KEENELAND DAILY NOTEBOOK
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2005
by Brian P. Turner
It is that time of year once again to separate the contenders from the
pretenders and to see who is worthy to enter the starting gate for the Breeders’
Cup on October 29 at Belmont Park. Keeneland did its part to clear the picture
up today by offering three graded stakes races that will undoubtedly have an
impact on deciding the fields for the Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1), Juvenile (G1)
and the Sprint (G1).
A field of 10 three-year-olds and up went to the post for the Shadwell Turf
Mile S. (G1) headed by the Bobby Frankel-trained duo of Three Valleys (Diesis
[GB]) and Alinghi (Aus) (Encosta De Lago). Neither of the pair fired though and
ended up finishing fifth and eighth, respectively. In the end, the day belonged
to HOST (Chi) (Hussonet) who was making his first start since finishing second
in the Appleton H. (G3) at Gulfstream Park back in February. The chestnut
returned in fine form as he overcame a bit of bumping at the start and also
going into the first turn before digging in gamely through the stretch to claim
the victory by a neck.
Vanderlin (GB) (Halling), who was coming off of a fourth-place effort in the
Atto Mile (Can-G1) at Woodbine, stalked the pace early and fought valiantly to
the wire but was forced to settle for the place, 2 3/4 lengths clear of Gulch
Approval (Gulch) in third.
The 8TH race on Saturday’s card was the Lane’s End Breeders’ Futurity (G1)
for two-year-olds going 1 1/16 miles on the main track. Laity (Pulpit) was sent
off as the post time favorite and moved into a nice stalking position through
the early stages of the race. Once the field hit the stretch though, the bay
just did not have enough left in the tank to mount a serious challenge and faded
in the stretch to finish fifth. In the end, the day belonged to DAWN OF WAR (Catienus)
who took the lead out of the gate and guided the field through moderate early
fractions of :23 4/5 and :48 2/5. Once the field hit the stretch, the dark bay
continued on strongly to the finish, widening his lead down the lane to hit the
finish line 3 1/2 lengths in front.
Dawn of War was coming off of a second place finish to the favorite in the
Cradle S. at River Downs where he was beaten by 11 3/4 lengths so once the
Lane’s End was made official, the tote boards lit up with a $74.60 payoff, the
highest in the history of the race. Fellow long shot Catcominatcha (Tale of the
Cat) rallied from off the pace to finish second, 3 1/4 lengths in front of
Stream Cat (Black Minnaloushe), who closed from last for third.
Finally, a field of eight three-year-olds and up contested the six furlong
Phoenix Breeders’ Cup S. (G3) where Bwana Charlie (Indian Charlie) was sent to
the gate as the post-time favorite. The four-year-old colt never once appeared
to have his mind on business though and put in a dull performance, eventually
crossing the finish line a well beaten seventh. In the end, the day belonged to
outsider ELUSIVE JAZZ (Elusive Quality) who stalked the pace early before
opening up in the stretch drive to cross the finish line three lengths in front.
Wild Tale (Tale of the Cat), who went off as the longest shot in the field,
rallied from off the pace to pick up the place, 1 1/4 lengths clear of Premium
Saltine (Salt Lake) in third.
With Gary Stevens out of town, Edgar Prado and Rafael Bejarano picked up two
wins each on the day to move into the top spot and become co-leaders in the
jockey standings with four winners apiece. Robby Albarado booted home three
winners today and is in a tie for second with Stevens.
As for the trainers, Bobby Barnett picked up two winners on the card and that
is enough to give him sole possession of the top spot in the trainer standings
as a total of 18 other trainers have visited the winner’s circle one time each.
There were six sprints contested on the main track today and horses on or
near the pace won four of them. In addition there were two main track routes and
both were won in front running fashion. As for the two turf routes, horses
coming from off the pace won both.
