The busiest slate of Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series race action takes place this week with 20 “Win and You’re In” contests in the United States and France, providing paid, automatic berths into designated Breeders’ Cup races Nov. 1-2 at Del Mar.
Eight of these races take place at Keeneland, whose first three days of fall racing are stacked with stakes beginning with opening day, Oct. 4. Five others designated qualifiers are at ParisLongchamp, among them the prestigious Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (G1) Oct. 6; four more are at Aqueduct Racetrack, which is running its Belmont at the Big A meet; and the remaining three are at Santa Anita Park.
In addition to FanDuel’s regular television coverage of racing, including these events, NBC and CNBC will provide broadcast coverage over the weekend.
On the domestic front, many of the upcoming Breeders’ Cup preps will spotlight 2-year-olds, some of whom are routing for the first time.
Juveniles race a mile in the Oct. 5 Champagne Stakes (G1) at Aqueduct and, later that same day, over 1 1/16 miles in the Breeders’ Futurity (G1) at Keeneland and in the American Pharoah Stakes (G1) at Santa Anita. Similarly, 2-year-old fillies are in the 1 1/16-mile Alcibiades Stakes (G1) Friday and a day later in the one-mile Frizette Stakes (G1) and 1 1/16-mile Oak Leaf Stakes (G2).
The track configuration at Aqueduct does not allow for two-turn races at 1 1/16 miles—just like at sweeping Belmont Park, where the Champagne and Frizette have traditionally been run but are not currently due to ongoing construction of a new facility. So the 2-year-olds race a one-turn mile out of the chute with a long run to the only turn.
Horses with stamina limitations can often carry their speed a bit easier in those races than in longer two-turn events. Sprinter/milers Jack Christopher and Jackie’s Warrior , recent Champagne winners, fit this profile.
And yet, the Champagne has produced 23 winners of the Kentucky Derby (G1)—the exact tally as the 1 1/8-mile Blue Grass Stakes (G1)—with both trailing only the 1 1/8-mile Florida Derby (G1) with 25 winners. The Florida Derby and Blue Grass also have the benefit of being currently positioned as final preps leading into the Run for the Roses, unlike the Champagne, a race for juveniles run seven months before the race.
But the most recent Champagne starter to win the first leg of the Triple Crown was 2010 Derby winner Super Saver , who had been fourth in the 2009 Champagne. Before him, Sea Hero was the last to do so, taking both races in 1992-93.
However, one only has to go back to last year to find the last Champagne starter to win the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1). Fierceness , a disappointing seventh behind Timberlake over a sloppy track after lunging at the start, rebounded weeks later to register a 16-1 Juvenile upset.
The Champagne seems to have a leading Breeders’ Cup and Derby prospect in Flanagan Racing’s Chancer McPatrick , who is 2-for-2 after recovering to win the seven-furlong Hopeful Stakes (G1) after hitting the gate at the start and jockey Flavien Prat briefly losing an iron. The Chad Brown trainee will be heavily favored Saturday from the outside post in the field of 10.
One of those opposing him is quick-returning Vekoma Rides , who handily scored at first asking in a six-furlong sprint at Aqueduct Sept. 14.
Owned by Nedlaw Stable, Denholtz Stables, Dennis Drazin, and Jerold Zaro, the son of Vekoma came from just off the pace to register a five-length triumph with a time of 1:12.81 under Kendrick Carmouche over a dull racetrack.
Vekoma Rides cruises in a maiden win at Aqueduct Racetrack
Trainer John Kimmel said he is not concerned about racing his juvenile on three weeks of rest.
“It was an easy race for him. If it was a gut-wrenching performance, maybe we’d have to consider giving him more time,” the trainer said. “He’s kind of a tough horse to be around, a bully in the stall pushing you around. He thinks he’s the man. We’ll see what happens. It’s a race that has a lot of pluses if you win and not a lot of minuses if you don’t.”
Kimmel and Nick Sallusto purchased the colt as agents at an Ocala Breeders’ Sales 2-year-old auction this year, just as they did with Chancer McPatrick, a son of McKinzie . The former was a $150,000 buy, the latter a $725,000 purchase.
Brown was expected to have the Frizette favorite in Don Alberto Stable’s Senza Parole , who turned heads with a debut maiden victory by 7 3/4 lengths at Saratoga Aug. 23 over next-out winner Stunner , but she will scratch due to a physical issue and is out for the remainder of the year, Daily Racing Form reported Oct. 3.
Her absence leaves the Frizette as a much softer “Win and You’re In” than the Alcibiades Stakes (G1), the opening-day feature of the Keeneland fall meet. The latter race drew the 1-2-3 finishers from the Spinaway Stakes (G1)—Immersive , Quietside , and Sherbini .
Shortleaf Stable’s Quietside, unable to repel Godolphin’s Immersive over seven furlongs in the Spinaway over a muddy track, gets another crack at that foe, almost certainly over a fast surface at Keeneland. Dry weather is forecast for Central Kentucky Friday. A debut maiden win for Quietside came on a fast track this summer at Saratoga.
Speaking of the pace-pressing Spinaway runner-up, trainer John Ortiz said of the daughter of Malibu Moon, “She put in an effort for the whole race. With the added distance, I want to see her come home with a big kick.”
The Alcibiades, like the Frizette, is a prep for the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1).
