Jim Barnes was asked how he thought Game On Dude was doing coming up to the
“Super,” he said. “He couldn’t be doing better.”
Baffert, who stations himself in the middle of the track’s grandstand terrace
“He’s on his game,” Baffert said. “Some of my horses, they don’t have to work
|
As he watched his horses train, Baffert was asked by a media member which one
of his 10 Breeders’ Cup runners had the best chance to win. The trainer narrowed
it down to four, with one of them being Game On Dude. The other three were
Executiveprivilege, Power Broker and Title Contender.
Doug O’Neill’s Classic duo of Handsome Mike and Richard’s Kid each galloped 1 1/2
miles
on the main track at Santa Anita under exercise rider Jonny Garcia to
O’Neill’s satisfaction.
The entrance to O’Neill’s Barn 88 is adorned with wall placards honoring 2012
victories in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes by I’ll Have Another.
“We’ve taken time to celebrate a great year so far, and it would be
absolutely incredible to add a Breeders’ Cup win,” O’Neill said. “That feeling
would be hard to put into words.
“I’m just so blessed to be here,” O’Neill added. “If both stay injury-free
and get to the gate, I think they both have a great chance.”
Grade 2 Pennsylvania Derby winner Handsome Mike is owned by Paul Reddam, who owned
I’ll Have Another and owns five of O’Neill’s seven Breeders’ Cup entrants.
“I met Paul through Mark Schlessinger, another client, about 10 years ago,”
said O’Neill, never dreaming of the heights they would reach. “He got Paul to
claim a horse.”
O’Neill trains about 15 horses for Reddam.
Flat Out, Ron the Greek and To Honor and Serve — Hall of Fame trainer Bill
Mott’s Classic trio — galloped 1 3/8 miles Thursday morning and walked through the
paddock on their way back to the barn.
Mott is bidding for his record third victory in the Classic. He won with the
Hall of Famer Cigar in 1995 and Drosselmeyer last year. Charlie Whittingham
(1987, Ferdinand and 1989, Sunday Silence) and Jay Robbins (2000-01, Tiznow) are
the only other trainers to win the race twice.
Also, Mott is in position to repeat his sweep of the Ladies’ Classic and the
Classic that he accomplished last year with Royal Delta in the Ladies’ Classic
and Drosselmeyer in the Classic. Royal Delta is the morning-line favorite in the
Ladies’ Classic. John Shirreffs completed the double in 2009 with Life is Sweet
in the Ladies’ Classic and Zenyatta in the Classic.
Flat Out was moved into Mott’s care this year by the owner, Preston Stables.
The six-year-old Flatter horse was previously trained by Charles “Scooter” Dickey. Last
year, Flat Out won the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup before running fifth, beaten three
lengths, in the Classic. Mott used a similar schedule this year and Flat Out
repeated in the Jockey Club Gold Cup by a head over Stay Thirsty.
“We haven’t changed anything,” Mott said. “The trainer that had Flat Out last
year did a very good job and I guess I was the lucky recipient of him because
the people wanted him in New York.
“They thought that if he trained up in Saratoga it would probably be a
benefit to the horse because he’s always been plagued with having some tender
feet. I train at Payson Park and I train at Saratoga (on the Oklahoma training
track) and they felt it would probably give him his best chance for his feet to
stay in good shape. They are two very forgiving tracks for that particular
issue. So far we’ve been very lucky with him.
“He’s a challenge because of sometimes tender feet, but we’ve just trained
him like a horse and he’s been a willing student and done everything we’ve asked
of him, and most of all, won the Jockey Club Gold Cup last time, which was a big
move for him.”
“In his last race, I think he was compromised a little bit by the racetrack
Mott has trained To Honor and Serve throughout his three-year, 16-race
|
“He came back and won an allowance race at Saratoga, the Pennsylvania Derby
and then the (Grade 1) Cigar Mile after he was beaten only 3 1/2 lengths in the Breeders’
Cup Classic,” Mott said. “He came back and showed us that the wait was
worthwhile. He paid us back for giving him a little time off earlier in the year
last year.”
