Breeders Cup World Championships Friday, Nov. 2 and Saturday, Nov. 3 Saturday Notes Saturday, Nov. 3, 2018 Contact Notes Team: 859-250-0358 CLASSIC Accelerate The wait is over for highly respected trainer John Sadler, but he wasn t all that interested in talking about winning his first Breeders Cup race after years of trying. Zero for 44 tries was a thing of the past, and Sadler wants to leave it there. Instead, he was talkin horses. And, though his Classic champion Accelerate was the centerpiece of the day-after morning, he covered all the ground about the ground his four Breeders Cup prospects covered during Saturday s closing day of the Breeders Cup weekend. As for what the future holds for 5yo Accelerate, he was scheduled to be vanned to Lane s End Farm where he ll get some R & R and be shown to prospective breeders as a future stallion. You know the John Sadler human-interest story is a good line but this needs to be about the horse, Sadler said. I hope people will zero in on his campaign five Grade 1 victories with four at the classic distance of a mile and a quarter and usually carrying high weight. He showed [in the Classic] with horses from around the world, that he was the best horse. He had a great campaign and we re very proud of that. He s really a champion. Following his screen test, Sadler said, Accelerate will be returned to the trainer s Southern California barn to be prepared for what figures to be his final race before going to stud the $9 million Pegasus Handicap at Florida s Gulfstream Park Jan. 26. As for how Accelerate exited the Classic, Sadler said he looked very good Sunday morning. We jogged him up and down the road [outside Churchill Downs Barn 43] and he looked very sound and happy. While Accelerate brought Sadler a rosy outlook on Saturday, there were some thorns. Chief among that category was the off-the-board finish by highly regard Catalina Cruiser in the Dirt Mile as the favorite. We ll get him home to California and give him a full vetting and see what s going on. That was a disappointing run for him yesterday, but the plan is to campaign him at five (in 2019) and you ll see better of him going forward. We scoped him after the race and he came back clean [no bleeding]. Drayden [jockey Drayden Van Dyke] said he was in a good position around the turn but then started to lug out a little bit and didn t really kick in. At that point, he didn t force him or beat him up. He s a lightly raced horse [five starts] so we ll check him out and get ready for another day. While not reaching to blame the track as not being ideal for Catalina Cruiser, Sadler did say that jockey Tyler Baze indicated that could have been a reason for the performance of the speedy Selcourt in the Filly & Mare Sprint. Tyler said the ground kind of broke away from her.
Even though she was in front maybe going a little fast Tyler said the filly just didn t act upon this track. Sadler said the filly appeared fine Sunday morning. She goes into the Fasig-Tipton November sale in Lexington Sunday night. She could return to Sadler if she doesn t make her sale price, the trainer said. Sadler beamed while talking about Catapult s runner-up finish in the Mile. We re really proud of him. It was a very good second. He handled the yielding turf really well. He s been a really good horse. He won two nice stakes at Del Mar and he got beat by Sir Michael Stoute [Expert Eye] so that puts him in good company. He ll probably run next in the $7 million Pegasus Turf (Jan. 26). Sadler, who saddled his first Breeders Cup starter in 1988 at Churchill Downs, earned his victory in the World Championships with Accelerate who was his 45 th starter. It feels great, but as a trainer you are always looking ahead, Sadler said. There are a lot of ups and downs in this game and yesterday got off to a bumpy start (with Selcourt finishing 12 th in the Filly & Mare Sprint). Accompanying Selcourt to Lexington was Hronis Racing s Shenandoah Queen, who finished fourth in the Chilukki Saturday in the race after Accelerate s Classic victory. She is scheduled to be sold at Keeneland on Monday. Gunnevera Trainer Antonio Sano reported that Margoth s Gunnevera exited his second-place finish in Saturday s Breeders Cup Classic in good order. The 4yo son of Dialed In is scheduled to ship back to Sano s Gulfstream Park West barn Monday morning. We will run him in the Pegasus, said Sano, referring to the Pegasus World Cup Invitational at Gulfstream Park Jan. 26. Gunnevera rated well off the early pace in the