Wed, 09/30/2015 - 15:16

Pletcher has two shots at Gold Cup breakthrough

Debra A. Roma
Coach Inge (left), under John Velazquez, prevails by a neck over V. E. Day and Javier Castellano in the 1 1/2-mile Brooklyn.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Todd Pletcher has won virtually every Grade 1 race run in New York. To this point, however, the Jockey Club Gold Cup has eluded him.

Pletcher has run 13 horses in 10 editions of the Gold Cup. He finished second with Lawyer Ron (to Curlin) in 2007 and finished second again in 2011 with Stay Thirsty, who was beaten a head by Flat Out.

On Saturday, Pletcher will try again when he sends out the pair of Constitution and Coach Inge in the $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup, a stepping-stone to the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland on Oct. 31.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 14:56

Catch a Flight, Twentytwentyvision get time off after injuries

Benoit & Associates
Catch a Flight (left) is sidelined after a recent nuclear scan revealed a developing injury.

ARCADIA, Calif. – The older horses Catch a Flight and Twentytwentyvision will be sidelined this fall after suffering recent injuries.

Catch a Flight underwent nuclear scan tests earlier this week that revealed a developing injury to a condylar bone that will require “a few months off,” trainer Richard Mandella said.

Twentytwentyvision is recovering from a bizarre incident Sunday in which he got his face stuck in the front of a gate and suffered a severe lip injury that required more than an hour of stitches to mend.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 14:42

Kalamos continues trainer's remarkable saga

Tom Keyser
Kalamos, who scored at 50-1 in the Old Friends at Kentucky Downs in mid-September, returns in an allowance Friday at Keeneland.

Another chapter will be tacked onto the remarkable story of Edward Boerjan when he saddles Kalamos for the second race Friday at Keeneland.

Kalamos, purchased here last November for a mere $3,000 at the horses-of-racing-age sale, was 50-1 when capturing the $150,000 Old Friends Stakes on Sept. 16 at Kentucky Downs, giving Boerjan easily the biggest coup of his intermittent career as an owner and trainer.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 14:34

Lukas expected back at work soon

Barbara D. Livingston
D. Wayne Lukas is directing his stable from his Louisville home while recovering from heart surgery.

As dawn broke Wednesday morning, there was still no sign of D. Wayne Lukas at his longtime Barn 44 headquarters at Churchill Downs.

But it wasn’t going to be much longer, said Lukas’s assistant, Bas Nicholl. And in any event, “he’s already back in full command of the ship” while giving instructions by phone from his home in the east end of Louisville, added Nicholl.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 14:31

Kobe's Back needs to plead his case for Breeders' Cup Sprint

Keeneland/Coady Photography
Kobe’s Back needs to make a good showing in the Santa Anita Sprint Championship to be considered for the BC Sprint, according to trainer Peter Eurton.

ARCADIA, Calif. – The losses are starting to mount for Kobe’s Back in recent months, giving added urgency to his appearance in Saturday’s $300,000 Santa Anita Sprint Championship.

The Grade 1 Santa Anita Sprint Championship will be the final start for Kobe’s Back before a potential trip to Keeneland for the Breeders’ Cup Sprint on Oct. 31. The objectives are clear.

“I need to see a big race, a first or a second,” trainer Peter Eurton said. “Otherwise, who are we fooling?”

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 13:56

Desormeaux eyes Breeders’ Cup Juvenile repeat

Barbara D. Livingston
Exaggerator wins the Grade 2 Saratoga Special going 6 1/2 furlongs.

This year’s Breeders’ Cup is four weeks away, but trainer Keith Desormeaux still can’t stop thinking about last year’s Breeders’ Cup, where his Texas Red rallied from last to win the $2 million Juvenile by 6 1/2 lengths at Santa Anita.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 13:46

Juvenile Fillies Turf: O’Neill has two prospects

Benoit & Associates
Jakaby Jade is probably trainer Doug O'Neill's top threat for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf.

Trainer Doug O’Neill is considering the Grade 1, $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf for both Jakaby Jade and Gomo.

Jakaby Jade took advantage when the rail opened up to win the $101,000 Del Mar Juvenile Fillies Turf in her first start in North America. The horse who vacated the rail, which might have cost her a win in the one-mile race, was Gomo, who finished third.

“It was a good race for both of them,” said O’Neill.

He plans on running Jakaby Jade in the $100,000 Surfer Girl at Santa Anita on Oct. 10.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 13:41

Breeders’ Cup Sprint: Private Zone decision key

Barbara D. Livingston
Private Zone wins the Forego Stakes by 3 3/4 lengths Saturday at Saratoga.

The big question for anyone pointing toward the Breeders’ Cup Sprint on Oct. 31 is what the connections of division leader Private Zone ultimately decide to do over the next several weeks.

Trainer Jorge Navarro and stable manager Rene Douglas remained undecided Wednesday as to whether to run the four-time Grade 1 winner in the Sprint, as was their original intention, or stretch him out for the Dirt Mile. One thing is for certain, according to Navarro: Private Zone couldn’t be doing any better at present.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 13:26

Shadwell Mile tops five graded stakes Saturday

Four-Footed Fotos
The Pizza Man, winning the Arlington Million, is a prime contender among 13 entered for Saturday's $1 million Shadwell Turf Mile.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – If not for the Oct. 30-31 Breeders’ Cup, the Saturday card on opening weekend would be easily the richest this month at Keeneland.

As it is, it’s still pretty good.

The Shadwell Turf Mile, the traditional fall-meet signature event, anchors a 10-race card that features five straight graded races. All but one, the First Lady, are Win and You’re In events toward the Breeders’ Cup. NBC has live coverage from 5-6 p.m. Eastern.

In reverse order, snapshots of the Saturday races:

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 12:51

Breeders’ Cup Classic: Shug takes different tack with Honor Code

Barbara D. Livingston
Honor Code wins the Whitney Stakes over Liam's Map on Saturday at Saratoga.

It has been more than 25 years since the celebrated battles between Sunday Silence and Easy Goer, but the memories of what happened in the fall of 1989 are playing into the management of Honor Code as he prepares for his major year-end goal, the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Oct. 31 at Keeneland.