoy racing, so they get to come down and have a good time. It would be nice if they got into the race.”
Should he get a chance to run on Saturday, Rafael Bejarano would be the jockey.
Breeders’ Cup World Championships, Nov. 4-5
$1 Million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (Grade II) 1 Mile (Turf)
Ann of the Dance – The daughter of 2007 Breeders’ Cup Turf winner English Channel was out on the racetrack early Tuesday morning with Heather Irion in the irons. The filly jogged to the wire and then galloped 1 ½ m.
“She’s doing great,” said Irion, assistant to trainer Marty Wolfson. “She’s very happy to be training. She’s doing so well. I wish the race was farther than a mile.”
Ann of the Dance, a 30-1 longshot in the field of 14, finished ninth last time out in the Alcibiades Stakes on Oct. 7 on the Polytrack at Keeneland. She was purchased privately by Farnsworth Stables after the Alcibiades and this will be her first start for her new connections.
Customer Base – Glen Hill Farm’s Customer Base, undefeated in two starts and coming into the Juvenile Fillies Turf off an allowance victory at Keeeland on Oct. 19, might be taking a significant step up in class against a field packed with graded stakes fillies, but trainer Tom Proctor sees potential in the daughter of two-time Breeders’ Cup Classic (1999-2000) runner Lemon Drop Kid.
“She’s a young filly, and hopefully, she’s got a nice career in front of her,” he said of the $170,000 yearling purchase at the 2010 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky sales.
Dayatthespa – The City Zip filly, trained by Chad Brown, galloped 1 3/8 m Tuesday morning.
In her debut at Saratoga Race Course, Dayatthespa won a 5 1/2f race by four lengths. On September 17 at Woodbine, she was second in the Natalma.
“She really looks good physically,” Brown said. “She’s got an excellent post (2). Ramon Dominguez knows her real well and I think she’s sitting on a good race.”
Elusive Kate – The 2-1 morning-line favorite cleared quarantine Tuesday morning and went out to the turf course at 9:30 a.m. for her first bit of exercise since shipping from Europe on Saturday. -MORE-
Owned by Magnolia Racing and Rachel Hood, the Elusive Quality filly, trained by John Gosden, brings a four-race winning streak into the Breeders’ Cup. In her last start, she won the Prix Marcel Boussac-Criterium de Pouliches on Oct. 2 at Longchamp.
Somali Lemonade – The undefeated Lemon Drop Kid filly made her first appearance over the Churchill Downs turf course Tuesday, having an easy gallop.
“She came out of her race at Keeneland (the Jessamine Stakes) well,” trainer Michael Matz said. “I don’t think the 14 post will hurt her. It’s her style to drop back and come from out it. As long as she doesn’t have to go too wide, she should be OK.”
Stephanie's Kitten – Surveyors of the work tab could look at Saturday’s 4f in 54 3/5 Churchill turf breeze logged by the 2yo filly Stephanie’s Kitten with a skeptical eye, but according to trainer Wayne Catalano, there is no cause for concern for this Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey Juvenile Fillies Turf contender.
“She went a little bit slower than I wanted, but we didn’t want to do too much and the grass was a little heavy,” Catalano explained. “She had the major work ten days before in that 59 move (Oct. 20 at Keeneland). This was just a maintenance half mile. She had a strong gallop (on Monday), and we made up for the slowish work.”
The daughter of Kitten’s Joy will once again be piloted by John Velazquez, who was aboard for her recent win in the Alcibiades.
Stopshoppingmaria/Sweet Cat – Both 2yo fillies were on the track for gallops Tuesday, their serious work having been finished over the weekend for trainer Todd Pletcher.
“They’ve both been doing well here,” said Pletcher, who had cross-entered Stopshoppingmaria in this race and the Juvenile Fillies. “She (Stopshoppingmaria) had a nice work over this turf course (Oct. 29). That sealed the deal. Plus, she’s a More Than Ready and we won two grass races in the Cup with his offspring last year (Pluck and More Than Real).”
Sweet Cat is a daughter of sire Kitten’s Joy owned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners. She finished second in the Jessamine at Keeneland in her last start on a yielding turf course.
Stopshoppingmaria, owned by Repole Stable, broke her maiden on the dirt at Saratoga by more than nine lengths, then was a non-threatening second to unbeaten Juvenile Fillies favorite My Miss Aurelia last time out in the Frizette.
Breeders’ Cup World Championships, Nov. 4-5
$500,000 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Sprint 6 Furlongs
Seeker – Installed as the 4-1 second choice for Friday’s inaugural running of the Sentient Jet Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Sprint, Winchell Thoroughbred’s son of Hard Spun swings back off a third-place finish in the Nashua, but trainer Steve Asmussen believes he has a lot more to give.
“I thought his maiden win at Saratoga was impressive and fast, and he did it really nicely,” Asmussen said. “The Nashua wasn’t exactly how we wanted it to unfold, but I didn’t think that he showed a lot of urgency that day. He went through the motions and was just kind of out there for exercise.
“More than the others (Breeders’ Cup horses), we’ve put a little more pressure on him since then, and I think he’s responded. We wanted him to be a little more forward and aggressive. In the Nashua, it looked like he was in the spot, but he wasn’t doing a lot to change his position himself.”
Julien Leparoux, who has been aboard the colt for all three of his starts, gets the return call on Friday.
Shumoos – Fawzi Abdullaa Nass’ colt cleared quarantine Tuesday morning and went to the main track at 6:30 a.m. for some light exercise.
Brian Meehan trains the filly, who is taking on males in the inaugural running of the Juvenile Sprint. Shumoos, a daughter of Distorted Humor out of a Storm Cat mare, will be making her first start on dirt after racing five times on turf and once on a synthetic surface.
Trinniberg – Hopeful Stakes and Nashua Stakes runner-up Trinniberg has worked twice at Churchill Downs since his mid-October arrival and will gallop up to the Juvenile Sprint according to owner Shivananda Parbhoo, whose father Bisnath Parboo trains the 2yo son of Teuflesberg.
“I think he’s adjusted to the Churchill surface better than (Breeders’ Cup Sprint starter) Giant Ryan, and Giant Ryan has taken to the track very well, so that tells you how good this horse has been doing,” Shivananda Parbhoo said.
“Since he’s a 2-year-old, we’ve never worked or trained him with another horse before. We didn’t want to put any real pressure on him,” Parbhoo said. “But after finishing second in his last two races, we thought we needed to change that. His last two breezes have been in company, and we’re really happy with what he has shown us.”
Trinniberg has also schooled several times at the gate since his arrival at Churchill.
“After his last race, the starter at Belmont told me I needed to take the horse to the gate; that when they were putting him in, he wanted to go under the gate,” Parbhoo said. “So that’s exactly what I’ve done. I’ve taken him to the gate three times since we’ve been here, and his last work was from the gate. And each time he’s been sharp.”