Classic before making a move on the turn into the stretch under jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. and continuing on through the stretch to come within a length of victorious Accelerate at the finish. I m very proud of my horse, Sano said. He ran a very good race. Gunnevera increased his career bankroll to $4.1 million with second money of $1,020,000. Thunder Snow Godolphin s Dubai World Cup winner and Breeders Cup Classic third-place finisher Thunder Snow is scheduled to return to his winter base in Dubai on Thursday to prepare for a Dubai World Cup defense. Yoshida Ten-time Breeders Cup-winning conditioner Bill Mott gave the thumbs up on the condition of Classic fourth-place finisher Yoshida on Sunday morning. He came out well, Mott confirmed. Yoshida, a G1 winner on turf and dirt, will point to a 5yo campaign. LONGINES DISTAFF Monomoy Girl It was business as usual around the Brad Cox barn Sunday morning, one day after capping their banner year with a Longines Breeders Cup Distaff victory by Monomoy Girl. Cox reported that his star filly, who is all but assured the 3yo filly championship after her win Saturday, came out of the race well and would be given a few days to relax and
chill before any future plans are made. Cox said she would race again as a 4yo with the ultimate goal being a return trip to the Breeders Cup at Santa Anita. Sent off as the $1.80-to-1 favorite, Monomoy Girl tracked pace setter Wonder Gadot through fractions of :23.39 and :47.57 for the first half-mile, shifted into the three path entering the lane and took over the lead before drawing off to win confidently by a length over Wow Cat. I was confident going in just by the way she was training, Cox said. And, for the most part the race was uneventful. She can sometimes make the ending interesting with her antics, but she was doing it the right way. She was sitting off another filly, which I liked and when they slowed it down the backside, I thought, she can handle this. She was just cruising around the turn and I could see other horses were coming under a ride. At the three-eighths pole, I was mainly watching her, but I kept glancing back and I could see that Abel Tasman was backing out of it. When they straightened up, I had never seen my filly turn for home that loaded and I was like Wow. (Jockey) Florent (Geroux) never hit her. When they got to the eighth pole, I kept thinking stay straight, you ve got this. It was a big effort. I can t say enough about the filly and what she s accomplished this year. In most years, both Breeders Cup Classic winner Accelerate and Monomoy Girl would be top contenders for Horse of the Year, but are likely to lose the title to Triple Crown winner Justify, who was retired undefeated after the Belmont Stakes in June. With what he accomplished, in such a short amount of time, he deserves Horse of the Year, Cox said. Someone did tell me that they thought that Monomoy Girl s campaign was the most impressive by a 3-year-old filly since Rachel Alexandra. I m not saying it was, but that was a pretty big compliment. In addition to Monomoy Girl, Cox also finished fourth in the Longines Turf with Arklow, fifth in the Turf Sprint with Will Call and fifth in Filly & Mare Sprint with Golden Mischief. I need to get with the owners first to see if Arklow stays in training or gets a break and Will Call will get a break, Cox said. The goal with Will Call is to get him back to the form he showed at Keeneland in April and Churchill in May. Golden Mischief has been retired. Blue Prize Trainer Ignacio Correas IV said Blue Prize came out of her fourth-place finish in Saturday s Breeders Cup Distaff in good shape. She broke a touch late, but I don t think that made any difference, he said. I think she tried to win the race and that cost her the second (as she tired a bit in deep stretch). I m very happy with the race, and very proud of the way she ran, he said. As for future plans for Blue Prize, nothing is set yet. I don t know if she s going to race or if they (owner Merriebelle Stables LLC) are going to retire her. She s going to rest, I assume that. She s only 5 and she s going to be 5 until the middle of next year (being a Southern Hemisphere-born horse, he said. Usually these Argentinian horses do better at 6 than 5. She s still young. Wonder Gadot Future racing plans have not been determined for the pacesetter in the Breeders Cup Distaff. Gary Barber s 3yo daughter of Medaglia d Oro finished ninth in the Distaff, 10 ¾ lengths behind Monomoy Girl.
