1 of 3 | Forever Young wins Wednesday’s Japan Dirt Classic and heads for Breeders’ Cup Classic. Photo by and courtesy of Masakazu Takahashi
Oct. 4 (UPI) — This is it, folks, the biggest Breeders’ Cup prep weekend of all, featuring 15 “Win and You’re In” races at Keeneland, Santa Anita and Aqueduct.
It’s also Arc weekend in Paris, and five Breeders’ Cup qualifiers on that Sunday program bring the weekend global total to 20.
Australia has four Group 1 races on the slate, but the Aussies are more focused on their Spring Carnival than American racing.
We’ll just be skimming the cream off the top this weekend, but it’s rich cream, indeed.
Take a deep breath and dive right in with a race already on the books.
Classic
Perhaps the most important race of the week was Wednesday’s Japan Dirt Classic at Oi Racecourse, where Forever Young easily won his prep for the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic.
The colt won the Saudi Derby and UAE Derby before his thrilling third-place finish in the Kentucky Derby and had not raced since.
“I thought we couldn’t lose, so I’m relieved,” jockey Ryusei Sakai said. Trainer Yoshito Yahagi said he had Forever Young only cranked to about 80%.
Also: Sunday’s $100,000 Grade III Tokyo City Cup at Santa Anita.
Distaff
Sunday’s $600,000 Grade I Juddmonte Spinster at Keeneland, a “Win and You’re In” for the Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff, has as the odds-on favorite reigning Eclipse Award and Breeders’ Cup champ Idiomatic.
Also: Sunday’s $250,000 Grade II Beldame at Aqueduct.
Sprint
Friday’s $350,000 Grade II Stall Keenon Ogden Phoenix at Keeneland is a “Win and You’re In” for the Breeders’ Cup Sprint and includes Grade I Vanderbilt winner Nakatomi.
Filly & Mare Sprint
Saturday’s $350,000 Grade II Thoroughbred Club of America at Keeneland, a “Win and You’re In” for the PNC Bank Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint, has Brightwork, Clearly Unhinged, Spirit Wind and lots of speed.
Also: Saturday’s $100,000 Grade III Chillingworth for fillies and mares at Santa Anita.
Turf
Sunday’s Group 1 Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp, a “Win and You’re In” for the Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf, looks very competitive with a multinational cast.
It’s a huge ask and some very good ones have failed, but an Arc-Breeders Cup Turf double has been done. See Enable in 2018 with runner-up Ryan Moore aboard Magical congratulating winning rider Frankie Dettori as the horses were pulling up. Great stuff. More, please!
Saturday’s $500,000 Grade III Jockey Club Derby at Aqueduct isn’t a Breeders’ Cup qualifier, but has top 3-year-olds who have been battling this series throughout the season.
Also: Saturday’s $175,000 (Canadian) Grade III Singspiel at Woodbine.
Filly & Mare Turf
Saturday’s $200,000 Grade II Rodeo Drive at Santa Anita and Sunday’s Group 1 Prix de l’Opera Longines at Longchamp are both “Win and You’re In” races for the Maker’s Mark Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf
Iscreamuscream, undefeated after four starts, is the morning-line pick in the Rodeo Drive. Wathnan Racing’s Fallen Angel and Coolmore’s Ylang Ylang are the early picks in the Opera.
Also: Friday’s $200,000 Grade III Waya at Aqueduct, Saturday’s $200,000 (Canadian) Grade II Dance Smartly at Woodbine.
Turf Mile
Carl Spackler, 3-for-4 this year, is the 2-1 favorite in Saturday’s $1.25 million Coolmore Turf Mile at Keeneland, a “Win and You’re In” for the FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Mile. The race, however, is very competitive.
Also: Saturday’s $750,000, Grade I First Lady for fillies and mares at Keeneland and Saturday’s Group 1 Sun Chariot Stakes for fillies and mares at Newmarket in England.
Turf Sprint
Sunday’s Group 1 Prix de l’Abbaye de Longchamp Longines is a “Win and You’re In” for the Prevagen Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint. Bradsel, Believing and No Half Measures figure to fight out the 1,000 meters.
Also: Not offering free passes to the big race, but more likely to send horses to it are Saturday’s $350,000 Grade II Woodford at Keeneland with reigning Breeders’ Cup champ Nobals, Saturday’s $200,000 Grade III Belmont Turf Sprint at Aqueduct and Saturday’s $250,000 (Canadian) Grade II Nearctic at Woodbine.
Juvenile
The odds are pretty good the winner of the FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Juvenile will come out of one of three Grade I races Saturday — the $500,000 Champagne at Aqueduct, the $600,000 Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland or the $300,000 American Pharoah at Santa Anita.
Chancer McPatrick, already 2-for-2, is the 6-5 favorite in the Champagne, which nonetheless looks very wide open.
The Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland has Grade I Hopeful runner-up Ferocious as 8-5 morning line favorite with Grade III With Anticipation runner-up Tenacious Leader and many recent maiden winners opposing.
The American Pharoah has seven with the favorite, McKinzie Street, trained by Tim Yakteen, and second-favorite, Getaway Car, saddled by his old boss, Bob Baffert.
Juvenile Turf
Sunday’s $350,000 Grade II Castle & Key Bourbon at Keeneland and Group 1 Qatar Prix Jean-Luc Lagardare at Longchamp are both “Win and You’re In” chances for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf.
The Keeneland race has an overflow field and seems to be a program-stabber. Note the ultimate James Bond-themed name, Fleming, is the first on the also-eligible list. Early favorites for the French race are Coolmore’s Henri Matisse and Juddmonte’s Field of Gold.
Also: Sunday’s $100,000 Grade III Zuma Beach at Santa Anita.
Juvenile Turf Sprint
Friday’s $175,000 Futurity at Aqueduct, a “Win and You’re In” for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint, could not be more competitive. Fittingly, the 5-2 favorite is Under Who’s Radar.
Also: Sunday’s $175,000 Grade III Matron for 2-year-old fillies at Aqueduct.
Juvenile Fillies
Friday’s $600,000 Grade I Darley Alcibiades at Keeneland, Saturday’s $400,000 Grade I Frizette at Aqueduct and Saturday’s $200,000 Grade II Oak Leaf at Santa Anita are all “Win and You’re In” for the NetJets Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies.
Immersive, Quickside and Sherbini return from a 1-2-3 finish in the Grade I Spinaway at Saratoga for the Alcibiades. Senza Parole, trained by Chad Brown, is the 3-5 favorite in the Frizettee. Eight are in the Oak Leaf and Baffert handles four, including the top three on the morning line — Non Compliant, Nooni and Tenma.
Juvenile Fillies Turf
Friday’s $350,000 Grade II Jessamine at Keeneland, Sunday’s rescheduled $200,000 Grade II Miss Grilo at Aqueduct and Sunday’s Group 1 Qatar Prix Marcel Boussac in Paris all are “Win and You’re In” events for the John Deere Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf.
The Jessamine has an overflow field with May Day Ready, winner of the Kentucky Downs Juvenile Fillies, and Totally Justified, winner of the P.G. Johnson at Saratoga. There are wild betting opportunities.
Sunday’s rescheduled $200,000 Grade II Miss Grillo at Aqueduct has a well-matched dozen. The Aga Khan’s undefeated Siyouni filly Zarigana is odds-on in the Marcel Boussac.
Also, Sunday’s $100,000 Grade III Surfer Girl at Santa Anita.
Photo: Rich Steele / Eclipse Sportswire Sierra Leone joined the top 10 of the world's best racehorse rankings after his win in the Bre
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