BENSALEM, Pa. – Trainer Bob Baffert was counting his blessings following West Coast's emphatic 7 1/4-length victory in the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby on Saturday. A number of champion horses have gone through Baffert's barn during his Hall of Fame career, but the last three years have been off the charts.
"First, we had American Pharoah, and I thought that was it, then the next year Arrogate, and now this horse," Baffert said.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer Todd Pletcher could run as many as three horses in the Grade 1, $750,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup on Oct. 7 at Belmont Park, and on Saturday, all three put in workouts in preparation for the 1 1/4-mile race.
Pletcher’s two definite Gold Cup starters, Keen Ice and Destin, worked five furlongs in 1:00.97 together Saturday morning over the Belmont Park training track. Meanwhile, at Saratoga, Rally Cry worked a half-mile in 50.03 seconds.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Firenze Fire, winner of the Grade 3 Sanford Stakes at Saratoga, breezed a half-mile in 49.80 seconds Friday morning over the Belmont Park training track. He went in company with Picco Uno, winner of the Union Avenue Stakes.
Jason Servis, trainer of Firenze Fire, said he is considering either the Grade 1 Champagne, going a mile here Oct. 7, or Grade 3 Futurity, going six furlongs Oct. 14, for the son of Poseidon’s Warrior.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Miss Sky Warrior, the multiple graded stakes-winning 3-year-old filly trained by Kelly Breen, is on the comeback trail.
Unraced since an eighth-place finish in the Kentucky Oaks, Miss Sky Warrior has breezed three times at Belmont Park in the last two weeks.
“She needed some time after the Oaks,” Breen said. “We’re just taking our time getting her back. She’s probably six weeks away from a race.”
ELMONT, N.Y. – Unbeaten in four starts this year, Money’soncharlotte will put her streak to the test in the Grade 1, $400,000 Beldame Stakes next Saturday at Belmont Park.
Trained by Kelly Breen for owner George Hall, Money’soncharlotte won two of her first three career starts, including a maiden race at Belmont in October 2014 and a minor stakes at Gulfstream Park West. Over the next two years, Money’soncharlotte went just 1 for 14.
CYPRESS, Calif. – Midcourt comes from a Grade 1 family.
The colt is by Midnight Lute, the champion sprinter of 2007, and is out of Mayo On the Side, who won the Grade 1 Humana Distaff at Churchill Downs in 2004. Midcourt was purchased for $450,000 at the 2016 Keeneland September yearling sale and is owned by Lee and Susan Searing.
Expectations for Midcourt when he makes his debut Sunday at Los Alamitos match his pedigree and purchase price.
Tatters to Riches, who finished sixth in the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity on Sept. 4, is out of training after undergoing recent surgery to have a bone chip removed from a hind ankle.
Tim Cohen, who owns Tatters to Riches with his father, Jed, said the colt will be rested for about four months before resuming training with Jeff Mullins.
“We fully expect him back at the end of the year or the beginning of next year,” Cohen said. “The horse will tell us the next move.”
Piedi Bianchi and Donworth will be trainer Doug O’Neill’s runners in Grade 1 races Sept. 30 at Santa Anita, an important program in the buildup to the Breeders’ Cup races at Del Mar on Nov. 3-4.
Piedi Bianchi, a 2-year-old filly, was beaten a half-length in the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante at seven furlongs Sept. 2. She closed steadily through the final quarter-mile, leaving the ever-optimistic O’Neill expecting a winning race in the Grade 1 Chandelier Stakes at 1 1/16 miles at Santa Anita.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Gun Runner will have regular rider Florent Geroux aboard early Sunday when he puts in in his final breeze prior to leaving for Southern California the following morning.
Gun Runner was a 10-length winner of the Grade 1 Woodward at Saratoga earlier this month in what will be his final start prior to the Nov. 4 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar. The 4-year-old colt will be based at Santa Anita before having one breeze at Del Mar, which reopens for training Oct. 23.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A trio of stakes next Saturday is shaping up as a fitting end to an eventful September meet at Churchill Downs, with Honorable Duty returning as the horse to beat in the richest race, the Grade 3, $200,000 Lukas Classic.