Trainer Mark Casse said throughout Breeders Cup week that the Canadian champion 2yo filly has shown exceptional energy. He said he had considered giving her time off several times this past year but opted instead to keep her racing. She felt great this morning and came out of the race really well, assistant trainer Nick Tomlinson said. She has taken me places I never thought I would go. We could never be disappointed in her. There are not a lot of horses that can do what she has done. She has danced every dance and run with the best of the best. We will wait and see what we do from here. EUROPEAN REPORT All the European horses that contended this year s Breeders Cup at Churchill Downs were reported to be in good health after their exertions Saturday. The first to leave Churchill Downs will be the team from Ballydoyle. They will be heading off to Chicago this morning before flying out tonight. All will be returning to Ireland with the exception of Clemmie who will remain in America. Most of the Ballydoyle runners have finished for the season, but Mendelssohn, Magic Wand, Gustav Klimt and Hunting Horn could well be heading to Hong Kong next month for the International Races Dec. 9 as to which ones will head out east is still not known and a decision will not be made until the end of the month. The French horses also are heading off to Chicago today, but will have an overnight stop before flying back to France in the morning. Talismanic holds engagements in The Hong Kong Cup and Vase, but his participation is not yet known and trainer Andre Fabre will not make a decision until the horses have returned back to Chantilly from America. The owners of Waldgeist have not yet decide on his future path. Fabre believes that the horse will be a bigger and stronger horse when he is a 5yo but is not sure if there will be any more improvement in him. Racing manager Gary Coffey for his owners said: I will have to speak to Andre Fabre before we will make an announcement. Champion mare Enable, who created history by becoming the first horse to win a Breeders Cup race and a Prix de l Arc de Triomphe in the same season pleased trainer John Gosden this morning when he went to see the daughter of Nathaniel. She is absolutely fine this morning Gosden said. A decision as to whether Enable remains in training will be made later. Gosden also reported his Breeders Cup Classic runner Roaring Lion to be in fine fettle. The son of Kitten s Joy will now have a well-earned rest before going off to stud. Another of Qatar Racing s horses has run his last race. Lightning Spear (Mile), who has been David Simcock s stable star for the past couple of seasons, will now start his career as a stallion along with Roaring Lion at Tweenhills. Queen of Bermuda, who pleased trainer William Haggas, with her fourth place in the Breeders Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint, will not be flying back to England and will resume her career in the United States under the guidance of Graham Motion. One Master (Mile), also trained by Haggas, is still a possible for the Hong Kong Mile in December. The Mackem Bullet, also has run her last race for trainer Brian Ellison. She will now headed off to the barn of Wesley Ward. The Black Album (Juvenile Turf) will stay in Churchill Downs under the guidance of Rodolphe Brisset and Princess Yaiza (Filly & Mare Turf) will go to the barn of Christophe Clement.
BOB BAFFERT REPORT Game Winner s victory in Juvenile on Friday gave the Hall of Fame trainer his 15th Breeders Cup victory. He ranks second on the career list behind D. Wayne Lukas record 20. Gary and Mary West s unbeaten son of Candy Ride was the most successful of Baffert s seven runners. All came back well, Baffert via text before leaving on an early-morning flight to California from Louisville. Baffert s top assistant Jimmy Barnes said the all of the stable s runners at Churchill Downs will ship back to Santa Anita Park on Monday. Game Winner, the even-money favorite won by 2¼ lengths. He is Baffert s fourth Juvenile winner and first in the race since the New Year s Day, also owned by the Wests, won in 2013. Perfect after four career starts, Game Winner, has three Grade 1 victories and earnings of $1,506,000. Two Juvenile winners have gone on to win the Kentucky Derby, Street Sense (2006) and Nyquist (2015). Marley s Freedom, the 9-5 favorite in the Filly and Mare Sprint, ended up as the unlucky outsider, fourth by a half-length in a blanket finish in the 7f race. Shamrock Rose was the winner in the thriller that was decided by margins of a head, neck and a head. Marley s Freedom started from post 13 and had a wide trip under jockey Mike Smith. In the Classic, West Coast was seventh and McKinzie was 12th in the field of 14. It was first time either colt failed to finish in the top three in a race. West Coast and McKinzie both attended the early fast pace set by Mendelssohn and weakened in the later stages of the 1¼m Classic. Vale Dori was 10th and Abel Tasman was last in the 11-horse Distaff. Speedy Vale Dori had trouble early in the race, which prevented her from getting to the front, where she is most effective. Abel Tasman, the runner-up in the 2017 Distaff, was in a stalking position going up the backstretch under Mike Smith, but could not continue to challenge. Much Better finished last in the field of 14 in the Juvenile Turf. The Pioneerof the Nile colt broke his maiden on dirt, was second in a turf stake in California and was given another test on grass in the Breeders Cup. MAKER S MARK FILLY & MARE TURF Sistercharlie Trainer Chad Brown confirmed Sunday morning that his nine Breeders Cup Saturday horses came out of their races well, including Filly & Mare Turf winner Sistercharlie. He also confirmed that Distaff runner-up Wow Cat and Sistercharlie will likely stay in training in 2019. So far so good, Brown said. SENTIENT JET JUVENILE Keeneland-based trainer Ben Colebrook said his two Breeders Cup runners came back in good shape. Knicks Go, making a name for himself at delivering at big odds, ran second in the Sentient Breeders Cup Juvenile at odds of 40-1 after winning Keeneland s Breeders Futurity at 70-1.
