LEXINGTON, Ky. – Honorable Duty came out of his 4 3/4-length victory in the Lukas Classic last weekend at Churchill in fine shape and soon will move over to Keeneland to train for the closing-day feature, the Grade 2 Fayette on Oct. 28.
“He gave us another big effort,” said trainer Brendan Walsh. “I’m very happy with him.”
The Grade 1 Spinster got a top contender for its 62nd running Sunday when trainer John Kimmel sent the standout New York-bred mare Bar of Gold to Keeneland early in the week along with his Alcibiades starter Pacific Gale. Most recently second in the Presque Isle Masters at 6 1/2 furlongs on Tapeta, Bar of Gold has become a model of versatility when competing effectively over a variety of surfaces at different distances.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Easily the richest program of the 17-day meet will be held Saturday at Keeneland when the fall showcase, the $1 million Shadwell Turf Mile, and four other graded stakes are part of a sensational 10-race card.
Miss Temple City once again will take on male rivals when part of a capacity field of 14 in the Shadwell, one of three Grade 1 events on a program that starts at 1:05 p.m. Eastern. Miss Temple City made track history in 2016 by sweeping the Maker’s 46 Mile and Shadwell.
Here is a rundown of the FallStars Weekend events for Saturday:
Gato Del Oro, who ran the two best races of his career at Del Mar before shipping to Remington Park and finishing third in last month’s Oklahoma Derby, is a candidate for the Grade 1, $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, trainer Richard Baltas said Wednesday. The race is Nov. 3 at Del Mar.
“Right now, we’re pointing for that, hoping he’ll draw in,” Baltas said.
Mondialiste might be an Irish-bred, England-based horse, but his two most important wins, in the 2015 Woodbine Mile and the 2016 Arlington Million, have come in North America. The overseas strategy has worked out so well that Mondialiste’s trainer, David O’Meara, has not just Mondialiste in Kentucky this week for the Grade 1 Shadwell Turf Mile, but also a second horse for the race, Suedois.
The two English shippers are among 14 entered in the Shadwell, a Win and You’re In race for the Breeders’ Cup Mile, as well as the last major North American prep for the race.
There’s a saying around the barn of trainer Mark Casse that some horses have too much talent not to be good at something. The trick is figuring out their niche.
Solving that puzzle helped take Holding Gold from a listed stakes-level horse in 2016 to a contender for this year’s Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint.
The 4-year-old Lonhro gelding ran well for Casse and owner Charlotte Weber of Live Oak Plantation last year, winning the Quick Call Stakes at Saratoga, but the trainer was left at the end of his campaign still trying to fully figure him out.
A growing collection of wins in Grade 2 turf marathons this year has put Itsinthepost on course for the $4 million Breeders’ Cup Turf at Del Mar on Nov. 4 – and the greatest test of his career.
Sunday, Itisinthepost won the Grade 2 John Henry Turf Championship, displaying a turn of foot that has defined his recent races. Itsinthepost closed from fourth to win by a head over Prime Attraction.
“I’ve been around a long time,” said owner Jed Cohen. “You don’t see many as confident as he is. He gives you his all every time.”
To be assured a start in the Breeders’ Cup, One Fast Broad is in a virtual must-win situation in Monday’s $100,000 Surfer Girl Stakes at Santa Anita.
A victory or a narrow loss are the only results that owner-trainer Mick Ruis says will convince him to start One Fast Broad in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf on Nov. 3 at Del Mar.
“If she wins, for sure we’ll put her in there,” he said. “We’ll see if she runs second. She’s got to be first or second to think about it.”
On Sunday, trainer John Gosden was the talk of the racing world after Enable, the 3-year-old filly he trains for Khalid Abdullah, won the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. Enable, judging from her trainer’s remarks, won’t be coming to Del Mar for the Breeders’ Cup, but a Gosden winner last Saturday in England, Roaring Lion, might well be among the favorites for the BC Juvenile Turf.
The final two Win and You’re In qualifiers for the Nov. 4 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf are this weekend, with Keeneland staging the Grade 1 First Lady on Saturday and Belmont following on Sunday with the Grade 1 Flower Bowl.
