Sunday, October 24, 2010
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- Pletcher’s Breeders’ Cup brigade turn in final breezes at
- Friend Or Foe in fine fettle after Classic win
- Maid of the Mist winner Sentimental Lass could return at Aqueduct
- Place payout of $95.50 biggest in 12 years
- Eightyfiveinafifty returns to worktab, 2011 comeback likely
Leading the Sunday workers was Edward P. Evans’ homebred Quality Road, who breezed five furlongs in 1:01.41 and will attempt to gain his first victory at 1 ¼ miles when he competes in the Classic.
“It was a similar type of work [to last week’s],” said Pletcher. “Last week we went three quarters and this week we went five eighths. The big gallop out was another step towards having him prepared for a mile and a quarter. Based on the way he’s been finishing his breezes and galloping out, I think we’ve got him just where he needs to be for that type of race.”
Pletcher expressed satisfaction with how
“Every breeze has been on the day we wanted, and every one has been executed the way we’ve wanted,” said Pletcher. “We’ve got the bulk of our training done. It’s just a matter of shipping in safely. He’ll have a maintenance-type drill over the track at Churchill. He’ll probably have two or three gate schooling sessions there.”
Mike Repole’s Juvenile contenders,
“[
Rose Catherine, who will represent owner Paul Pompa, Jr. when she faces males in the Turf Sprint, breezed five furlongs in 1:04.26.
“She finished up OK, and it was a what-I would-expect-her-to-do type of work on the dirt,” said Pletcher.
Bribon, under consideration for the Sprint, was clocked at 1:01.06 for five furlongs.
“I think the horse is training as well has he ever has,” said Pletcher. “We’ll talk to [owner Derrick] Smith in the morning and see if he wants to put up the supplement. Our other option would be to stay here and run in the Bold Ruler [Grade 3, Belmont, October 30] and the [Hill ‘n’ Dale] Cigar Mile [Grade 1, Aqueduct, November 27].”
Three of Pletcher’s Breeders’ Cup hopefuls took to the track on Saturday, with Life At Ten (Ladies’ Classic) breezing five furlongs in 1:02.63, Malibu Prayer (Ladies’ Classic) negotiating the same distance in 1:01.83, and R Heat Lightning (Juvenile Fillies) covering four furlongs in a brisk 48.03.
“They all went well,” said Pletcher. “Knock on wood, everybody seems to be training well.”
* * *
Chester and Mary Broman’s Friend Or Foe was “big-eyed and happy” Sunday morning following his resounding victory in the Empire Classic, and trainer John Kimmel was delighted to learn that the colt’s stakes-record time of 1:46.94 was the fastest of the year at Belmont Park by nearly two seconds as well as the fastest at the track since Rachel Alexandra’s stakes-record 1:46.33 in the Mother Goose in June, 2009.
“That’s the thing with mechanically superior horses,” said Kimmel of the strapping chestnut colt, who will likely go next in the Grade 1 Hill ‘n’ Dale Cigar Mile at Aqueduct on November 27. “They’re more efficient and can cover more ground with fewer strides. Once he gets into a rhythm, he’s got a very high cruising speed. Alex [Solis] said he never hit him, just showed him the stick a time or two. I couldn’t be more pleased with him.”
Although the owners were in
“He said he went over and watched all by himself,” said Kimmel with a laugh. “He only got to see it once, because he had to go back, but they were delighted.”
The win was almost enough to ease the sting of the New York Yankees’ loss to the Texas Rangers in the American League Championship Series for Kimmel.
“I’ve been worried about them all year,” said Kimmel, a devoted Yankee fan. “I really thought they were up against it with the Rangers, and they totally manhandled them.”
* * *
Trainer David Duggan has good reason to look to the future with Sentimental Lass, heroine of yesterday’s Maid of the Mist for 2-year-old New York-bred fillies.
“We were very impressed with her yesterday,” said Duggan the morning after Sentimental Lass’ hard-fought, one-length triumph. “She showed she has a lot of heart and a lot of guts. She showed she can get seven eighths and can probably go a little further. She answered a lot of questions.”
Should she train forwardly in the upcoming weeks, Sentimental Lass will make her next start in the New York Stallion Series Fifth Avenue Division at Aqueduct on November 14 before she receives a winter break.
“We’ll point toward the stakes next year,” said Duggan. “She certainly stepped up to the plate yesterday.”
* * *
Majestic Raffy’s first start on the turf provided the biggest place payout at
Trained by Joe Aquilino and ridden by Abel Lezcano, Majestic Raffy debuted on the dirt October 9 at
It was the highest place payout at
* * *
Eightyfiveinafifty, impressive winner of the Grade 3 Bay Shore on Wood Memorial Day, April 3, at Aqueduct, returned to the worktab Saturday morning for the first time since his fifth-place finish in the Grade 2 Woody Stephens on Belmont Stakes Day, June 5.
The 3-year-old Forest Camp colt contracted pneumonia over the summer and ended up spending two months in the
Trainer Gary Contessa was pleased with the breeze, clocked at 35.66 for three furlongs, second fastest of six works at the distance over the Aqueduct main track.
“He’s had a bunch of open gallops, but today was his first workout since getting out of the clinic,” Contessa said. “He’s always fast and did everything right today.”
Regarding when the colt could return to the races, the trainer said probably next year, but didn’t rule anything out.
“I have no expectations but he’s such an incredible workhorse that he could get himself fit quickly,” Contessa said. “If that happens and he’s well within himself and gets himself fit quickly, he could run before the end of the year. But I’m not counting on that.”
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