The stable s veteran 6yo Limousine Liberal, who is nearing $1.8 million in earnings, ran fifth in the Breeders Cup Sprint. As for plans for freshman Knicks Go we ll have a look at the (Kentucky) Jockey Club (at Churchill Nov. 24), Colebrook said. But it might come back a little quick. We ll just see how he s doing and make a decision closer to the race. Colebrook maintains a stable year-round at Keeneland and also takes a string to Tampa Bay Downs in the winter. Knicks Go will go to Tampa, he said. The first race he d run in there is the Sam F. Davis. Our goal, since we re based at Keeneland, would be to get him to the Bluegrass. I would imagine he ll go in the Sam F. Davis, if that goes well then the Tampa Bay Derby, then the Blue Grass. That s as far as we have mapped out, and that s in a perfect world. We ll see how it all unfolds. Limousine Liberal will follow his annual schedule of getting time off before prepping for a return at the Keeneland Spring Meet. We always put him away for the winter. He ll stay here in the barn. He doesn t like the farm life, he said. He ll get turned out in a round pen and walked for a month or so. Then we ll start him back under tack. The (Sprint) really didn t set up well for him. Jose (Ortiz) was having to chase him to keep up and he kind of resents that. He likes to run into the bridle and pull his way into his races. Jose just felt he needed to chase him, but in hindsight I don t think that works on this horse. He doesn t like to be told what to do. I think as he s gotten older, six furlongs has gotten a little on the short side for him, Colebrook said. I think we ll keep him at seven-eighths to a mile (in the future). That way he ll have a little more time to wind up. TWINSPIRES SPRINT Roy H Trainer Peter Miller, beaming the day after a second consecutive Breeders Cup in which he scored victories with Stormy Liberal and Roy H in the Turf Sprint and Sprint, respectively. Stormy Liberal and Roy H are both fully or partially owned by Rockingham Ranch and may possibly each have a return trip to Dubai in the cards for the $2 million Al Quiz Sprint and $2.5 million Dubai Golden Shaheen, respectively. Stormy Liberal was second in the Al Quoz Sprint in March and Roy H was third in the Dubai Golden Shaheen. He also confirmed that Richard s Boy and Conquest Tsunami appear no worse for the wear. We re all good, Miller confirmed. Whitmore The Sprint runner-up Whitmore came out the race well and will remain in training with the ultimate goal of making it back to the Sprint for a third try in 2019. We re very proud of him, trainer Ron Moquett said. Of course we wanted him to win, but he did a very good job yesterday. I think if you run the race another three or four times, with those good horses, you d get a different result each time. (Saturday) was just Roy H s day. Hopefully we ll get another chance to hook back up with him. Moquett was pleased that Whitmore, a 5yo Pleasantly Perfect gelding, was able to improve on his eight-place finish at Del Mar last year. He had a messed up trip last year when horses kind of pinched him back, Moquett said.
