Sunday, October 10, 2010
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- Pletcher barn bubbly following Uncle Mo's
- Frizette winner A Z Warrior has crowded itinerary in lead up to Breeders' Cup
- Quality Road heads notable works
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- Knickerbocker to pit Keep the Promise top two Whatsthescript and Wesley
ELMONT, N.Y. – It was a happy Sunday in Todd Pletcher's Belmont Park barn following Uncle Mo's impressive 4 ¾-length victory in Saturday's Grade 1, $300,000 Champagne Stakes and the trainer reported that Repole Stable's juvenile star emerged from the race in good shape.
"He came out of it well, looked good this morning and the plan is to go to the Breeders' Cup assuming that he trains the way we expect him to between now and then," Pletcher said.
Uncle Mo, a son of Indian Charlie, completed the one-mile Champagne in 1:34.51, tying him with 1977 Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew for the second-fastest renewal at the distance, just a fifth of a second slower than Devil's Bag's 1983 stakes record of 1:34 1/5. As impressed as he was by the race itself, Pletcher was also pleased with the way the colt handled himself afterwards.
"He was remarkably composed in the winner's circle – there was quite a commotion going on in there, but he was completely laid back and honestly wasn't even blowing that hard," the trainer noted.
"We've been blessed with some really good two year olds over the years, but I can't remember one being that impressive," Pletcher recalled. "We've had some that started the year really impressively – horses like More Than Ready and Chapel Royal – that were exceptionally early in the year. For him, [going from a maiden win] at
More Than Ready broke his maiden at Keeneland in April 1999 and stepped up steadily through the summer, winning the Grade 2 Sanford at
Pletcher added that his quartet of Frizette starters all emerged from the race in good order and that R Heat Lightning passed her audition for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies at Churchill Downs on November 5 with her determined effort for second, while Valiant Passion and Tap for Luck, fourth and fifth, and Maple Forest, seventh, would regroup.
"I thought that R Heat Lightning ran a remarkably good race yesterday considering the trip that she encountered," Pletcher said of the filly, who won the Grade 1 Spinaway at
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Yesterday's Grade 1 Frizette winner A Z Warrior will be logging many frequent flier miles in the upcoming weeks as she flies back to Southern California Monday morning before making another long trip to Kentucky to compete in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies on November 5.
"She's doing great," Tonja Terranova, assistant to Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, said Sunday morning. "She's going back to
Owned by Zayat Stables, A Z Warrior capped a big day for her freshman sire Bernardini, who was represented by his first Grade 1 or Group 1 winner 6 ½ hours earlier when Biondetti captured the Grand Criterium in
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Prince Will I Am, last-to-first winner of the Grade 1 Jamaica Handicap, heads back to
"He was cheery and bright this morning – he comes out of grass races so well," said Nihei, who returned to
The victory was the first in a graded stakes for Nihei, a former assistant to Todd Pletcher who went out on her own three years ago, and the first for Prince Will I Am, who was on the Triple Crown trail earlier this year before changing to turf this summer at Saratoga Race Course, where he won a 1 3/8 mile optional claimer on September 3.
"He answered a lot of questions in the
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Quality Road headed Todd Pletcher's worktab on Sunday morning, breezing five furlongs in preparation for the November 6 Breeders' Cup Classic at Churchill Downs. Sent over the
Also working over the training track for Pletcher were Repole Stable's Grade 1 Three Chimneys Hopeful runner-up Stay Thirsty (5f 1:02.12), who is also looking toward the Breeders' Cup Juvenile. On the main track, Grade 1 winner Bribon, most recently sixth in the Forego closing weekend at Saratoga and under consideration for supplementation to either the Breeders' Cup Sprint or Dirt Mile, covered four furlongs in 48.92, while New York-breds Ibboyee (4f 49.73) and Manteca (4f 49.71) worked toward the October 23 Empire Classic.
In other notable works, Godolphin Stable sent out Gayego to breeze four furlongs in 47.44, the second-fastest of 46 works at the distance. Gayego, who followed a fourth-place finish in the Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap this summer at
Grade 3 Noble Damsel winner Strike the Bell turned in her final serious work for next Saturday's Grade 3 Athenia, breezing a half-mile over the training track in 48.89. Also under consideration for the Athenia is Maram, who was clocked over the inner turf in a bullet 1:02.03 five-furlong move.
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Saturday was a good day to be a member of the New York Watch Series, which shines the spotlight on up-and-coming horses who have launched their careers at NYRA tracks, as talented 2-year-olds Uncle Mo and J. B.'s Thunder won Grade 1 races within three minutes of each other.
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Next Sunday's Grade 3, $100,000 Knickerbocker, a 1 1/8-mile turf event for 3-year-olds and up, is expected to serve as a rematch between Whatsthescript and Wesley, the top two finishers of the Keep the Promise Stakes on September 19. The race is also expected to draw Interpatation, the 2009 Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational winner who was seventh most recently in this year's renewal; Pinckney Hill, fifth in the Keep the Promise; Presious Passion, a three-time Grade 1-winner who looks to return to form off a fourth in a Delaware Park optional claimer; Violon Sacre, who has won two of four starts in the United States, including the PTHA President's Cup at Parx Racing last time out, and War Hoot, fifth in the PTHA President's Cup. Eldaafer, Lime Rickey, Midnight Mischief, and Operation Red Dawn are listed as possible.
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