Friday, September 24, 2010
Contact: NYRA Press Office
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- Pletcher looks ahead with a slew of stakes contenders
- McLaughlin mulls Jockey Club Gold Cup options
- Globetrotter Red Desire doing well at Belmont
- Fields coming together for Super Saturday
ELMONT, N.Y. – Life At Ten and Devil May Care, both possible for the Grade 1 Beldame on Super Saturday, October 2, will breeze tomorrow, with trainer Todd Pletcher to later decide whether he will send either contender to the 1 1/8-mile race for fillies and mares.
“We’ll see how they come out of it,” said Pletcher. “We may end up entering both.”
Winner of the Grade 2
“Physically she came out of the race well,” said Pletcher. “We rode her the way we needed to try to win the race. In retrospect it cost us second place and Rachel Alexandra a chance to win.”
Devil May Care, fourth in the Grade 1 Betfair TVG Alabama on August 21, would be making her first start against older females should she compete in the Beldame.
“She’s run well here,” said Pletcher of Devil May Care, who won the Grade 1 Mother Goose at
Pletcher could have representatives in all three graded stakes on Sunday, October 3.
Excited, a half-length winner at Saratoga on August 27 in her lone previous start, is slated to compete in the Grade 3 Miss Grillo, which will provide the winner an automatic berth into the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf as part of the “Win and You’re In” Program.
“We were pleased with her last effort,” said Pletcher. “She got held up, but she showed us her gameness.”
Volcker, a maiden, is under consideration for the Grade 3 Pilgrim, a “Win and You’re In” event for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf.
“We thought Volcker ran a winning race last time,” said Pletcher. “If he runs well in the Pilgrim, we could go to the Breeders’ Cup, but if he doesn’t win, we could also come back in a maiden race.”
Pletcher noted how he won the Pilgrim last year with the maiden Eskendereya, who went on to prevail in this year’s Grade 1 Wood Memorial.
Also scheduled for October 3 is the Grade 2 Kelso Handicap at one-mile on the main track for 3-year-olds and up. Le Grand Cru, winner of the Grade 3 Westchester over the Kelso’s course and distance in May, will carry the torch for the Pletcher barn.
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Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin will be represented in next Saturday’s Grade 1, $750,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup, but exactly who will run is yet to be determined.
Darley Stables’ Tranquil Manner, most recently third to Quality Road and Mythical Power in the Grade 1 Woodward at Saratoga on September 4 is among the 14 original invitees to the 1 ¼-mile race, with Redding Colliery and Etched expected to be on the alternate list released Saturday.
“We’re looking at the race shape, the speed – or lack of speed – the weather, all those things as we try to make a decision,” said McLaughlin. “Tranquil Manner comes from way off the pace, Redding Colliery is speed, Etched likes it wet and is forwardly placed … we’ll take everything into consideration.”
Redding Colliery, 3-1-1 in five starts this year including a victory in the Grade 3 Lone Star Park Handicap in May, most recently finished second in the Grade 2 Iselin at Monmouth on August 21. The 5-year-old Etched, also owned by Darley, recently won the Formal Gold over a sloppy track at Monmouth in his lone start of 2010.
McLaughlin added that Soldat, winner of the Grade 3 With Anticipation at
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Japanese invader Red Desire has settled in at
“She has been doing very well and really likes the track,” said Nobutaka Tada, racing manager for Tokyo Horseracing Co. Ltd. “She has been cantering since Monday, and will have an easy breeze on the main track under Rajiv Maragh tomorrow.”
Hall of Fame jockey Kent Desormeaux will ride Red Desire in the Flower Bowl but is unavailable for tomorrow’s workout, according to Tada.
The Flower Bowl will be the first North American start for Red Desire, who in her native country won the 2009 Group 1 Shuka Sho and this year in Dubai captured the Group 2 Al Maktoum Challenge: Round 3.
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Augustin Stables’ 2008 Female Turf Champion Forever Together, who has not been off the board in her last 17 starts, tops the probable starters for the Grade 1, $500,000 Flower Bowl Invitational. Also expected for the 1 ¼-mile race are Ave, beaten favorite in the Grade 1 Beverly D; Waya winner Changing Skies; Gozzip Girl, sixth in the Grade 1 John Mabee; Grade 3 Glens Falls winner Keertana; Red Desire, and Diana runner-up Shared Account. Possibilities include Beverly D. heroine Éclair de Lune, Treat Gently, fifth in the Beverly D., and Casablanca Smile, runner-up in the Grade 3 Glens Falls. Sweet and Flawless and Unbridled Essence are among those who will be included on an alternate list of invitees on Saturday.
The Grade 1, $500,000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational will likely attract Grade 1 Secretariat winner Paddy O’Prado; Grade 2 Bowling Green winner Al Khali; Grade 1 Sword Dancer runner-up Bearpath; Grade 2 San Juan Capistrano Handicap winner Bourbon Bay; 2009 Turf Classic winner Interpatation; Grade 3 Pan American Handicap runner-up Never On Sunday; Strike a Deal, fourth in the Bowling Green, and 2008 and 2009 Sword Dancer winner Telling. Possible are Solitaire and
The Grade 1, $350,000 Vosburgh Invitational at six furlongs is expected to draw Girolamo, who will be making only his second start of the year after achieving three wins from four starts during his 2009 campaign, with the only loss coming in the Breeders’ Cup Classic; Latigo Shore, coming off of a third place effort in the Grade 1 King’s Bishop at Saratoga Race Course; and Mr. Fantasy, who was an easy winner in his last race at Saratoga. Also probable for the race is the 5-year-old veteran Riley Tucker; Temecula Creek, a recent stakes winner at Monmouth Park; Snapshot, making his first Grade 1 start after back-to-back Grade 2 starts, including a runner-up in the True North this June at Belmont; and Wall Street Wonder, looking to get back on track after his last victory in the Grade 3 Toboggan in March at Aqueduct. Richard Dutrow trained Golden Spikes is listed as questionable.
The Grade 1, $350,000 Beldame Invitational drew nominations from several of the top fillies and mares in the country. The 1 1/8-mile contest will include probable starter Unrivaled Belle, coming off a second place effort in the Grade 1 Ruffian Invitational Handicap behind Malibu Prayer. The 4-year-old daughter of Unbridled’s Song owns an impressive career record of 5-4-0 out of 10 starts, including a win over 2009 Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra, who was also invited to the race. Persistently, who also upset Rachel Alexandra this year in the Grade 1 Personal Ensign, is a likely starter in the Beldame for trainer Shug McGaughey. The Christophe Clement-trained Funny Moon will be making her first start in over two months after a third-place finish in the Grade 2 Delaware Handicap. She owns a Grade 1 victory over the
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