This year, he had a smooth trip. He s a very consistent horse if he gets his trip. He s had three wins and four seconds this year from eight starts. We ll take him back to Hot Springs for the sprint series at Oaklawn next spring and hope to get back to the Breeders Cup. FILLY & MARE SPRINT Shamrock Rose The longshot winner of the Breeders Cup Filly & Mare Sprint was in good order Sunday morning. I was concerned at the quarter pole because she was a little far back but she weaved through traffic and (jockey Irad Ortiz Jr.) rode her great, Nick Tomlinson, assistant to trainer Mark Casse said Sunday morning. She came out of the race well and Mark and (owners Penny and Manfred Conrad) will have to talk about what is next for her. Right now, we have no immediate plans and nothing penciled in. The victory was the fourth consecutive stakes victory for the 3yo daughter of First Dude. DIRT MILE City of Light Mr. and Mrs. William K. Warren Jr. s City of Light, front-running winner of Saturday s Breeders Cup Dirt Mile, is scheduled to return to trainer Michael McCarthy s Southern California base early Monday morning. He came out of the race in good order and ate up last night, McCarthy said before heading to the airport and a flight to California. We will see how he comes out of this race and if he acts like he needs a race, the ($750,000) Cigar Mile (Dec. 1 at Aqueduct) is an option. In posting his 2 ¾-length victory, City of Light was paired with jockey Javier Castellano for the first time in a race. However, last Sunday Castellano got aboard City of Light for the first time and worked a half-mile in 47 3/5, the third fastest move of 113 at the distance that morning. When I saw he went the last quarter in 22 and 4 and Javier never moved on him, I knew it was his race to lose, said McCarthy, who won his first Breeders Cup race. McCarthy saddled five horses over the weekend in his initial Breeders Cup foray. His first starter, Vibrance, finished third in Friday s Tito s Handmade Vodka Juvenile Fillies. She went back to California yesterday, McCarthy said, noting the $300,000 Starlet at Los Alamitos on Dec. 8 as a possible next stop for Vibrance. In the Classic, McCarthy sent out the 3yo Axelrod who finished ninth, beaten eight lengths by Accelerate. He has done a lot of traveling this year and been on the road a lot, McCarthy said adding that a possible return spot for Axelrod could be the $300,000 Malibu at Santa Anita going 7f on Dec. 26. Seeking the Soul Trainer Dallas Stewart was pleased with how Charles Fipke s homebred Seeking the Soul exited his valiant runner-up effort in the Dirt Mile, confirming that the son of Fipke s Perfect Soul will point toward big winter and early spring targets. The $9 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational and $12 million Dubai World Cup are possibly in the cards, he confirmed. He s great today, Stewart said. Hopefully we can move on to the Pegasus and earn an invite to Dubai.
TURF SPRINT World of Trouble Trainer Jason Servis reported that World of Trouble came out of his close second behind Stormy Liberal in Saturday s Breeders Cup Turf Sprint at Churchill Downs is good shape. World of Trouble is a running son of a gun, Servis said. The 3yo son of Kantharos broke sharply from the gate and was hustled to the lead by jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. He continued to show the way into deep stretch before falling a neck short of holding off Stormy Liberal, who ran 5 ½f over a yielding turf course in a sharp 1:04.05. I think if we had a different post, I think we win, Servis said. From the 11, Irad had to use him a little so that he wouldn t get hung up wide. He had to use him to get over that cost us. World of Trouble s photo-finish loss in the Turf Sprint was the second tough beat for Servis during Breeders Cup weekend. Uncle Benny, who bobbled at the start, was checked on the turn into the stretch and bumped in deep stretch, had to settle for second in Friday s Juvenile Turf when the stewards dismissed a jockey s objection lodged against victorious Line of Duty. Uncle Benny proved that he was always what I thought he was, a good horse, Servis said. I respect their decision. The best horse just didn t win that day. Both World of Trouble and Uncle Benny were slated to ship to Palm Meadows Training Center in Boynton Beach, Fla., Sunday. World of Trouble may see action next in the Claiming Crown at Gulfstream Park Dec. 1. He s eligible for the Claiming Crown, Servis said. He can run the 5/8ths turf or the seven furlong dirt. World of Trouble captured his debut in a $25,000 maiden claimer before finishing second in the $200,000 Florida Sire Stakes Affirmed and subsequently purchased by Michael Dubb, Madaket Stables and Bethlehem Stables and turned over to Servis. -30-