Horses to Watch
1ST – DARLING TRICK (Phone Trick) was moving nicely when he was interfered
with twice in the stretch drive of this six furlong maiden special event. The
dark bay finished fourth but was moved up to third via disqualification. Though
he would not have caught the winner, it definitely had an impact on his effort
and the gelding should definitely pose a threat in his next start.
4TH – EVERYTHING GOOD (Giant’s Causeway) was extremely impressive in this
maiden special event as she rallied from off the pace with a tremendous turn of
foot and absolutely engulfed the field as they were coming off the turn. The
two-year-old filly continued on through the stretch, widening her advantage with
every stride, to hit the finish line 10 1/4 lengths in front.
Tomorrow’s Outlook – Sunday, October 9
Sunday’s card has three stakes races on tap, two of which are graded, and
will be highlighted by the Juddmonte Spinster S. (G1) for fillies and mares,
three-years-old and up, going nine furlongs on the main track. A field of 11 is
set to go to the post headed by ISOLA PIU BELLA (Chi) (Rich Man’s Gold), who has
been installed as the 5-2 morning line favorite. The bay will be looking to
rebound off of a dismal effort in July where she finished eighth, beaten by 17
1/4 lengths in the Delaware H. (G2). Prior to that, the five-year-old mare had
been extremely impressive as she had reeled off three victories, including two
Grade 3s, from five starts since coming to North America.
PAMPERED PRINCESS (Indian Charlie) is another in the field with a solid
chance has she has hit the board in each of her last nine starts. The bay has
faced the favorite in this race on three occasions and has defeated her once.
HALORY LEIGH (Halory Hunter) has been in solid form since winning an allowance
event here at Keeneland last fall. The chestnut is coming off of a respectable
third place effort in the Ruffian H. (G1) at Belmont.
Sunday’s 6TH race is the Winstar Galaxy S. (G2) for fillies and mares,
three-years-old and up, going eight furlongs on the lawn. INTERCONTINENTAL (GB)
(Danehill) will undoubtedly take a huge amount of action from the betting
public. The Grade 1 winner has never been off the board in seven tries at the
distance and she is a perfect two for two over the Keeneland turf. WEND (Pulpit)
had reeled off five wins in a row until throwing in a sub par effort last out in
the Beverly D S. (G1) at Arlington Park which came over a yielding turf course.
TICKER TAPE (GB) (Royal Applause [GB]) finished only 1 1/2 lengths behind
Intercontinental in her last start and she too holds a Grade 1 win over the
Keeneland lawn.
Finally, a field of 12 three-year-olds and upward are scheduled to contend
the five furlong Woodford S., contested over the Keeneland lawn. BATTLE WON (Honour
and Glory) is using this event as his final prep for the Breeders’ Cup Sprint
(G1) and is also the defending champion. SGT. BERT (Confide) finished second in
last year’s running and is back to take on Battle Won again. The bay scratched
out of Saturday’s Phoenix S., opting for this spot instead.
Sunday’s Best Plays
3RD – SIR GULCH (Thunder Gulch) has reeled off three wins in a row since
moving into the barn of Tom Amoss. The chestnut made his last couple of starts
on the grass, but he will be returning to the dirt Sunday and taking a pretty
steep class drop in the process. Amoss wins 31 percent of his starts in the
“Down 2+ classes” trainer category and 29 percent of the time in the “Winner
Last Race” category. James Graham has been enlisted for the mount and he has
combined with Amoss for a 31 percent win rate over the last 60 days.
7TH – MY RO (Dixieland Band) should appreciate the drop in class in this
seven furlong allowance event and the return to sprinting after finishing fourth
last out going 1 1/16 miles against Grade 3 company. The chestnut tops the field
in BRIS Prime Power and BRIS Class ratings while her BRIS Speed ratings are on
par with the best of this bunch. As a matter of fact, My Ro’s best lifetime BRIS
Speed rating came at this distance. Trainer Dale Romans is a respectable 13
percent in the “Route to Sprint” trainer category and wins 17 percent of the
allowance races he has runners in.