LEXINGTON, Ky. – A field of nine 3-year-old fillies has passed the entry box for Saturday’s 30th running of the $400,000 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup, the sixth and last Grade 1 race of the Keeneland fall meet.
Alterite, a French import who made her North American debut a winning one last month in the Grade 1 Garden City at Belmont Park, was assigned post 4 as the likely favorite in the 1 1/8-mile turf race. John Velazquez has a return mount for trainer Chad Brown.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Three-year-olds Broadway Empire and Holy Lute will be pre-entered for the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, run at Santa Anita on Nov. 1, their trainers said Tuesday.
Broadway Empire, trained by Robertino Diodoro, won the Oklahoma Derby at Remington Park on Sept. 29 for his third consecutive stakes win, Broadway Empire will make his first start against older horses in the BC Dirt Mile. He would be the first Breeders’ Cup starter for Diodoro and jockey Rico Walcott.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – There are some proven stakes performers in Saturday’s $150,000 Carotene, such as Smartyfly and Professor’s Ride, set for the 1 1/8-mile turf race for Ontario-bred 3-year-old fillies. But trainer Danny Vella will look to play spoiler with Blessed One, who has seen action just twice and is coming off a nice maiden score at a mile on grass here on July 27.
“She was injured last year – that kept her from racing,” said Vella, who conditions Blessed One for Derek Chin. “We took our time getting her ready this year. We always liked her.”
MIAMI – You can take the trainer out of Calder, but apparently you can’t take Calder completely out of the trainer.
Case in point is Bill Kaplan, who was a longtime mainstay at Calder before relocating his entire stable to Gulfstream Park this summer. Kaplan will return to Calder on Saturday, and in a big way, having entered eight horses in the four stakes races on the Festival of the Sun program, including three each in the My Dear Girl and Frances Genter stakes.
New Jersey horsemen will get a few more opportunities to run their turf horses this fall, and fans will have one last chance to view live racing from the four-story, glassed-in grandstand when the Meadowlands launches its 10-day, all-turf meet Friday.
There are no stakes scheduled and just six races per day during the afternoon programs that begin at 2:15 p.m. Eastern. There will be four weekends of action on Fridays and Saturdays through Nov. 2, plus a pair of Monday cards on Columbus Day (Oct. 14) and Oct. 28.
Race 1 |
Vulnerable Favorites:MORE THAN KRAZY (#8) has no obvious drawbacks, and she can certainly win this, but taking a short price on a horse with no main-track form besides a sprint where she earned a 28 Beyer, for a barn with one win in 31 starts on the year, sure seems silly.-Kenny Peck |
ARCADIA, Calif. - Nesso, second to Clenor in Sunday’s Surfer Girl Stakes, will give trainer Vann Belvoir his first Breeders’ Cup runner in the $1 million BC Juvenile Fillies Turf on Nov. 1.
A former jockey and leading trainer in Washington, Belvoir, 39, said Nesso earned a spot in the BC Juvenile Fillies Turf for her effort in Sunday’s race and a second to Clenor in the Oak Tree Juvenile Fillies Turf at Del Mar on Sept. 2.
“I think we’ll take a shot at it,” he said. “It will be exciting.”
ARCADIA, Calif. – Early November plans for Aotearoa, upset winner of the Zuma Beach Stakes for 2-year-olds on turf last Sunday, will be confirmed after a main-track workout at Santa Anita later this month.
Trainer Leonard Powell said Tuesday that Aotearoa will work on dirt at Santa Anita on the weekend of Oct. 19-20 before he and owner Paul Viskovich decide between the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf or the $200,000 Golden State Juvenile for California-breds over a mile on dirt. Both races are Nov. 1.