Mott said there were high expectations for the colt right from the beginning.
“One thing he did early on in his career is that he broke his maiden in his
second start and then went on to win two graded stakes as a two-year-old,” Mott
said. “Obviously, going in with the hopes that we had for him after he won the
Remsen, as a Derby candidate the next year, we were very, very excited. It
didn’t work out. He developed the splint problem, we had to back off of him and
he missed the Triple Crown races. That’s the nature of the business.
“I didn’t think he was in good enough shape to run in the Kentucky Derby and
so we opted to give him some time. We had him back late in his three-year-old year
and his four-year-old year. He’s a very sound horse now, although he’s probably
going to go to the stallion barn after the Breeders’ Cup. He would be fine to
run another year if we wanted him to.”
Two starts back in the Grade 1 Woodward, To Honor and Serve outdueled his
familiar foe Mucho Macho Man by a neck.
Reeves Thoroughbred Racing’s Mucho Macho Man took to the Santa Anita track
Thursday morning, demonstrating no negative side effects from his cross-country
flight on Wednesday. The strapping four-year-old colt galloped 1 1/2 miles
under Nick Petro Jr. before visiting the starting gate on the way back to Barn
66.
“He just floats (over the track),” said Ritvo, who accompanied Mucho Macho
Man on the flight from Newburgh, New York. “He was very professional today.
Everything’s fine.”
Mucho Macho Man, who stands more than 17 hands, has followed up a solid
sophomore
campaign that included a third-place finish in the Kentucky Derby, with a
successful season this year, winning the Sunshine Millions Classic, Grade 2 Gulfstream
Park Handicap and Grade 2 Suburban.
“It’s been unbelievable. He’s just a great horse,” Ritvo said. “He’s a nice
horse to be around. He’s got a nice personality.”
Ritvo, who grew up in a racing family at Suffolk Downs, is enjoying the ride
with Mucho Macho Man.
“There’s no pressure. He does the job. He makes it easy. There’s not any
pressure to me. I waited six months for a transplant, for my heart. This is
easy,” said Ritvo, who suffered from degenerative heart disease before
undergoing a successful transplant four years ago.
“The first time I ran in a big race, maybe it was the Derby, with my new
heart, I thought, ‘I wonder how I’ll feel.’ But I was fine. I’m very blessed.”
“I just wanted to give him a light day today,” trainer Ian Wilkes said of
Fort Larned’s trip to California was delayed a day because of the disruption
“The plan was to ship Tuesday and then have a walk day here Wednesday,”
Fort Larned will be ridden in the Classic by Brian Hernandez Jr., who has
|
“They make a good team and he lets the horse do what he wants,” Wilkes said.
“Not that the other riders didn’t, but we wanted someone who would stick with
the horse and Brian has.”
Hernandez will be flying here Friday night after he fulfills a riding
obligation that afternoon at Churchill Downs for Wilkes with Neck ‘n Neck in the
Grade 3 Ack Ack Handicap.
“I’m not really nervous right now because we’ve still got a couple more
days,” Hernandez said. “I’ve still got to ride (Thursday and Friday). Come
Saturday, I might be a little nervous then, but we’ll worry about that when it
comes up.
“It’s a daily deal,” he added. “We race five days a week and you just have to take it day by day.”
Fellow Churchill-based journeyman Miguel Mena, who turns 26 on Tuesday, also will have mounts for the same trainer in the Ack Ack and Classic
when he rides Stealcase and Pool Play this weekend, both from the barn of
trainer Mark Casse.
“I’m just having fun,” Mena said.
“I’m not nervous — yet. I’m just glad they gave me the opportunity. I’m staying
focused on today and tomorrow and trying not to think about (the Classic) too
much.”
After riding in the Classic on
Saturday night, both riders will rush back to Louisville, Kentucky, for mounts
at Churchill Downs on Sunday.
Bet Horseracing Free Online at TwinSpires.com